Versailles, Paris by River, and Happy New Year!

Today, we headed for Versailles.  Our plan was to get out by about 9:00 and arrive by the time the palace opened.  In reality, we lit out for the subway station more like 10:20, just missed the RER train (meaning waiting another 20 minutes), and had to disembark from our train a few miles from our destination due to an accident on the track… then wait another half hour for the next train.  By the time we got to the palace, it was nearly noon.  The lines snaked around the large courtyard, and it was another half hour or more before we got in.  It’s a little like an assembly line: there is one entrance and everyone funnels through, pushing and jostling for pictures while staff try to keep you moving (particularly through the king’s and queen’s private chambers).  You work your way through a bunch of opulent rooms, through the hall of mirrors, then through the private chambers, and then you’re out in the courtyard again. 

All that said, it was a beautiful, sunny day – a little blustery, but unseasonably warm for New Year’s Eve.  Versailles is a testimony to the opulent extravagance of the French monarchy during the times of Louis XIV, XV and XVI.  When you see what they built and think about how the peasantry lived, it’s not hard to figure out why the proletariat wanted their heads.

Teresa, Chris, Monica & Adam queued up to get into Versailles

Hall of Mirrors, Versailles

Versailles chapel

Ho hum... just another room in Versailles

Even in winter, the gardens of Versailles are quite spectacular, and they go on forever:  no sense of crowding here!  We had planned to regroup to leave at 3:00, but decided to stick around for another hour.

Versailles gardens

"let them eat cake" - Marie Antoinette

We headed back to a jam-packed train station around 4:00.  There, we learned that our City Pass tickets would not cover the return journey (they were good for zones 1-3 only, and Versailles is in zone 4).  We queued up in huge lines for the ticket machines, and those lines weren’t moving.  I saw another line for what looked like either a help desk or face-to-face ticket sales booth.  It was 4:50 by the time I got to the front of the line and learned that we didn’t need tickets at all after 5:00 because the entire public transport system was free from 5:00 – 1:00 on New Year’s Eve.  So we queued up with the masses, listened as the crowd counted down to 5:00, then rushed the gates with everyone else.  We got on the first train at 5:20 and were even all able to get seats together in one of the first cars.

We got off again at the Eiffel tower: our City Passes were good for a river tour down the Seine on Bateaux Parisiens.  We arrived less than ½ hour before departure time and had no trouble getting on.  After a long day of walking and lines, a leisurely hour-long cruise was a great way to unwind. Paris by river gives you a very different view, and by night, it’s spectacular.  Our cruise took us from the Eiffel tower past the Place de Concorde, L’Assembles Nationale, Le Musee D’Orsay, around Ile de la Cite (city island, home of Notre Dame) and Ile St. Louis), then back up the river to our starting point.  The mood on the boat was particularly festive, perhaps because it was New Years Eve, or perhaps simply because ti was loaded with happy tourists and a beautiful Parisian night. 

Notre Dame from the Seine

Fresh off the batteau

Afterwards, we crammed onto a subway (remember, they were free) and headed back to the apartment to regroup for dinner.  We’d decided to stay in the neighborhood for a very late dinner to see in the new year, and went to a local Brasserie around the corner.  I swear, this was the best meal that any of us have had in France.  Adam got onion soup and we both got escargot as starters, while most of the others had fresh salad with a creamy Dijon dressing.  Chris and I had incredibly tender and perfectly cooked saumon (salmon) with a very subtle Bearnaise sauce.  Leah, Monica and Adam had canard confit (duck leg cooked in its own fat) that melted in your mouth (I took a taste).  Judy had scallops prepared in provencal style: I don’t know what the sauce was, but it was really good too.  Teresa had spaghetti carbonara with a raw egg yolk on top that she said was fantastic.  We shared some crème brulee and crème caramel around the table along with some carafes of wine.  We returned to the apartment for a champagne toast to bring in the new year, then stayed up while Dan and Leah serenaded us.  What a great way to ring in the new year!

New Year's Dinner (one block from our apartment)

Happy New Year! (L to R):
Teresa, Leah, Judy, Jim, Adam, Monica, Dan, Chris