Opulent Versailles

One last touristy post for France. If you like opulence and lots of crowds, then Versailles is the place for you.

Here are a few pointers for visiting Versailles.

1. Buy your ticket with entry time online on the official site. If you go to the wrong website, you’ll pay more and won’t be able to find the timed entry option. And the lines can be very long if you don’t have the timed entry ticket. The day we attended was HOT, and I felt kind of bad for all the people standing outside in the hot sun waiting to get into the palace.
2. Be ready for crowds. If you hate crowds, either show up in the dead of winter or take a Valium. Since we were traveling in summer, we expected lots of tourists, but it was pretty overwhelming and made it harder to just enjoy the visit. I’d love to go back in the off season just to wander through the palace a little more peacefully.
3. Decide how you want to tour – there are those who love their audioguide and those who just want to look around. Listening to every audioguide section in all rooms can equal a long day.

Decide how much you want to see – there is the palace, the gardens, the Trianon estate, a fountain show, a gallery. We stuck to the basics – palace and viewing the gardens briefly, because we didn’t have an entire day. Again, we’ll do more in the off-season.

Here’s some photos from inside the palace.

And the gardens.

After we bathed ourselves in gold and basked in the splendor of the former French monarchy, we were hungry. Versailles town has some great cafes,  and we opted, as usual, for a crepes and cider.