What a fiasco today has turned out to be!

I attempted to get the train to Versailles today, only to find that the main commuter line going out that way was out of service. I could still go, but I would have to use a regional train, whose line was not on the metro map, to get out there. Now that sounds easy enough, but when your one of hundreds of tourists who has no idea what to do, asking someone at the information counter, who is already frustrated about being asked the same question over and over in another language besides his own isn't very helpful. I attempted to figure it out myself, to no avail.

I ended up asked some one and managed to decipher her instructions, I arrived at Versailles about two hours after I had set off from the hotel…not bad for something that should have taken 20 minutes. The train got into the station and I had to walk about 2km to Versailles. On the way I passed the famous Hotel de Ville, which was a really coo old looking building.

I reached Versailles, which looked very impressive from the outside, with its golden gates. I got in the queue to buy a ticket and was in line for about an hour! By the time I had my ticket, my feet were killing me!

I proceeded into the palace, along with about a million other people. My first stop was the royal apartments where the old French Royalty had actually lived. Although exceptionally beautiful, it was extremely hard to enjoy, constantly being sandwiched in between multiple persons and my feet killing me.

The ceilings of the palace were all decorated with beautiful paintings and all the doors had gilt golden frames. I saw Marie Antoinette's room, the room where she spoke the famous words, Let them eat cake, and the room she fled from before being beheaded at the hands of the French masses.

After the royal apartments I went to have a look at the fabulous gardens, which thankfully were nowhere near as crowded as the actual palace. There were fountains and topiaries everywhere, but after paying 18 euro I was not impressed to see half the statues covered up and the fountains not turned on. I walked around the gardens for about an hour, managing to find a few secluded spots, including a huge man made lake, before heading back to the station at about 4pm and back to the hotel for a much needed rest.