Day trip to Versailles
Ever think you might like to do a day trip from Paris to visit Versailles? To discover the Sun King’s oeuvre, the Château, its gardens, and Marie-Antoinette’s pastoral idyll? But it seems too far out of Paris, too much hassle to work out how to get there? Here’s how!
From Paris, it’s easy to get to Versailles by train from the Gare Saint Lazare. If you’re anything like me, you’ll like using local transport as it always gives you an insight into the place and the people in the country which you are visiting. I learnt more about Indonesia (20 years ago, ahem…), for example, when traveling in the local minibus taxis than on an organized trip for tourists to visit the Borobudur temple. But I digress!
Now, Versailles isn’t exactly a different country compared to Paris - no matter what hardened Parisians might have you believe when they say that they never venture outside the ‘périph’ (périphérique - the motorway ring road around Paris). But there is certainly a different ambiance in Versailles. It’s greener there, the buildings are lower and the streets are wider. This gives this ‘royal’ city a particular quality of space and light which is quite a change from Paris.
So, to get to Versailles you catch the ‘L’ Transilien train from Gare Saint Lazare to the Versailles Rive Droite terminus station (the ticket costs about 4 EUR per person, one way). The train journey (in a comfortable, air conditioned train) takes about 40 minutes and passes through the affluent and leafy suburbs to the south-west of Paris. You can then walk to the Château, which takes about 20 minutes.
En route from the station to the Château, you will pass through the Notre Dame market square, famed locally for being reasonable due to heavy competition between the vendors. There is an outdoor food market there on Tuesday, Friday and Sunday mornings (7am to 2pm) with fresh and regional produce. The covered market buildings ‘les halles’ surrounding the outdoor market are open every day except Monday, 7am to 7:30pm, selling the same kind of produce. My rule of thumb is to follow the locals when choosing a vendor: go to the place with the queue!
Both the Château and the gardens are worth a visit. To avoid queuing, it’s best to buy tickets in advance on the official website (in English, https://en.chateauversailles.fr). When I visited with friends recently we paid 20 EUR each for a Passport ticket which gives access to the château (‘palace’ in English on the website), the park and gardens and the Trianon. We spent about two hours visiting the château and as it was snowing (indeed! on the 1st of April!!) we didn’t visit the gardens nor the Trianon. We also had slight culture overload and needed a coffee break! But on a sunny day, it’s really lovely to have a picnic in the gardens (pick it up at the market on your way!), you can enjoy the views and people watch.
The ceiling and hanging chandeliers of the galerie des glaces in the Château de Versailles and some cheeky cherubs holding up a chandelier! (my photos)
If you’re looking for a good restaurant near the château as we were, I can recommend Chez Tiouiche, a couscous restaurant where I had a delicious quail tagine with prunes, dried apricots and almonds. You can book online (guestonline.fr) and the staff are very welcoming! I know, you would expect to eat at a French restaurant, especially in Versailles. But you’ve probably eaten French food quite a lot since your arrival, and couscous is generally considered as practically French anyway, due to the country’s colonial history in north Africa. The baklava-like pastries for dessert were super good too!
If you’re too full or too tired (or both!) to walk the 30 minutes back to the station, ask the staff at Chez Tiouiche to call you a taxi. Hop back on the train, and you’re back at the Gare Saint Lazare in 40 minutes. Having nurtured both mind and body!
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