I Agree -- Off with their Heads

We took the train to Versailles today. Maybe because we are all feeling a bit worn down (I was tired and had a low grade headache, and we'd gotten up extra early), we just couldn't deal with the tour of the Chateau. Ungodly numbers of tourists, dark stuffy interiors mostly, and the famous Hall of Mirrors was undergoing renovation and thus all under wraps. So it was a downer, not worth the price of admission to have the experience we had. Besides that, it was all just too over the top. Maybe that was the point of it, but what I mostly came away with was a better understanding of why so many in the French revolution were ready to chop off these jokers' heads. I got your monster house right here, Louis.

After escaping the chateau we walked for a while in the garden (pretty, but also too much, and not nearly as beautiful as other gardens we've seen, and oh, did I mention that none of the fountains were working), then decided to escape (that's the way it felt) into the town. We found a very quiet section of town and had lunch at a Chinese restaurant (a little odd, I know, but we were wanting something different), then walked around the town. It was nice to be an area that had stuff in it (restaurants, stores, etc.) and yet wasn't quite so hectic and hustle-bustle as Paris. We then took the train and the Metro home. All in all, we found the town of Versailles much more agreeable than the chateau. A few pictures follow, including proof that we are getting a little worn down.