I slept like a log. You can usually find me out searching for worms before the robins, but on this morning Tom and Patti had to wake us up at 7 a.m. I had to conclude that whenever I wore the eye mask while I was sleeping, we would have to ask for a wake-up call. This was something that I had almost never done in any of my travels.
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The weather seemed to be pretty good. It was a little cool for my taste and overcast, but Sue would be dying if it were sunny and a little hotter.
Planned today was an unofficial day trip with the Corcorans to Versailles, which is southwest of Paris. On the way to the Métro station we walked up Avenue Duquesne, as usual. The avenue consisted of a wide two-way street in the middle with one-way lanes on both sides. The latter included places for parking. For the first time I noticed that on our side of the street among the parking spaces was an Elan gas station. It consisted of two unattended pumps in the very small area between the parking spots and the avenue and a storefront. On a subsequent day we saw that, in fact, the storefront also included a miniature garage with two stalls for working on cars.
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We found the track and waited for the train labeled VICK. The ride was about thirty minutes. Since we were going to the end of the line, it was relatively stress-free. I noticed that a woman on the train had a copy of the Rick Steves Paris guidebook. We could not help but wonder if she was part of our group. This sort of sighting had happened to us on the day before tours before, and then as now it turned out not to mean anything.
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The walk from the train station followed a lovely tree-lined boulevard. Determining which way to go was not difficult. We just followed the crowd. The first view of the château was stunning. I had read that this was one of the most impressive-looking buildings in Europe, but I was still overwhelmed. It had had this effect on people for over three hundred years.
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Two English women were in front of us. One laughed at my jokes, which is the shortest route into my heart. In front of them was a group that included a very plain woman with abnormally large hands, a lot of makeup, and an Adam’s apple. Behind us were an Italian couple. I overheard the signora mutter “Che cavolo!” at one point. In Italian that literally meant “What a cabbage!”, but cabbage was often used in Italian as a polite stand-in word for much more obscene concepts. When some people tried to “jump the queue,” the Italian lady lit into them. Sue later told me that the interlopers had usurped a spot in line a little behind the Italians.
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Believe it or not, the line to get into the château was at least as long as the line to purchase tickets, and it did not appear to be moving much more quickly. Since the guidebook said that the lines were sometimes shorter in the afternoon, we decided to enter the gardens, for which there was no line to speak of, first. The initial view of the gardens was at least as stunning as the first view of the château. The estate literally went on as far as the eye could see. It was all laid out in precise geometric patterns and meticulously groomed. The fountains were even flowing. It was quite a sight.
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Sue and I spent a bit of time leisurely exploring some of the gardens on the left side of the estate. It is hard to describe what these were like. We had a very enjoyable and relaxing time even if we were a little disappointed with the so-called Mirror Fountain and the Colonnade Grove. Our favorite part was probably the King’s Garden. Both of us took a lot of pictures there.
) Fountain photos. | ) | ) |
) The fountain in front of the château. | ) The water in the distance is the Grand Canal. | ) Looking back toward the château. |
) The gardens contained dozens of tree-lined lanes. | ) This is the Fountain of Saturn. | ) An orphaned teddy bear. |
) We could have rented a golf cart ... | ) ... or caught the train. | ) This guy brought his own transportation. |
We thought that we had allowed enough time to make it to Grand Trianon in time. We tarried around the Apollo Fountain for a while. Then we headed toward the canal, and we did not dawdle. From there I miraculously selected the shortest diagonal route from the edge of the canal to Grand Trianon. However, we were still almost a half mile from the Grand Trianon, and that represented a long slog for Sue.
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) Many rooms in the Grand Trianon had marble fireplaces. | ) The billiards room. | ) I did not expect a yellow room. |
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When I exited the Grand Trianon, I had no difficulty locating Sue. She told me that she had not seen the Corcorans. We decided to take the little train back to the château. It went down to the Petit Trianon, and then it chugged over to the Grand Canal. Its last stop was just outside of the château. By the time that we had said good-bye to the train and walked around the side off the building it was 1:30.
) Sue got the best seat on the train for taking movies. | ) The first stop ws at the Petit Trianon. | ) This might be the ideal way to see the gardens. |
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After forty-five minutes just as I was approaching the entrance, a strange thing happened. On the château side of the line a group that seemed to include a lot of Chinese people assembled right next to us. Simultaneously a much smaller group of people formed on the other side. In short order, the line began to resemble a mob. I could not tell for sure how many people jumped the line. The chaos made it impossible. The important thing was that I managed to get into the château within a minute or two.
) The Hall of Battles: Charles Martel at Poitiers. | ) King Philip Augustus at the Battle of Bouvines. | ) King Louis IX at the Battle of Taillebourg. |
) King Philip the Fair at the Battle of Montpellier. | ) Charles VIII entering Naples. | ) King Francis I. |
I tried to use the self-guided tour in the Paris guidebook, but I was not sure where I was starting. The layout in the book did not seem to match the configuration that they were using that day.
My favorite place was probably the Hall of Battles. I was familiar with quite a few of the kings and generals in the paintings. It was interesting to see the depiction of Charles VIII’s triumph in Naples and Francis I’s victory at Marignano. King Charles was driven out of Italy shortly thereafter with his tail between his legs, and King Francis was taken prisoner. I wondered how many of the other French triumphs were equally illusory.
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The pope was sixty-four at the time of Napoleon’s coronation, but he looks much younger in both this painting and David’s portrait of him with Cardinal Caprara, executed the next year.
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I easily found Sue. She told me that she had been at the café and had ordered a cake and some tea. At first the waiter told her that she could not have dessert without ordering a meal, but he promptly delivered her tea. When she later asked about the cake, he was surprised that they had not brought it. He went back and checked. Evidently the restaurant had run out of the cake, and no one had bothered to tell her.
We made our way down to the train station and quickly found our train. The one that we boarded was almost empty, so one must have just departed. Ours filled up rather quickly, and in a few minutes it started moving. We arrived back to the hotel with just enough time for me to shower and dress for the five p.m. meeting in the breakfast room in the basement. I put on the black shoes. This might be my only chance to wear them on the tour.
I took the stairs; Sue waited for the elevator. When I arrived in the breakfast room, our tour guide, Patrick Vidal, greeted me with a hearty “Bonjour, monsieur.” I replied “Bonsoir,” which might have thrown him a little. He offered a choice of a cup of red wine or white. The room was already pretty full. Only one or two tables had any seats left. I sat next to Phoebe Liddle. Sue took the place next to Phoebe’s husband, Tom. Nancy Kress came a minute later and sat on my left. Barbara Postles took the bar stool. The Corcorans took the last two seats.
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Patrick cycled through the usual details of how a Rick Steves tour worked. He also outlined the agenda for the next few days. On Sunday we would go to the Île de la Cité as a group to see Sainte-Chapelle and Notre Dame. We would eat lunch on our own and then go to the Musée d’Orsay as a group. Once in the museum we would again be on our own for the rest of the day. Monday would feature a guided tour of the Louvre in the morning and a free afternoon and evening. In short, we would only have one meal together in Paris, and it would be right after the meeting.
Patrick mentioned that BNP Paribas ATM’s could be used for free by Bank of America customers. He also noted that there was one right down the street from the hotel. We had not yet located it. He also gave two excellent pieces of advice for traveling in France: (1) tipping is optional; (2) use “carafe d’eau” to ask for tap water, which is uniformly potable in France, in restaurants.
Patrick asked each of us to introduce ourselves. A formidable challenge on each tour has been keeping the cast of characters straight. I took notes as carefully as I could, but I might have missed some details.
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Jim and Barbara Foley were from some place in Colorado. This was their first tour as well.
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Brad Colwell said that he and his wife Donna were from Harrisburg, PA. Brad was a marathoner and a vegetarian. This was their first tour. Brad said that he had chosen the tour because the write-up said that it was strenuous. That statement elicited a reaction.
Six Canadians were traveling together. I think that they said that they had taken tours of Italy and Greece together. Dave and Mary Colley and Roy and Betty Coffin were from Vancouver. Len[1] and Georgene Dunlap were from White Rock, BC.
) Dave and Mary Colley. | ) Roy Coffin. | ) Betty Coffin. |
) Len Dunlap. | ) Georgene Dunlap. | ) Mike and Sandy Birdlebough. |
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Jacqueline Jensen was the youngest person in the group by at least one generation. I wrote down that she worked in a hospital in the Seattle area. She had not previously been on a tour. One of the reasons that she chose the tour was to investigate her French ancestry.
Tom and Patti introduced themselves. Patti said that they were traveling with a couple that had not yet shown up at the soirée. It was a dirty damned lie. We were within ten feet of them, and we arrived at the meeting before they did.
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Paul and Kathy Lantz were from Seattle. They had taken seven tours.
Barbara Postles was traveling with Nancy Kress. Nancy, from Rochester, NY, had taken eight tours, and Barbara, from Columbia, SC, had also traveled quite a bit. I think that Barbara said that they were cousins.
Diane Cira had done the Spain and Portugal tour. I did not hear where she was from. She was traveling with Lee Wurlitzer, who was from Burlingame, CA.
) Diane Cira. | ) Lee Witherspoon. | ) Phoebe and Tom Liddle. |
Tom and Phoebe Liddle were from Bethesda, MD. They did not mention any previous tours.
The group included three Toms, two Mikes, and two Barbaras.
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Most of the group sat in the upper half of the restaurant. Sue and I were seated at one of the two tables in the lower half with the Coffins, the Corcorans, Jacqueline, and Patrick. I sat between Roy Coffin and Sue. Patrick was across from me.
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- Apéritif: kir with white wine;
Entrée: onion soup, salad with goat cheese, or escargots; - Main course: flank steak with fries, salmon with rice, or duck with potatoes;
- Dessert: ice cream, raspberries with whipped cream, or apple tart with whipped cream.
I selected the escargots, salmon, and apple tart. They were all very good indeed. The escargots were the best that I had ever tasted. I would not have minded returning to this restaurant.
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Roy and Betty Coffin were from Vancouver. Roy had worked with Len and Dave there for many years. The three couples went as a group on a Rick Steves tour to Greece. Betty said that her favorite foreign destination was Africa. Roy preferred Italy. Roy, Len, and Dave played golf together once a week. Betty preferred tennis.
Roy was fighting a cold. It did not seem ominous at the time.
During supper Barbara Postles rushed over to Patrick and asked him, “Am I an H or an F?” She had just visited the restaurant’s toilets. One was labeled H, the other F.
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Patrick made sure that he was served last. He took whatever they served him so that if there was a mistake in any order (there was not), everyone in the tour received what he/she ordered. We could have used him the previous evening at the Café Constant.
On the way home I noticed that one of my shoes felt funny.
As soon as we returned to the hotel I went to bed. Because I had almost overslept the previous morning I decided not to wear my eye mask. I tossed and turned for a few minutes, but then I fell asleep quickly enough. As usual, Sue was still up and about when the sandman appeared.