Visiting Versailles

Visiting Versailles | Organized Mess

A few days ago I mentioned the trip I took to Paris in January of 2017. It was a whirlwind of five full days in Paris with my best friend. The perfect girls trip! I mean, who doesn't dream of traveling to Paris with their best friend? We had found cheap tickets and, on a whim, decided to book them only a few months before we left. (I also bought tickets to Spain on a whim as well, this happens to be something I tend to do. Ha.) With our five full days we decided to spend one of them traveling to Versailles since we thought it would be super easy to get to. We looked up the directions and were pleased that it would only be a quick hour long train ride to reach Versailles. It should have been a quick and easy trip. Key words: should have been. Unfortunately, we were both exhausted since this was close to the tail end of our trip and dozed off on the train. When we woke up, we were about an hour PAST Versailles. Oops. We got off at the very last stop and noticed the train station was quite empty. Again, oops. We tracked down a man who worked there and through an interaction full of broken French and English found out how to make our way to our destination. So, what should have been an hour long train ride to Versailles ended up being three hours. But, most importantly, we made it!

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The inside of Versailles was, of course, insanely beautiful. Everything was painted or marbled or gold and it was all just so grand. We walked through the corridors and rooms, taking in all of its beauty and how striking every corner of the palace was. The only downfall of Versailles is how crowded it tends to be. We went in January which is a low-peak season for tourists and we still felt like it was hard to avoid crowds of people. We saw what we wanted to in the palace and then headed out to explore the palace grounds. 

Even in the middle of winter the gardens and grounds were still beautiful. We made our way through the gardens and then to the Estate of Trianon, which is described as a place of intimacy and that couldn't be a better description.  Sure, this part of the grounds was still magnificent and grand, but it felt so peaceful compared to the bustling main palace. (Even if a seagull did try to take me out, see below.) There was even a little farm that we passed during our walk. 

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Visiting Versailles | Organized MessVisiting Versailles | Organized MessVisiting Versailles | Organized MessVisiting Versailles | Organized MessVisiting Versailles | Organized Mess

I'm so happy we decided to spend an afternoon in Versailles. I love Paris so much but it was fun to break up our trip to the city with a day trip somewhere else. We didn't get to spend any time in the city of Versailles outside of the palace and estate of Trianon due to our little slip up with the transportation but there is an actual city there full of cafes and bars if you decide to spend the entire day or a night in Versailles. Next time, we may have to do that!