I woke up to an amazing sunrise in the window at Maison Eugenie which I photographed. These memories we have, now we have the images forever. We can never lose them. It was 6 am.
I sat reading a copy of French Vogue someone had left on the metro. I will study it later to learn all the vocabulary. I was also watching French music videos. One was about an airline host stealing someone else’s woman. I downloaded a song by Miki called ‘Pik’ which will be a memory of the trip.
At half seven I checked out of the hotel and then I called on the telephone at the station for help buying tickets to Versaille.
The train journey was excellent. I had a great view of the Eiffel tower and its environs as well as the pretty architecture of the houses that was around. Travelling on a train is something I have always enjoyed. It would be great to travel all over Europe on train. The trains are great in that they also have charging points!
At Versailles first thing, I stopped at the Orangerie de Monsieur where I ordered two cakes:
Moka chocolate breakfast
Molleuse Chocolate for takeaway
The Moka chocolate was fine but the real winner was the Molleuse which I devoured at tea time after lunch. The Orangerie looked very pretty with all the cakes spread out. French food is beautiful.
The town of Versailles was also alluring and exquisite. It was a chance to see a town outside of Paris for a change. There was a charming marketplace that I sent into before I turned into the tree flanked avenue that led into the Chateau de Versailles.
The first stop was the garden. The French Visitor Experience Assistant lady had a charming conversation with me before I went in and then the adventure began with these small mazes surrounded by topiary. It was an amazing sight to see the garden with the lake spread out before me. There were so many beautiful sculptures and fountains and the fountain show was on too so there was beautiful music filling the space. I took an amazing shot of two women holding hands standing on two posts while a third woman was between them (on their phone as I had offered). A woman took some photographs of me on request at the fountain too.
My favourite space was the geometrical arrangement but also the freer garden with flowers and I also liked the charming avenues through the hedges which gave a coolness of shade. I got there early so it was quiet in the beginning but everything started filling up with people.
Lunch was a ham and cheese and salad baguette in a tasteful cream room with a high ceiling and the class of Versailles to it.
Then Versailles. It took forty five minutes lining up to get in. The magnificence was breathtaking though. There can be nothing to rival its scale and glamour. It was an immersion into an alternative universe of the super rich and the powerful. A favourite painting there was Gaston la Touche’s ‘Fete de Nuit’.
It had been three days at full speed. I was tired so took a few comfort breaks but had to walk to a station through the park for about twenty minutes. I managed to relax on the train journey which was another double decker tube!
At the Gare du Nord I got food at a Chinese restaurant near the station. It was fried rice, spicy shrimp and spicy chicken. Delicious. The shrimp were enormous and succulent, really special. The best I’ve had at a Chinese restaurant. I washed it all down with a Cherry Coke.
Back to the Gare du Nord charging my phone. Then, at the last minute, my energy having fully restored after a good rest of one and a half hours, I decided to explore the area to get to the bookshop I found on Google, the Libraire du Canal. I was rushing so much I got lost and ended up asking strangers to the station! I was five minutes late for the suggested time as a result but it was better than being stuck!
In the lounge I watched Hindi Instagram posts. Then on the train home, I made some phone calls and watched France as the sun set.
Such an energetic and full three days in Paris. I will go again. I love it! The first holiday I have booked and planned by myself in my life and it beat all expectations. I’m proud of myself with this hard won freedom, sense of adventure, independence and the organisational skills I have got for myself.
diary of a lone man 