The Palace of Versailles

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(Part two)- Click here to read part one

I cannot say enough about the fun we had on our cycling trip to the grounds of Versailles. Strangely, the summer heat did not discourage us at all. But getting the right guide is most important - you do not want to end up with a boring one!



Managed to explore Versailles town and its marketplace... walking through its alleys and take picturesque photographs was really relaxing after a long cycle...


One of Versailles's quaint alleys..


How can you not enter a beautiful shop smartly dressed like this? I spy a little sign that says "SOLDES"!


A coffee roasterie? Someone spent quite a long time here... And blew 200 Euros buying freshly roasted Kilimanjaro! :P Me? I won't!


No... no el fresco dining today, as we are having a picnic by the canals of Versailles later on!


Versailles' marketplace. After picking up stuff for our picnic basket, we continued cycling to the Palace of Versailles!


Ned's bike, with a crateful of our picnic grubs. Ned was our cycle guide for the day.


And we set off to explore the palace and grounds of Versailles. Cycling in this country setting, with birds chirping cheerfully, really reminded me of this clip below...





Ned explaining to us, the history of Versailles. He was very knowledgeable about the reign of Louis XVI, although he is actually Californian! LOL.


Marie Antoinette's hamlet!


This was the "kampung" side of Marie Antoinette... She did a "Simple Life" ala Paris Hilton here behind the grand palace!


We moved on...




The Petit Trianon... Louis XVI's gift to this wife Marie Antoinette...


OK... let's head for the hubby's summer palace now...


The Grand Trianon... with a generous spread of pink marble from Italy!


After a lengthy talk about the Grand Trianon by Ned, we were ready for our picnic by the Grand Canal!


Our picnic spot at the far end of the Grand Canal... At the other end of the canal, is the Chateau. This, by the way, is a man made canal, dating back to the days of Loius XVI!


Everyone getting ready to sit down for the picnic...


A native boy at play by the canal...


Part of our picnic basket...


En. Arip taking in the sight...


A zoomed-in view of the Chateau, from our picnic spot. This spot was Mr & Mrs. Marie Antoinette's favourite, too... They spent their free time admiring the grandeur of the Chateau...


My bottle of yogurt...






The bicycles taking their rest... This was just the first half of the day... We had many more kilometers to cover!

Click here to read the part three!