Day 19

18 October 2022

We were awakened by a scratching sound on our bedroom door at 7.30am, then the door was opened and a comely maid carrying a lantern entered our boudoir with our morning milk of almonds to get the day under way. A traditional start to the King’s day. No one knocks as that is rude, hence the scratching.

We rolled our selves down to breakfast, rejected the offer of eggs and got stuck to the pastries and coffee. At least here they do great coffees, but overall the French don’t even do middle of the road coffees. It always tastes burnt.

We were out the door at 9.40 for our visit to The Grand Trianon. It was Louis XIV’s home away from home. He used it to escape from the Palace confines and have some “me” time. It also housed his mistress. As a royal building it was still over the top, but not on such a grand scale as the Palace.

It was been used to accommodate visiting dignitaries previously, such as President Kennedy and Jackie, but these days it is fully open to the public. It was another interesting private tour before the crowds came in. There were only 6 of us this morning.

Back at the hotel we had some time to kill before lunch, so we caught up on photos and social media. As we had lunch as part of our package we could not refuse. What we forgot is that the canapes and amuse bouche come as standard and all up there were 4 of those. But we did only have 2 other courses and rejected desert. A glass of bubbles was mandatory. The lunch was outstanding, another visual and taste sensation. But oh, we are so full. We definitely cancelled out of afternoon tea.

After lunch we booked in to use the golf carts on offer to explore the grounds of the Palace. With over 2,000 acres of gardens to explore it is the only sensible option. I must say we did feel a little guilty passing all those visitors on foot. One lot tried to hitch a ride, but we were not going their way (at least that is what we told them !!).

It was a terrific afternoon. We stopped where we wanted to explore more on foot, as the carts had a set route. We spent a lot of time exploring the Queens Gardens, where Marie Antionette had a village constructed to emulate a real life rural community. It was her escape from Palace life which depressed her. It is quite a surreal place. One of the hotel staff described it as Barbie’s play village.

The weather, although overcast, was clear of rain. It is not cold at all. So, when we retuned, it only seemed fitting to lounge on the terrace and have another champagne, so we did. The staff are very accommodating and very relaxed, so the atmosphere is not at all stuffy. They seem to enjoy the role play that they undertake.

Our outing tonight is back to the Palace to visit the Queen’s rooms. There are a whole new bunch of people in, and it would seem that one night stays are the norm. The Queen in question is Marie Antionette, and we had the same guide we had this morning. We were able to walk to the Palace this evening as it wasn’t raining, which was great to see it all lit up. It was as before quite dark inside, so hard to get any great pictures, but the Hall of Mirrors was again sparkling. It was once a terrace between the King and Queen wings, which was subsequently closed in.

All the tours have given us a great overview of the Palace and in an intimate and well explained way. The walk back in the dark was lovely with all the Palace lit up.

Now for dinner. We have elected A la Carte instead of the feast menu, just to try and cut down a bit on the food intake. I ordered an Entrée and main and Kirsty a main and dessert. Again, we received 4 canapes, a mushroom soup and bread before my entrée. When it came, they thought Kirsty would be lonely, so they brought her an entrée of foie gras. Our mains were the same which was a huge veal rib for 2, cut and served at the table with to die for mash and greens. Kirsty had a crepe suzette for desert, and because they thought I would be lonely they did a serving for 2…..why did we even bother. Ah, we also had a desert amuse bouche, plus chocolates and madeleines. Frankly, we should have turned up, ordered nothing and still had a sufficient meal with all the add-ons.

We leave tomorrow, but check out is 12 noon, so we have a morning tour first. It has been great here, thoroughly spoilt, but we are looking forward to Paris.