Day 18a Chateau Versaille & the Eiffel Tower

Today I planned to go to the Chateau Versaille. It is an hour & 2 trains to get there from my hostel. The train was packed and everyone went to the chateau. I pre-purchased my tickets online to 'save time'. When we got there we had our tickets checked then directed to a line. For myself & most other people, we were directed to the HUGE LING WINDING 4 ROWS line 😠 2hrs it took for us to get to the entry gate! So much for saving time! I had to miss my catacombs tour in order to see this place. It was soooo busy inside but it is a 1 way path. Everyone is going in the same directing so it isn't too bad. I know nothing about the Chateau except that it is famous. Turns out a King Louis and Marie Antoinette lived there! It is a massive place. Seriously ginormous! And so elaborately decorated that it is OTT. Although, if some handsome prince asked me to marry him & live with him there I wouldn't say no 😀 I made a ne friend in the queue, a Canadian girl, and we explored the grounds together. She speaks some French & knows about the place so that was handy.

On our way out we went to the stagecoach gallery. They have a collection of very old stagecoaches including the Queen's coronation coach.

Then we jumped on the train & parted ways in Paris. I headed to the Eiffel Tower for my trip up. I took the elevator to the 2nd floor and was literally blown away. It was so windy! The views were amazing but my gosh that wind was awful. It was so bad the summit was closed so I was disappointed I couldn't go to the top. I didn't stay long, just enough to admire the views then go back to get away from some of the wind. It was starting to rain too unfortunately. I then headed to Champ der Mars where there was a market. It was more of a good stalls market but that's ok. I ended up having potato bake (forget the French name but it starts with T) and a sausage (terrible tough bread roll, good sausage). Then it was so awful weather wise that I went back to the hostel.

Tonight I am planning on going to the Arc de Triomphe to watch the NYE light show (no fireworks here). Hopefully the weather is kind to us! I'll post NYE pics in a different post.