January 2

Versailles day! We got up pretty early and bought some food to pack in Brendan's backpack. Then we took the double decker RER train to the Versailles station, which took about 30 minutes. We walked about a half mile up to the chateau, along with a big crowd of people.

We jumped in a big line and waited about an hour to get in to buy the tickets. It was very chilly, but not too unbearable. We decided to sign up for a guided tour, but we had a little free time first, so we toured the dauphin's chambers. Then we looked for a bathroom, but the one at the chateau had a super long line, so we wandered into the garden, going to the bathroom symbol on the map. It was super rainy at this point, so we got all wet, and then, the bathroom was closed. Grr! Oh well...we went back up to the chateau and found a dry spot inside to wait for our tour.

Our tour had about 20 other people, and the guide was a young French woman. Her English was very good. We went through the kings and queen private quarters and then ended in the beautiful Opera which was built for the marriage of Louis XVI to Marie Antoinette.

From there, we jumped right into the public tour. We saw tons of rooms...can't remember them all now! The photos below show the Chapel and the Hall of Mirrors. Part of the Hall of Mirrors was closed off for restoration.

We stopped in the shops as the tour was winding down. We headed back outside where it was quite cold & damp and took the little bus to the Trianons. First stop was the Petit Trianon, but we were low on time, so we just went to the Grand Trianon and hopped off there. When we got inside, we only had 15 minutes left, but that turned out to be enough time to look around.

We had to wait a while for the bus to come back around, so we snacked on some bread, cheese, and salami. The ride back to the chateau was bitterly cold, and we were excited to get back to the hotel. We met up with Ginny and Sara. Sara decided to stay in and pack up, since they were leaving the next day.

Ginny, Brendan and I all headed to Bofinger (that's bow-fawn-jay, y'all) for dinner. I had made a reservation and we were promptly seated. We had a really good meal, which is how it should be since the bill came in at €160! We had some oysters which were served with little pieces of bread, butter, vinegar and lemon...I have to say, I missed the saltines and cocktail sauce. Ginny and I also shared a huge chafing dish with sausage and sauerkraut and potatoes...so yummy! After a tasty mousse for dessert, we all headed back to the hotel.