Visiting the Gardens of Versaille

I don't remember if we did something else in the morning, but by the time we got to Versailles via train from Paris, we only had a few hours to look around! The line to get inside the palace was very long, so we chose to just walk around the gardens instead. Some day, I will go back and tour the palace!

Our first view of the palace.... so much GOLD!!! And, the cobblestones... OUCH!!!

 

 

The first fountain inside the palace gate.

 

 

We are very close to the fountain, right behind the palace. I think practically everything you see is Versaille's Gardens! Amazing!

 

 

A view back towards the palace and that original fountain.

 

 

It was a beautiful day as we walked around. And besides the beautiful fountains, flowers, columns, and landscaping, there are a lot of statues! And, there is beautiful classical music playing over the speakers. I loved this! It really added to the atmosphere.

 

 

These are marble columns off to one side of the main pathway. It was my favorite place,

with many small fountains all around a central fountain.

 

 

Another view... with Alex.

 

 

I was playing with the fish-eye setting on my camera and liked how this turned out. When we first saw this fountain, at the back of the gardens, the water was spounting. But, each fountain is only on during certain times. Beyond this, you can see a 'lake' which is actually more like a city park and not part of Versailles.

 

 

Another 'fish-eye' photo taken from the same spot (near the back of the gardens) but looking back towards the palace.

 

 

Me in the gardens with the palace behind me. (Basically the same spot.)

 

 

A beautiful, tree-lined walk off to one side.

 

 

This is beyond the gardens into the 'public' area. You can see people boating and

there were a lot of bicyclists riding by. I wish I could have joined them!

 

 

Loved this photo of the fountain with the trees behind them... just wish

I would have waited until there weren't people walking by. Still, gorgeous!

 

 

A closer look at the cobblestones... we had to walk a long way on these!

 

 

After the gardens, we stayed in the city of Versailles to eat. Alex didn't like the outside cafe that the others chose, so we headed to McDonald's! W had a Croque McDo! We had several croque sand-wiches while in France - basically a grilled ham & cheese but the cheese is usually on the outside.

 

 

We also had nuggets with some great sauce!

 

 

And, while we waited for the others to finish, Alex used our French phrase book to

translate the name of a nearby restaurant. It was a lovely day!