Europe/UK Day 6 - Versailles / Paris

Merry Christmas!!! Everyone in my family is out at some wedding dinner so I'm slacking at home now.

Thursday, August 14th, 2008

I was complaining earlier about how the hotel was located in a lousy location akin to Pasir Ris. However, turned out that it was the nearest station to Versailles. So off we went this morning to the unofficial former capital of France.

Finally had to figure out how to use the ticket machines [with no one queuing behind me thankfully], and with a bit of guessing, we were all set. First we took a tram to the RER station.

The tram has this ticket machine in it which everyone seems honest enough to use to validate their tickets with


At the RER train station, this is a longer-distance train so it is more expensive than the subway




and here we are at the Chateau de Versaille stop after about half an hour



Walked a bit to reach the Chateau de Versailles

Thank goodness we had the museum pass [day 3 of our 2 day museum pass, go figure] which allowed us to skip the scary queues. We queued up a bit for the audio guide, only to realize that our museum pass does not cover it and we had to pay for it. Thought for a bit and decided against it. In we went..

love the colored walls!


went room after room, painting after painting


that way please.











The hall of mirrors, where the treaty of Versailles was signed.







where the king slept!


We always try to imagine how places looked like in their heyday. Looking at this doorknob, I imagine how the kings and queens could have touched it 400 years ago.


the Queen's chamber. Mostly renovated/designed by Marie Antoinette. There used to be public viewings of Queens giving birth here. eew.



marie antoinette



ok, enough of paintings statues n painted ceilings. some sunlight please!


gardens of versailles, also largely renovated by Marie Antoinette












best way to explore the huge gardens



this was one of our favorite afternoons, cycling away in the gardens of versailles




the far end of the garden! see the castle in the far background








macs for lunch, before we made our way back to Paris


the paris subway map


The tourist map we used to explore Paris.


on the way back to the hotel, met this lu bian tan selling corn, n his friends. The corn was really disgusting, chewy and dry.


After washing up, we set out for a romantic night in Paris. A Bateaux Parisien cruise on the river Seine, followed by a cabaret show at the Lido on Champs Elysees.





walked by the Eiffel on the way to the cruise

I had booked tickets in advance and thus could skip the ticket queue. Amazingly they even let us skip the queue to go up the boat, leading us right to the front to board it. Pretty much VIP treatment for once. That lady took really nice photos of everyone going up the cruise.. Really pro, it looked very red carpet and glam. Too bad it was in euros or we would have gotten it.

our tix



it was a pity that our timing wasn't good enough and the sun had not set enough during the cruise, so the skies were just, kind of gray.



no tripod =(

Walked to Champs Elysees and there was just a bit of time for a quick bite at Chez George V

in Paris, they love to people watch.. who sits side by side for drinks, or a dinner in a restaurant?!


yes, we too, sat side by side


l'escargot


his Magret De Canard [duck breast]


and my Cote De Veau [lamb shank]. i lurrrve french food.

It was quite a rushed dinner and somewhere in the middle, we tried to go exchange our pass for the actual tickets [Lido was just next door] but they didn't allow it. After our dinner, it had begun to rain quite heavily, and a queue had formed outside the Lido in the rain. It was quite chaotic and we weren't allowed to go in to get the tickets either. Evil bouncers.

We stupidly queued up for some time and it was already very late and the show should have started. Then this couple behind us talked to us about what a stupid system it was, and we mentioned that we had even paid for our tickets already. Upon hearing that the couple insisted that we really should be allowed in. A guy in front of us [who probably wanted to cut the queue anyway] also helped us, bringing us to the front and talking to the bouncers.. After some french, we were allowed in. Whew. I guess we were kinda lucky in a way.

We're definitely not the kind to get messed around in our own country, but anywhere out of here, we would never dare to do any table banging especially if we don't even know the language.

well, we made it in here!

our champagne. The cabaret show was crap, the props were quite cute, but the dancing was horrendous. I heard that the show at the Moulin Rouge is way better. There were another couple at our table who were very interested in kissing and hugging each other.

It had been a long day, and after the champagne I was totally knocked out. I hope I didn't snore too loudly. Well it's not my fault that the show was so shitty. We left slightly early, before the crowds emerged, to catch a cab back to our hotel and zzz.