Versailles, Wet and Wondrous

Today I finally made it out to Versailles (yes, for the first time... yes, it's only 30 minutes outside of Paris... yes, the train ride only costs about $6 round trip. But believe me, the crowds are horrid).

Despite typical French organizational inefficiency and some intermittent rain, I managed to have a good time. The Grandes Eaux Musicales has started for the year, which meant that I got to experience the famous fountains in all their 17th century, cutting-edge-hydraulics glory. Having seen them in action, I can say that it's not worth visiting the gardens at any other time of year.

There were some pleasant surprises, for instance the feral cat with whom I shared my lunch at the base of the Latone fountain.


Also the Jardin du Roi, which reminded me of a Charleston Plantation with it's azaleas in full bloom. And the sheep! There is a large flock in the field adjacent to the Domaine de Marie Antoinette - I was so pleasantly surprised to see them that, in my delight, I gave a little cry of "Moutons!"(luckily, no one seemed to have heard me).

Of course I took hundreds of photos, and couldn't narrow it down - so here's a lengthy slide show from the excursion. Note: if you receive my blog posts by email, please go to the website in order to see my photos.