See The World

with BILL'S EYES

The fence of gold and imposing front gate of the Palace of Versailles.

One of the many statues scattered throughout the gardens.

The people put this small part of the palace and hence the whole palace into perspective.

One of a few ponds 'close' to the rear entrances to the palace.

A set of sculptures crafted into a hillside within the grounds.

One of the center piece ponds with an array of creatures keeping a watch on the locals and tourists but remember they were also looked over the Kings and Queens of France as well.

Trying to be arty.

Day 30 will follow Day 29, day continues with what was meant to be an hours' travel from the Monet Gardens to our final destination, a caravan park in Versailles. There is a need for us to be there before 5:00 pm with enough time to freshen up before being picked up by a colleague.

The GPS and Google maps were used to the max to guide us to where we thought the caravan park would be. Highways are not always as clearly sign posted as we would have liked and Lee found that there is a lag in the display of our location relative to the map, so turn-offs especially those which are splits-off to a slipway, suddenly slip by.

To top that off once we are in the vicinity of the caravan park we end up getting lost - again. The park was stationary so we should come across it sometime, said I with exasperation.

Sometimes you get lucky and we glimpsed a sign that directed us to the park and all is well since we are here an hour and a half before we get picked up.

My colleague is spot on time and we are soon on our way to the Palace of Versailles to see what we can at this relatively late time of the day. The actual Palace tour closes at 6:00 pm and although there is still half an hour to go it would have been frustratingly quick to enter and then leave, but little did we realize that the grounds about the palace which are open till 8:00 pm would enchant us more than enough with the time we had.

The palace building is massive and the view from the vast open space in front of the palace is impressive which includes: the ornate gold coloured fence (although it may have been gold leaf but if so I wonder why it has not been scratched off); the gold leaf that adorn parts of the roof and shines even in the overcast conditions; to the three stories we can see but know there are stories below as well; to the hundreds of rooms (some enormous to house art-work and grand dinners for hundreds at a time), to room after room for accommodation for kings, queens, VIPs and of course somewhere for the staff. With all that is visible from the front of the building there was a scale of unimaginable greatness which unfolded as we walked through a walkway to the rear of the Palace.

Well the view of pristinely manicured knee high hedges in ornate patterns extend into the distance was surprise enough since it seemed that there was space for a couple of football fields of hedges and interspersed open areas, however, you only start to get the picture that the gardens are huge when you walk the couple of hundred meters to what you think is the end of those hedges and BAM ---- there is a three kilometer park stretching below and before you into the visible distance.

The rectangular lake stretches to the edge of the known world. Each side of this lake is devoted to many separate garden areas the boundaries of which are defined by five meter high hedges with some forming mazes and others intersecting pathways - wide enough for a massive oil tanker ship to pass through. Then amongst the tall hedges are three meter high scupltures and more water features, some little lakes and other ponds created to impress with sculptures of warriors surrounded by mythical creatures rising for the water, another with a statue of a king surrounded by frogs, tortoise and other beings of unknown source and many others. 

Two of the lakes had water fountain shows co-ordinated to classical music and we were in time to see the end of the last of those shows at the lake furthest from the palace.

By that time we have walked more than a few kilometers and since a BBQ was planned for later that evening, we make our way back to the car looking back occasionally still in awe of this local and tourist favorite.

Our host this evening makes us feel very relaxed and welcome to their home and it is a treat for us on a number of levels, since Lee and I have not sat in a lounge chair for over four weeks, I had not stood in a living room at full height for over the same period, where there were lovely paintings to admire and the floor did not bounce.

It was great to discuss some of the very French things we saw and experienced and get their views on the whys and wherefore of those experiences and I learnt a lot about baguettes and it seems that you get what you pay for, as there are very different qualities and subtleties in their makeup, if you know what to look for and ask. We were also introduced to the French dinner seating custom of separating the couples but only if they have been together more than a year as newly coupled they should sit together. Before our meal we shared the bottle of Moët & Chandon that we acquired early in our travels and then we had some excellent wines during our meal, the main portion of which was an excellent cut of meat expertly cooked by our host and accompanied with some mustard that was particularly flavoursome. Then finishing of a selection of cheeses. 

This was to be our last formal meal in France and we were very privileged to be invited to the home of my French colleague and enjoy their company.

The next day (now actually two days ago) we devoted the day to having a sleep in and cleaning the CamperVan (literally top to bottom) and since it was a National Holiday nothing was open anyway. That cleaning day was the last full day of our adventure in France since we handed over the van the morning after at 8:00 am. We are decided at short notice to travel to Amsterdam for a few days to finish off our travels in Europe.

Thus this is the last of my instalments which have recorded, mainly for our benefit, the great time we had enjoying the places and people of France.

The country towns and cities we visited or passed through, the historic sites we visited and the food and wine we enjoyed was largely the result of Lee's research before and during the trip and I was merely the driver (although Lee says I did a good job to tame the beast, keep the gas level up, make sure it did not roll away at night time and the water flowed down the sink - since she was happy to leave that task to me). However, it was a team effort in lots of ways as well, since we dealt with the unexpected and the frustrating occasions that happen on every road trip. Thanks and much love to Lee.

I enjoyed creating these installments but they took a good part of almost every evening to write and post. They largely came off the top of my head so I welcome any feed back you may have, since it might be a future holiday and retirement option to do some more writing if there are people who would like to read it. AU REVOIR.

One of the musical fountain displays.

The gigantic Palace in the distance provided perspective on the vastness of grounds behind it.

Then turn around and this is what you see.

Each statue is different and each takes a year to restore.

Immediately behind the Palace are a number of 'small' hedge arrays.

The last look at the CamperVan after 4700 kms of France Adventure.

Tell me whether you enjoyed this blog.

One pond overlooking the long lake.

An example of the tall hedges and sculptures located all over the gardens.

One of the many ponds with gold cherubs on show.