Carrés Notre Dame & Versailles Palace

Last Sunday was exhausting, with a day's walk at Versailles' market and less than half of the Palace's area.

The basket icon points to Carrés Notre Dame. It is literally a square, hence carré. The entire green portion is the area of the Palace. 

We were determined to check out the fresh produce market before our visit to the Palace, since we've been grocery shopping in Carrefour all this while. Looking at these displays certainly brightened my morning!

Prices here are not exactly competitive to the Supermarkets, nontheless, their variety and freshness sure surpass their big competitors.

Spice stall

And the packaging is so neat and pretty....

Rabbit meat, whole and parts

 Bright pretty flowers that made my day........

 A very crowded bakery along Rue de Pain. The macaroons and pastries look oh so delicious....yum yum...

 

So tempted by the pastries, that I just wanted to check out the golden gates at the Palace.

Courtyard of Versailles Palace

Versailles Palace is one of the world's largest Palace, covering some 2000 acres including the gardens. We did realised that we were a little ambitious thinking we could cover its grounds with a day passport. With a day's time, we only covered the Castle, Grand and Petit Trianon and Marie-Antoinette's estate. I supposed we have to come again if we really want to cycle around the gardens, or go for a leisurely picnic.

The covered floor space in the Palace's buildings is not too extensive. In fact, the tour through the palace is only 1 way which took us about 2 hours after listening to all the audios. We were initially frustrated with the 1-way guided tour, as it is so restrictive with the crowd! But after the tour, we realised what may probably be the reason. The Palace has so many secret passages, that visitors could really get lost if we were allowed to run loose on our own.

Chapel at the 1st floor

A small part of the garden from the Palace

Still the Chapel, at the 2nd Floor

Decorations at the Hall of Mirrors

 There are performances in the hall periodically, so     it will be good to check their performance website before you plan your visit. After all, this hall was used to receive guests.

US in the reflections

The Queen's Bed

 One of the secret passages from the Queen's room to the King's: Through a door to the left of the bed.

The King & Queen's supper room

The semi-circle of stools were for duchesses to sit and watch the Royal family eat? That was what I heard from the audio...

We stopped half-way from the Palace to Grand Trianon to have lunch. There are many eating options within the Palace's compounds, from within the castle, small kiosks in the garden, next to the Canal. So there's no need to worry about lunch when you are within the Palace.

Doreen, our friend from Germany...enjoying her ice-cream...

The Queen's Hamlet

The Hamlet is part of Marie-Antoninette's estate. This is about 30 mins on foot from the Castle, still within the main estate. Totally worthwhile to set aside time for.

This place really feels like the queen's private escape from the royal pomp. I'll really love to live here too, with the serenity and peace....

A very fat pig indeed, and each animal has got a name....

We had a great show watching the attendant chasing the animals into the barn for closing.

For more information pertaining to Versailles and the Palace, below are the links to the website. You can purchase your tickets on-line for the Palace, and they might have offers from time to time. Further, there are fountain shows, musical and other shows in different seasons, so it pays to plan early and keep a lookout on their performance calendar.

http://www.versailles-tourisme.com/ 

http://www.chateauversaillesspectacles.fr/home.php