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Post by Oz-T on Mar 25, 2015 23:47:35 GMT
Day 20 – Nemours, Troyes & Versailles
Instead of the same breakfast offerings for a fifth day in a row, we checked out of the hotel and headed out of Nemours and headed east. Our plan was to stop for breakfast at an Autogrille alongside the motorway and that’s exactly what we did. Croissants and orange juices cost only €8 and it wasn’t long before we returned to the drive. A little later we pulled into a fuel station and topped up the tank, then went inside the cafe and topped up ourselves with a mid-morning coffee. We were enjoying this process – Mrs Oz was pleased with all the destinations we had been to and by this stage we had become reasonably adept at our respective tasks of driving and navigation. This is one reason why I have a detailed grasp of what we spent. Without the task of driving, or needing to spend much time now on navigation, I had been maintaining a spreadsheet on my i-Pad where I entered amounts and details whenever we spent euros. It took only a few seconds, usually while in the car, and I never had to sift through paper receipts. And Bruce the GPS guy had become my best friend; we got along just fine. The road took us further east onto the E511 Motorway and eventually another dreaded toll point. Well, I suppose the €9.20 wasn’t too bad (yesterday’s tolls were €19.90) and I had in fact allowed for road tolls in our travel budget. I took a photo of a tour bus as we passed it on the motorway and we began discussing how we had gone so well this time, doing our own driving and tour directing. We have now returned to the Champagne-Ardenne region of France and another 125km drive north, would take us a full-circle into Reims. But that’s not where we’re going – our last destination on this circuit is the city of Troyes, and we rolled into the centre late morning. Troyes is a very old city, established in Roman times when several important roads led here. Many of these roads were built in Gaul by Marcus Agrippa, under instructions by Octavian. Some were ‘salt roads’ – used to transport the valuable commodity of salt throughout empires. Salt was vital to preserve food, and therefore a key element in the development of civilisation. Being ‘worth your salt’ or ‘salt of the earth’ became a description of wealth or value. It was here at Troyes in 451 AD that Attila the Hun arrived on his wrecking tour of Gaul (remember Metz and Reims?). He was met by Bishop Lupus who (assuming the story is true) impressed Attila so much that he spared the city and found somewhere else to plunder. Canal, Troyes Never heard of Troyes? Well, maybe you have, if only indirectly. Ever heard of the ‘Troy Ounce’, the weight measurement of gold? It’s not referring to the Trojan city in Turkey; it’s actually the ‘Troyes Ounce’. A system of weighing precious metals was developed in Northern Europe and became popular, especially at the Champagne Fairs. Each year, six towns in the Champagne region would host trade fairs that brought merchants from all over Europe. Troyes was one of these towns and it’s believed that this is where the name for the weight measure originated. Hotel de Ville - The Town Hall We parked the car and began to explore this old city which like so many others on our trip, never appears on the itinerary of most tour companies. Mrs Oz asked me what the river was called and I replied, “The Seine”. Yes, it’s the same river we photographed at Rouen but we’re a long way upstream, with Paris in between. Our first stop was the Cathedral St Pierre St Paul. I know that many cathedrals look similar, but I like visiting them; it gives me a sort of feel for the city. The size, shape, colours and interior tell me a little about the type of people who built and used it. A previous cathedral sat on this site and it’s where King Louis the Stammerer was crowned by the pope in 878 AD (he had already had an official coronation the year before at Reims). I imagine that his acceptance speech lasted 15 hours .... Inside were the various artworks and features you expect of many churches. There was also a dedication to Joan of Arc who had worshipped here in 1429 with King Charles VII en-route to his coronation at Reims. Then it was time for the main attraction: a stroll through the old centre of Troyes. And it’s like you’ve been transported back in time to the 1500s. Many of the buildings are what they call ‘half timbered’. This means that they built the timber frame, and then filled the gaps with various types of ‘filler’, leaving the frame still exposed. It’s a great experience to see row after row of these charming buildings, still intact but put to a modern use. Many buildings have their top floor protruding beyond the first. This is most likely because they taxed building according to the area of the ground floor. Building them with overlapping upper floors was a logical response to gain floor space. I never thought I’d see evidence of rampant tax evasion on this trip, so you never know what your travels might reveal. We dropped into a cafe to have our lunch, which turned out to be burgers and fries. As we ate I consulted my maps and guidebook that was loaded on my i-Pad and I knew we were just metres from our next destination: Ruelle des Chats. Taking Mrs Oz by the hand, I led her down Rue Champeaux (where the many outdoor cafes are) until we found it: Alley of the Cats. It’s pretty much the way it was four centuries ago: dark, narrow (if you stand with your arms outstretched you touch the walls) and the houses appear to touch way up at the top. Cats used to easily hop from one roof to another here, hence the name. Ruelle des Chats; Troyes The other end of Ruelle des Chats opens a bit wider. The rocks were placed there for pedestrians to stand on while horses passed. They wouldn’t have got more than one horse at a time through the other end of the alley; there’s not enough room there to swing a cat. I was planning to prove that but declined to do so for two reasons: Mrs Oz said it would be cruel; and it was too high up there to capture one of those damn cats. We spent a bit of the afternoon walking around, taking in the sights of this interesting city and shopping at a couple of markets. Then it was back to the car and finishing our wide arc of the regional towns and cities around Paris. It was now time to finally return to the capital. Driving west now along the E511 Motorway, we connected to the A5 and after a couple of hours we arrived at the leafy town of Versailles – or more precisely, the suburb of Versailles. As it’s only 17km from the heart of Paris, urban sprawl has joined to this former village. We stopped at a store to buy a salad and sliced meats, then located our hotel and ate dinner in our room, finished with some red wine. Our tour of regional France had now ended and there were just a few days left in Paris. And from our hotel location you can easily guess what we would be visiting tomorrow.
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Post by californian on Mar 26, 2015 4:56:13 GMT
I am surprised Peter the Great did no appreciate the palace, for what I have read, Russia was very much a backwards and unsophisticated country at that time and immediately after his visit to France he started building copying the grand palaces he saw on his travel, and he also brought cutlery to Russia and tough the court how to use it. And mandate that everyone speak French as well, as we know. Thank you Oz, for showing us a part the France we heard so much about it, but very few get to see on tours.
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Post by Oz-T on Mar 26, 2015 11:30:47 GMT
No surprises with tomorrow's destination....
We arrive at the Palace of Versailles, arguably the most spectacular palace in the history of mankind.
We explore the palace interior and the vast gardens...
And delve into the history of how a king exiled his own mother...
Then we experience a major navigation problem...
And get into a confusing French conversation ....
Then finally settle down and relax in Paris....
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Post by tiffany on Mar 26, 2015 11:49:54 GMT
It's amazing how simple it works, Tiffany. The main meal at lunch allows the processed carbohydrates to be utilised by the body. If you consume them at dinner they're not needed whilst sleeping soon afterward so the body stores them as fat. We like bread, pasta, rice and potatoes, but now we try to not eat them later than lunch. Sometimes you have to break the rules a bit, such as when you're at a restaurant or somebody's house, but we mainly stick to our routine. My naturopath told me that we should never have a big meal after 3:00 p.m., and only small, healthy snacks in the evening to keep our sugar levels stable. That way, you have time to burn all of the calories you’ve eaten during the day, and won’t be going to bed on a full stomach. It’s actually really easy to do once you get used to it, and as I go to bed early during the week, I prefer having a small snack in the evening as compared to a big meal. Pasta, pizza and chips (hot and cold) are my vices, and I really need to cut back on those items. I started eating brown rice pasta a few years ago, but I’m going to try squash spaghetti this weekend. Fortunately for me, sweets are not my thing, so I don’t need to worry about that.
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Post by Oz-T on Mar 26, 2015 22:50:23 GMT
Exactly the same advice I received from several sources, including two doctors, Tiffany. The idea is to not overdo the afternoon and evening carbs, especially those that swiftly convert to blood sugars. Like you, I'm not much into desserts, so I rarely load up on sweet meals at the worst time - as the last course after dinner.
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Post by chech on Mar 26, 2015 23:37:04 GMT
Unless one is in the Yucatan where it's 38 degrees and all you crave is salt....<munch><munch><munch>
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Post by Oz-T on Mar 27, 2015 1:15:27 GMT
Hmmm... 38 degrees C .... a typical hot summer's day, huh? We'd react to that by wearing a hat & sunscreen outside, limit outdoors exercise until it had cooled to maybe a nice 32C, and cook the evening meal in the outside BBQ in the shade. It makes the news headlines when it gets over 40C, especially when it hits 45C. So what's the problem? Oh, yes.... of course! It's a bit hard to deal with if you come from any of the following areas: Iceland, Greenland, North Pole, Siberia, Antarctica, Newfoundland.
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Post by chech on Mar 27, 2015 2:41:57 GMT
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Post by Oz-T on Mar 27, 2015 3:08:04 GMT
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Post by purvis on Mar 27, 2015 3:19:51 GMT
Oz: it's not nice to insult we Canuks. We love our winters especially if it is in another province. Newfoundland and Labrador has had a terrible winter and the rest of Canada feels for them as we do the northeastern USA especially the city of Boston. It seems that some of these places may not be snow free until sometime in May. The problem of getting away for a week or two to a warmer climate is that one has to return home to the snow and ice. Purvis
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Post by chech on Mar 27, 2015 3:33:33 GMT
Come to think of it...I haven't seen a single cat. Naked Mayans...yes. Cats...no. This pic will keep me warm in the winter.
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Post by travelfever on Mar 27, 2015 4:52:01 GMT
I'm thoroughly enjoying reading about your trip Oz-T especially France as it brings back vivid memories of 2 Insight tours. I did some research and knew about Alley of the Cats in Troyes. I discovered this little entrance which lead into a courtyard and remarkable restaurant which unfortunately was closed. Truly a hidden gem as the travel brochures would say.
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Post by Oz-T on Mar 27, 2015 11:26:50 GMT
Fair point, Purvis. If it gets below 10C here we complain about how bitterly cold it is. You Canadians are probably out there wearing T-shirts....
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Post by Oz-T on Mar 27, 2015 11:28:37 GMT
I'm thoroughly enjoying reading about your trip Oz-T especially France as it brings back vivid memories of 2 Insight tours. I did some research and knew about Alley of the Cats in Troyes. I discovered this little entrance which lead into a courtyard and remarkable restaurant which unfortunately was closed. Truly a hidden gem as the travel brochures would say. It sure helps to research things properly, Travelfever. It pays off when you leave a place and know you've seen plenty.
Glad you're enjoying the trip summary!
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Post by chech on Mar 27, 2015 11:32:25 GMT
Fair point, Purvis. If it gets below 10C here we complain about how bitterly cold it is. You Canadians are probably out there wearing T-shirts.... Come to think of it...I was out the day before I left. The sun was out and it was -6 with a -17 windchill...and my jacket was open, I had no hat and no gloves on. I felt like someone was going to come up to me and say...okay, you're cool...now do up your jacket.
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Post by tiffany on Mar 27, 2015 11:56:06 GMT
Fair point, Purvis. If it gets below 10C here we complain about how bitterly cold it is. You Canadians are probably out there wearing T-shirts.... Oz, I grew up in Northern Ontario, where the average winter temperature is -25 and it can get down to -40, and I still complain about the cold when it gets below -10 in Toronto. Of course, it’s very damp in Toronto, so the cold goes right through you, and I just don’t like the cold!
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Post by Oz-T on Mar 28, 2015 2:34:57 GMT
Day 21 – Versailles & Paris
For the last time on this tour there were no nearby places to eat so we had breakfast at the Ibis Hotel. We had to return the rental car later today so we took some time to ensure that nothing was left in any compartments before checking out of the hotel and driving a short distance to our morning destination: Château de Versailles (the Palace of Versailles).
What I am about to describe here will already be known by many people who have visited the palace. It’s one of the most visited attractions of Paris with 5 million people a year walking through the gate, yet we had never seen it until now. In eight visits to Paris, we either didn’t have time, or our spare day always happened to be a Monday when the palace is closed. This time, we were determined to make it happen and had even purchased our tickets via the internet (€25 each) a few months earlier. We would be also meeting there with Mrs Oz’s friend who lives in London, and was visiting Paris with a family member from Australia.
With the assistance of the ever-reliable Bruce the GPS, we found the main carpark and got a good spot because we were early. It was worth the €10. We walked over a massive paved area and groaned in dismay when we saw the length of the queue. The gates don’t open until 9am but even arriving at 7:45am doesn’t get you near them. I guess that’s how it goes if you’re one of 16,000 people wanting to visit on a single day and Mrs Oz didn’t agree with my strategy of setting up a mock guillotine at the gate to scare off the majority of the queue. It could have been worse; anybody without a ticket would have to go to a separate queue at the ticket office on the left, and then return to the end of the main queue.
If you’ve never been to this palace, you will be gobsmacked by it. If you have visited here before, you’ll also be gobsmacked by it. It’s the kind of grandeur that sort of sweeps you up into a state of awe. You end up staring at things, knowing that they’re real, but still amazed that they are there. The overwhelming feeling I got was that this was the most extravagant palace ever built, and that so few people were entitled to even visit it when it was occupied by royalty.
So let’s begin with my attempt to adequately describe the Palace of Versailles.
Whilst it’s only 17km out of Paris, Versailles is located on a small plateau that sits about 100 metres above the level of Paris. It was well forested and attracted the interest of King Louis XIII who built a hunting lodge around 1632. Louis was born at Fontainebleau in 1601 and as he became king before nine years of age his mother, Marie de’ Medici, acted as regent. There’s no easy way to put this: she was stubborn, surly and stupid. She blundered through the regency period until her son took control in 1617 and exiled his mother to the Château de Blois (that we had recently visited). Marie escaped from this luxury confinement a couple of years later and eventually resumed her place at court. But she kept interfering, making an enemy of the king’s adviser, Cardinal Richelieu.
This came to a head on the ‘Day of the Dupes’ when Marie issued an ultimatum: her or Richelieu. She and the other enemies of the cardinal began to celebrate their victory, only to be stunned when the young king sided with his trusted adviser and exiled his troublesome, meddling mother.
But I digress. Unlucky 13 intervened when Louis XIII died of tuberculosis at the young age of 41. His four-year old son Louis XIV then became king for a very long time – in fact over 72 years, a record still standing for a monarch of any significant European country. He must’ve had some premonition about longevity because he decided to turn his father’s hunting lodge into the grandest palace and presumably planned to spend many years enjoying it. The creation of the Palace of Versailles is without question intertwined with the career of Louis XIV, arguably the greatest king of France. During his long reign he transformed France and Europe. France replaced Spain as the dominant power and French replaced Latin as the main language. And importantly, he reformed the taxation laws to transform the bankrupt treasury into a robust reservoir of funds. He had a belief that the king was absolute ruler and sought to strenuously enforce that. Louis disliked Paris and it’s not surprising that he began building Versailles Palace in 1664. What happened next was an extraordinary building campaign to create this incredible property.
By 1682 enough of the palace had been built for Louis to transfer his court there. And he took along 5,000 nobles to live there (and another 5,000 nearby), forcing them to pay expensive rent to do so. He not only reduced their power, but got them to finance him in the process. Everything depended on their status; sometimes nobles were allocated basic rooms which were not good enough, causing them to rent rooms outside the palace whilst still paying high rent to be near the king and France’s new central power base. Louis had achieved total control.
Our entry tickets provided access to the palace and the gardens. You need to pay extra if you wish to visit some of the outer buildings such as the Trianons and the Ménagerie. Once the gates opened the long queue moved reasonably well, but you wouldn’t really want to be arriving after 9am.
Inside, the ornate fittings and decorations hit you immediately. No wall space is plain. The ceilings are completely decorated. There’s an abundance of gold, marble, porcelain, glass and oak. You simply gawk ... and keep gawking for the next hour as each room reveals its splendour.
The Hall of Mirrors especially interested me because of its history. It’s an impressive hall and the mirrors would have cost a fortune.
Hall of Mirrors
Back in the 1600s mirrors were expensive and rare because only Venice had the skills and monopoly. To get around this, they lured several Venetian craftsmen to Versailles to manufacture mirrors for this great hall. A legend arose that the city of Venice later sent ‘hit-men’ to France to poison the workers.
Hall of Mirrors The royal bedroom apartments are located on the other side of the left wall of the hall and Louis XIV would therefore make a grand walk every morning down the Hall of Mirrors on his way to the chapel. There was always an enormous deal whenever Louis XIV did anything - his waking up and getting dressed were made into big events that required an audience to bask in his glory. He was known as The Sun King.
It was in the Hall of Mirrors that the armistice was signed to end World War 1. The stringent requirements of that document humbled Germany and became a cause for which Adolf Hitler fought against in his quest to seize power.
Queen's bedroom
After seeing all the interior of the palace, we went through the exit and sat awhile, watching the queue that was awaiting entry. Eventually we spotted our friend from London and we chatted for some time. Then it was off to the palace gardens which are vast and spectacular. It has canals, fountains, statues, gardens and piped classical music emanating from speakers hidden in trees.
Fountain
You could easily spend a whole day exploring the gardens; they are so extensive (800 hectares) and ornate, with many grottoes worth seeing. Set aside several kilometres of walking if you want to see it all.
And how would we sum up Louis XIV as a king? He was neither well educated or greatly intelligent, but he sure had a lot of commonsense and good taste. He brought good order and law to France and hired the best people to manage things for him. Sadly, he failed to protect Protestants from persecution. But he restored the monarchy to the centre of French life, and did so in the grandest and expensive style imaginable. We left the palace, absolutely satisfied with what we had seen. It’s one of those places that probably needs a second or third visit to take it all in via instalments. But it was now time to get moving because we had to return our rental car.
Rather than drive across all of Paris to the airport where we collected the car, our plan was to return it to the Europcar depot in nearby Montparnasse. We arrived at Gare Montparnasse in a few minutes, and the area around the station is enormous. But finding the rental company was no easy matter. When I had asked that Europcar guy at De Gaulle Airport he had told me to just look for the signs, but we drove around and around for 30 minutes with no such sign visible. Eventually I ran into a cafe to ask directions. They had no idea. Then some more driving and searching.
I popped into a hotel, thinking they should know where to find the car rental companies. “Errrr... not sure, Monsieur. Are you driving zee car now?” “No, my wife is. Bruce and I are trying to find Europcar” “Bruce? He is a local, no?” “No, we brought him with us from Australia” “Ahh, so he is zee back-seat driver!” “No, he sits on my lap while we drive, so I can press his buttons” “This is unusual, even by French standards, Monsieur” “No, you don’t understand, he’s always with us so he doesn’t get taken away by anyone. We take him into our hotel room at night. He’s really useful for someone you never have to feed” “He stays in your room?” “Sure. He spends the whole night sitting beside us on the table while we’re in bed” “Sacré bleu! We would call this a bit kinky, Monsieur” “Huh? Forget Bruce, how do I find Europcar?” “You will need to go into the gare (station). And you should buy Bruce some food there” “Err.. ok. Merci; Au revoir”
I walked back to the car, wondering why the hotel clerk was looking stunned and shaking his head. Sometimes these French people don’t make sense.
We drove closer to the station and parked. Mrs Oz stayed with the car while I went off, searching for Europcar. After a dozen stops to ask for directions in broken French, I eventually went down a station platform and up some stairs until I found an obscure area with a few car rental company offices. Walking into Europcar I encountered a new problem: a small queue of people. I was happy to wait my turn but after half an hour the two clerks were still chatting to their customers about insurance waivers etc. I tried to politely interrupt with a simple question about where I should return the car, because it sure wasn’t here on the upstairs floor of a railway station. But how do you interrupt in fluent French? “Pardon, Madame” would have been a good start, but the rapid-fire French dialogue going on didn’t permit any openings. Do these people pause for breath? After 40 minutes I was concerned that Mrs Oz was worried what had happened to me, but I finally got to ask my question. They simply handed me a piece of paper with the exact address on it and said it was easy to locate by the sign. If I’d been a bit rude earlier I could have avoided this long wait.
Returning to the car I explained my ordeal whilst feeding the address into Bruce. Maybe that hotel clerk should be told that he’s finally been fed. We found the nearby street well enough, but we still couldn’t find the exact spot. In desperation, Mrs Oz double parked while I searched on foot. I found it. The sign was the size of a postal envelope and so obscured from the road that it was useless. I waved Mrs Oz over and into what appeared to be an underground parking station. Eventually we descended to the lowest floor and saw the Europcar signs. The entire process took more than two hours and was ridiculously avoidable. Obviously, that Europcar guy at the airport had no idea where we were to leave the car and should have admitted it.
A guy came over and inspected the car and we were soon off. The car had been fantastic and the key to being able to have this magnificent self-tour. But we didn’t want the stress of driving in the busy streets of Paris and had ended up doing just that. We were relieved to finally be free of the car as we walked into the streets of Paris with just our luggage. The long delays had meant that we had missed lunch altogether so we stopped at a cafe and had a croque monsieur (grilled ham & cheese on toast) and a cup of coffee. It was mid afternoon and we began to relax after the navigational mishaps that dominated the past three hours.
The Paris Metro was a familiar and welcome sight to us – we now felt right at home finding our way on this means of transport. We boarded a train and headed toward Gare du Nord, swapping to a different line and heading to the northern suburbs. Upon exit from the train we walked a distance to our hotel for the next four nights. Beside the hotel was a McDonalds and there was no hesitation in having a quick and easy small burger dinner there before returning to the hotel for a relaxing bottle of red wine. Our tour was nearing a conclusion.
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Post by purvis on Mar 28, 2015 3:39:36 GMT
Oz: I'm a bit confused but I always thought that the armistice of WW1 was signed in a railroad car and that's why Hitler shamed the French by having them sign the surrender of France in WW2 in the same railway car. Please correct me and let me know the real history of these two events. Love your tale and waiting for your tale of your stay in Paris. Purvis
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Post by Oz-T on Mar 28, 2015 3:59:31 GMT
Yes, you're quite right, Purvis; it was signed in a rail car in Compiegne. That merely ceased the fighting. The formal peace treaty that followed the armistice (that I was supposed to be referring to) was signed in the Hall of Mirrors.
Hitler disliked all of it, including the armistice and where it was agreed. But the thing he used most in his propaganda was that the treaty was causing massive economic damage to Germany. He was probably right on that aspect, but that still wasn't a valid pretext for WW2.
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Post by purvis on Mar 28, 2015 14:49:33 GMT
Oz: Thanks for clearing up my misunderstanding. I didn't know about the formal signing at Versailles. Awaiting your tale of Paris. It's starting to look like I may not get my London and Paris trip this upcoming fall so your tale will be all that more interesting for me. Purvis
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Post by 1jhwks on Mar 28, 2015 16:43:23 GMT
Double wow for your photos!!!! Why must all good things have to come to an end? Versailles is one place I wish we had gone to on our first European tour. It wasn't offered on our tour but we made an effort every chance we got telling our TD that we wished to go when we got to Paris. In the end, she didn't offered it to us but we saw how she had gotten transportation for another tourmates to go to Versailles. TD didn't get her full tip in the end. We didn't have time to go there on our own. She offered Louvre as optional.
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Post by purvis on Mar 28, 2015 18:57:50 GMT
Not too sure which I enjoyed the most Versailles or The Louvre. Both are amazing. Had planned on going to see both once again this coming Sept. but my plans have changed and this morning I have had to cancel all my arrangements. I must admit I am sad about this but also remember how lucky I have been over the past 8years to have taken 14 Trafalgar tours (11 of them to the UK and western Europe). At 80 years of age I really can't complain as I have seen the Alps, magnificent museums, art galleries, cathedrals, castles and many more sites that most folks never get to see. Purvis
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Post by Oz-T on Mar 28, 2015 22:40:23 GMT
I'm sorry to hear that, Purvis. You were so looking forward to this trip. I hope you're ok. Do you think there's a chance you'll be able to return to travel at a later time?
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Post by Oz-T on Mar 29, 2015 2:56:54 GMT
Double wow for your photos!!!! Why must all good things have to come to an end? Versailles is one place I wish we had gone to on our first European tour. It wasn't offered on our tour but we made an effort every chance we got telling our TD that we wished to go when we got to Paris. In the end, she didn't offered it to us but we saw how she had gotten transportation for another tourmates to go to Versailles. TD didn't get her full tip in the end. We didn't have time to go there on our own. She offered Louvre as optional. That's a shame, jhwks; sounds like the TD could have tried harder to get you to Versailles. However, it's too large a place to properly see in two or three hours and you would need to put aside at least half a day, and ideally a whole day to get the most out of it. I neglected to mention that the fountains don't operate the whole time the gardens are open. They have set times when they activate and this draws large crowds to watch and video-record them coming to life. The French are big on ceremony like the Brits.
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Post by purvis on Mar 29, 2015 3:01:35 GMT
Nothing wrong with me except my ego got bruised. I booked a hotel through Booking.com (London eye Riverside Apt. in London) only to have them put through a total debit on my credit card for the entire amount of my stay in Sept. then it seems they vanished and I'm stuck with a fairly large debit on my visa. Have been trying to get my credit card company to correct this problem but until they do I feel taken and when you're my age that hurts so I just cancelled the entire trip . I guess being my age we trust people and are devastated when we are scammed. I know there are evil people out in the world but this is the first time I have had to deal personally with them and it is hard to accept. Purvis
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Post by Oz-T on Mar 29, 2015 5:31:10 GMT
I can understand both the upset and the concern about being ripped off, Purvis, but I wouldn't call this a scam because I would would expect that Bookings.com is a reputable business. This sounds more like stuff-up than a scam.
If I understand this correctly, they've charged the entire cost now instead of a deposit. Sometimes that is how online hotel sales are made; I've made bookings with businesses like Expedia and been aware that I'm paying the full amount up front. Other times, my credit card hasn't been billed until I actually stayed at the hotel. Did you inadvertently purchase the accommodation in full?
If not, this should be resolved eventually. Big businesses do make mistakes and their reputation depends on fixing them to the satisfaction of the customer. If they don't do so, your bank or Visa should be able to reverse the billing - I once had to do this with my Visa card and it took a few weeks but all went ok. Hopefully you can then re-book that trip.
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wen
Junior Member
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Post by wen on Mar 29, 2015 8:51:35 GMT
Great read as always Oz I'm enjoying the history A couple of questions if you don't mind, if Versailles doesn't get offered as an optional what would be the best way (transport) to get there from Paris & how far ahead do you need to purchase tickets if I buy them online Thank you Look forward to hearing about Paris
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Post by Oz-T on Mar 29, 2015 9:24:05 GMT
Without a rental car, the train would be the best means of transport, Wen. There are two options.
RER Line C5 is the best way - it can be taken from the RER stations and takes you to Versailles-Rive-Gauche station and you would then walk perhaps 700metres to the palace gates. Trains run maybe every 15 minutes so this is the best way to go. Remember, Versailles is now an outer suburb of Paris so the journey is probably only 10-15 minutes.
I think the SNCF trains will also go there, but the RER trains will be far easier and frequent. If you're unsure about the difference between the Metro, RER and SNCF train systems, just ask.
As for ticket purchases, I wouldn't be too troubled about buying them too early. It's not as though they sell out for a particular day (I'd be surprised if that happened, even for a Sunday in July). But definitely buy them online because you will regret it if you have to queue twice on the day, slowing you down. Just go to the Versailles website and they'll charge your credit card in euros. You print your own tickets and just take them with you.
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wen
Junior Member
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Post by wen on Mar 29, 2015 9:28:47 GMT
Thanks heaps Oz I'm hoping it's offered on our tour but want to be prepared if it's not
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Post by purvis on Mar 29, 2015 14:24:53 GMT
Oz: I wish it was just a foul-up but this particular establishment just became listed by Booking.com ,Travelocity and others last month and now has been de-listed by all of them. When big red banners appeared on the listing the day my acct. was debited I knew I had a problem. Booking.com has contacted me several times and finally cancelled the booking themselves and told me to contact my bank for a reversal of funds which is possible otherwise they will handle the matter themselves. The whole incident took the fun out of project so cancelling the entire trip seemed the best thing to do. My son suggested we instead go to Hawaii but after returning from the islands just a year ago with pneumonia I really don't have any desire to return ; so it seems I will be staying home this fall. It could be worse and probably is for others who could not afford to have such a debit put on their acct. without their authorization. Purvis
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