And of course who ever said that was dead right - we "Les Bleus " definitely arrived, only this time under the escape tunnel that someone kindly dug under the English Channel -- trust me , if this Brexit nonsense carries on much longer , and if no-one in any british government can control immigration and racial tensions , let alone getting to grips with education / health care/ jobs / exchange rates/ PPI etc -- then I think many will find the idea of reverse migration and using the tunnel to get to main land Europe , quite attractive.
So having set off at silly oclock on sunday morning, we managed to find our way to the Hotel de France , which was directly opposite the Palace of Versailles, so couldn't be better for that instant -- dump the bags and skedaddle across the road to see if there was a chance that we could get a peak around -- recommend a booking agency called " Headout" for anywhere that you might need to get tickets for events etc --
Nice Hotel and perfect location - just across from all this below.
So a start with a selfie and a knock at the gate to see if anyone is home -- ah well we will have to try the back door then - Anyone else thinks that Mrs A looks a little Regal -- ok , for a tourist then.
So this is magnificence on a vast and grand scale -- I mean that this puts Hampton Court in the shade and when you consider th\at they were both built for the Royal out of town hunting lodges back in the 1500's for their respective Monarchs it is quite staggering of how carried away the Louise the VIX got things started and how it has survived so many wars and being ramsacked and looted.
So here is Louis and a fine looking chap from back in that day who appears to have been a bit of a developer and having rounded up a few thousand labourers including italian stonemasons to expand this palace. Apparently , according to my own personal historian this monach lived until his 0's and was succeeded not by his son or daughters -- not by his grandchildren but by a great grand child -- apparently the rest had all died.
Anyway there are the most amazing ceilings in this place as you can see below---
Then of course there are the Bed Chambres with the amazing tapestry's --
For Lynda and me , it is 20 years or more since we first visited Versaille and we were very surprised at the amount of furniture and fittings that there are in the Palace now -- when we were here previously we were reading how the French were endeavouring to recover items that had been previously looted from way back in the days of the revolution.
There were also amazing paintings and the Hall of Mirrors looked more finished than previously ---
There were also amazing paintings and the Hall of Mirrors looked more finished than previously ---
Many of the pictures below were from the Gallery de Batailles and of course while definitely a little later , you could not keep the little Emperor out of this palace.
After around 4 hours wandering around we left to find food and found a pretty good selection in the hotels own restaurant ---
When we left Versaille the next morning it was to blue skies that we never really lost on the longest drive of the return to Greece trip , that got a little longer due to the odd incident on the motorway down but it does get a bit exciting when you see a motorway sign with Nice , Cannes and St. Tropez all on the same one but of course that is another story for another day.
So farewell Louis and local buildings
Hope the driver was ok.
Au Revoir
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