Grandiose Palace of the Sun King

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There's one word to describe Chateau de Versailles: WOW

Versailles was built when Louis XIV, the "Sun King", decided that the Louvre was too small to fit his ginormous ego. I can understand why the peasants were a trifle miffed at the Royal family! Its gaudy rooms and huge formal gardens are a must-see on any trip to Paris. Words can't describe what it's like, you really have to see it to believe it. My favourite part was the Queen's Hamlet, a Disneyland-ish oasis of rustic rural beauty that was given to Marie Antoinette.

As we were walking in the park, a young guy who looked like your average tourist, came up to us and said "excuse me, do you speak English?"
"Yes", we politely replied.
"Can you help me? I need one euro".
"Oh. Why do you need one euro?" Here I was thinking maybe he lost his wallet or something. I'm generally a trusting person, and have been in a few scrapes when travelling when I've been very grateful for the kindness of strangers, so I was willing to help him out.
He wouldn't give an answer, just repeated the question, and eventually he said "umm, for food and stuff". He would have had to pay to get in there, and came across very dodgy, so we said "no" and walked away.
Over the next few days, especially round the tourist areas, we had many people ask us if we spoke English. We learnt pretty quickly that just saying "No!" and giving them a dirty look did the trick. I found out later this is a common scam, and they often pick your pockets or grab your wallets if you stop to talk to them. So just a warning for any naive Kiwis travelling in Europe!

In the evening we took a bottle of bubbly on a cruise down the Seine. The banks and bridges were busy with people enjoying the warm summer's evening. The buildings were beautifully lit... and we were mooned by a group of young men. It doesn't get much more romantic than that!

We had a very late dinner on the way home that pretty much consisted of five kinds of cheese and a bottle of red. I say there's no point denying yourself when you're on holiday 😉

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Photos

Golden Gates
George was unimpressed with the line to get in. At least we bought our tickets over the internet, because the line to buy them was twice as long.

The Hall of Mirrors
The Treaty of Versailles was signed here, 28 June 1919

The Queen's Chamber
You can just see the little door next to the jewel case that Marie Antoinette used to escape the rioters in 1789.

The Battles Gallery
Depictions of great [url=http://www.albinoblacksheep.com/text/victories.html]French military victories[/url]