Mother of crowds

a.k.a The Versailles Palace

When I first visited the palace 5 years ago at the end of October in the middle of the week, we (me and my sistah) just walked in. Literally just walked in :D Not even a one person queue. Obviously there were people waiting to buy a ticket and people inside the palace :) I'll stress that again: I just waked up to the security area, showed my ID (to prove I was under 18 to get in for free) and got into the palace in the middle of the day...

Oh how times have changed... Well maybe they haven't so drastically if you do go there on a weekday off-season. But we went on a Saturday in August (Boom! Pow! What? Are you crazy????? Why??? OMG???!!! Waste of a day etc etc etc). And since I am lazy bugger and not at all a morning person we got out of the flat at 9.30 :D (hey, it's only like half an hour journey + waiting for the train). The palace opened at 9 and all the suggestions and reviews online say get there EARLY! or late (although I would be too worried to not get enough time to visit the palace if plan to go there an hour before closing). So we got there about 10.15 and seeing the queue I immediately regretted not waking up earlier... Although I don't think it would've mattered that much, we still would've had to queue bc I don't believe for one second that we would've been the only geniuses getting there by 9... Luckily it was a nice cloudy day :) Otherwise I would've died :(

There is a lot of complaint on-line about this queue that it is badly managed, no access to water, not under a roof etc. Ummm yeah I agree BUT the biggest problem they have is that it is too popular and running in its maximum capacity. There weren't many people queueing up alone so why can't just one of you go into town (5 mins away) to get the precious water? Or better yet bring it with you before hand. There were loads of people eating either their homemade sandwiches or McDonalds burgers (again 5 mins walk away). Newsflash you don't have to starve there with your whole family, one or two or three of you could go and get some food, while someone is still in the queue holding a place for y'all. Then it is criticized that you make your own snake queue and there are no special ropes etc for that. How is that a problem? It makes it easier for one of you to leave the queue to get food and then come back! Makes queue jumping easier... well yeah BUT you have a big whole in your face that is capable of making sounds and if you're really lucky it'll even manage to utter a few words along the lines of "Excuse me! The end of the line is over there". We had one guy trying to join the queue behind us and the ladies who were initially behind us piped up and said that it isn't acceptable. And I for once didn't just watch it from distance but did say clearly that he wasn't with us when he claimed to be... And guess what happened? He left...

As with the rain or blazing hot sun. Do you really want them to build a roof over the huge courtyard? Blocking the view to the Palace? They could sell tickets with a time slot to control the queues and the crowds but can you imagine what'll happen then? I think it'll be sold out for months in advance. And what happens to all the under 26 European citizen who get in for free with no ticket. When can they go? Anytime? That could work though... :) Finally a suggestion that might actually be of use :) although that would mean the end of impulse decisions to visit the Palace...

By noon we were in :) So not that loooooooooooong of a queue :D I was expecting worse to be honest :D Inside is another nightmare -.- On one hand people are complaining that there is only 2 security gates and that's why the queues are long and on the other hand that there is far too many people in the Palace. Take a moment to think now... I came up with this: If there are for example 4 security gates the queueing time would be reduced by half (yay) BUT there'll be twice as many people inside (oh shit, health and safety blah blah blah). What the hell do you people want then? I think 2 security gates are sufficient having to shove my way from room to room inside the palace... (I'll add some pics soon I hope). Oh and the audioguide which is for free (yay) is pretty crap :D I personally can't remember anything that was said there - I didn't have any room to listen to it anywhere either... And in my humble opinion... I'm not impressed with the Palace of Versailles at all. Not really worth the hassle :( The rooms are too empty (mostly filled with paintings or sculptures) for my taste. This time I think I managed to see some more furniture than 5 years ago :D So unless you really really really really want to go, I'd suggest avoiding it in the high season you wont miss much ;)

Now the Trianon and the Queens Hamlet is a totally different story that I'll tell you tomorrow coz I think this post is getting a bit long ;)

Ttyl ;)
Jazzz...