I was struggling to wake up at 7pm and lied on bed for awhile later. After much struggle, I went for a quick soak in the hot bathtub and started my day.
Travelling to Versailles from the city centre seems pretty straightforward. I bought the 2 way ticket to Versailles for €6.50 (no discount for buying return ticket though) and took the metro to Châtelet. From there, I transferred to the RER train and headed for Versailles. The only tricky part is to identify the right train to board since there can be 2 or more train services at the same platform. And even so, the train might change course and come at the other platform that is not scheduled due to train delays before it. After about 30-40 minutes, I reached the train station in Versailles.
After getting out of the train station, there were a lot of promoters trying to promote the guided tours and skip-the-line tickets, etc. I decided to walk to their office just across the road to find out more. Unfortunately, the guided tour is only for Château de Versailles while the combo-pass includes admission to Château de Versailles as well as the gardens and the Trianon castles. Since there was an overlap, I decided to go for only the combo-pass at the price of €20. My key purpose to buy my tickets here is to skip the lines anyway.
After a short walk from the tour agency, I caught a glimpse of the grand castle at the end of a road. As I got near to the gate, I realised there is already a long queue to enter the castle. There was also another queue for ticketing, but I had no idea of the length of the queue since only a small queue was outdoor. It was still a little cold and I had to wait patiently to get into the castle. After the security checks, it appears that I can bring my bag in since I do not have any food or drinks inside my bag.
Then, I proceeded to a queue to collect my audio guide. It got a little annoying when some chinese tourists assume there are 2 lines and happily formed a new queue, thereby cutting the queue in front of about 10 people or so. After collecting my audio guide, I toured around the castle and spent alot more time taking photos and not really listening to much of the audio guides in the end. I really enjoyed being indoors during cold weathers but finished my castle tour in around 2 hours or so.
After the castle tour, I grabbed a quick lunch of curry chicken wrap, apple pie and a bottle of Fanta orange. After my lunch, I had a slow walk in the garden, heading in the direction of the Trianon castles. The weather was still a little cold and the walk was probably around 40 to 50 minutes. However, the autumn view is really beautiful with trees of several different colors.
The tour around the Grand Trianon and the Petit Trianon were short since they are not as gigantic. However, there is an interesting English gardens near the Petit Trianon. The queen was fascinated with the English houses and decided to have one near her Petit Trianon. Over there, there were several English-themed cottage houses and also farms.
During my walks in the castles and garden, there were mild rains on several occassions. Surprisingly, the weather feels less cold after the rain. After getting out of the castle, I decided to walk around in Versailles for a while and headed to the local Notre-Dame church.
After my long day in Versailles, I headed back to Paris city centre.When I reached the city centre, it was only about 6pm and I was undecided where to go and whether to go back to hotel for a short break before dinner. I ended up taking several metro trips due to my indecision and eventually headed to Saint-Germain-des-Prés area in search of dinner. I settled for dinner at Chez Fernand Christine along a small road called Rue Christine. I had searched online for some recommended restaurants which serve duck breast, and this restaurant seems to have received good reviews in trip advisor.
As I walked in, I was welcomed by a really friendly waitress who spoke good English. After some translation of the specials menu, I ordered a bowl of mushroom soup, duck breast with cooked apple and a glass of red wine. During my meal, I could really sense the excellent service displayed by the waiter, waitress and also the boss. All of them seem to strive to provide the fastest and best service quality to make every guest enjoy their meals. I really loved my soup and also how well apple and duck breast are paired together.
After my enjoyable meal, I headed back to hotel for my day's rest. For more photos from Versailles, check out this link.
Travelling to Versailles from the city centre seems pretty straightforward. I bought the 2 way ticket to Versailles for €6.50 (no discount for buying return ticket though) and took the metro to Châtelet. From there, I transferred to the RER train and headed for Versailles. The only tricky part is to identify the right train to board since there can be 2 or more train services at the same platform. And even so, the train might change course and come at the other platform that is not scheduled due to train delays before it. After about 30-40 minutes, I reached the train station in Versailles.
After getting out of the train station, there were a lot of promoters trying to promote the guided tours and skip-the-line tickets, etc. I decided to walk to their office just across the road to find out more. Unfortunately, the guided tour is only for Château de Versailles while the combo-pass includes admission to Château de Versailles as well as the gardens and the Trianon castles. Since there was an overlap, I decided to go for only the combo-pass at the price of €20. My key purpose to buy my tickets here is to skip the lines anyway.
After a short walk from the tour agency, I caught a glimpse of the grand castle at the end of a road. As I got near to the gate, I realised there is already a long queue to enter the castle. There was also another queue for ticketing, but I had no idea of the length of the queue since only a small queue was outdoor. It was still a little cold and I had to wait patiently to get into the castle. After the security checks, it appears that I can bring my bag in since I do not have any food or drinks inside my bag.
Then, I proceeded to a queue to collect my audio guide. It got a little annoying when some chinese tourists assume there are 2 lines and happily formed a new queue, thereby cutting the queue in front of about 10 people or so. After collecting my audio guide, I toured around the castle and spent alot more time taking photos and not really listening to much of the audio guides in the end. I really enjoyed being indoors during cold weathers but finished my castle tour in around 2 hours or so.
After the castle tour, I grabbed a quick lunch of curry chicken wrap, apple pie and a bottle of Fanta orange. After my lunch, I had a slow walk in the garden, heading in the direction of the Trianon castles. The weather was still a little cold and the walk was probably around 40 to 50 minutes. However, the autumn view is really beautiful with trees of several different colors.
The tour around the Grand Trianon and the Petit Trianon were short since they are not as gigantic. However, there is an interesting English gardens near the Petit Trianon. The queen was fascinated with the English houses and decided to have one near her Petit Trianon. Over there, there were several English-themed cottage houses and also farms.
During my walks in the castles and garden, there were mild rains on several occassions. Surprisingly, the weather feels less cold after the rain. After getting out of the castle, I decided to walk around in Versailles for a while and headed to the local Notre-Dame church.
After my long day in Versailles, I headed back to Paris city centre.When I reached the city centre, it was only about 6pm and I was undecided where to go and whether to go back to hotel for a short break before dinner. I ended up taking several metro trips due to my indecision and eventually headed to Saint-Germain-des-Prés area in search of dinner. I settled for dinner at Chez Fernand Christine along a small road called Rue Christine. I had searched online for some recommended restaurants which serve duck breast, and this restaurant seems to have received good reviews in trip advisor.
As I walked in, I was welcomed by a really friendly waitress who spoke good English. After some translation of the specials menu, I ordered a bowl of mushroom soup, duck breast with cooked apple and a glass of red wine. During my meal, I could really sense the excellent service displayed by the waiter, waitress and also the boss. All of them seem to strive to provide the fastest and best service quality to make every guest enjoy their meals. I really loved my soup and also how well apple and duck breast are paired together.
After my enjoyable meal, I headed back to hotel for my day's rest. For more photos from Versailles, check out this link.
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