Day 5: Versailles
Palace of Versailles; 10/24/25
The most significant train travel of our tour, we headed out of Paris into the rain and made our way to the Palace of Versailles.
We met our local tour guide Mathis who led us on a wonderful tour of the over-the-top ostentatiousness of the Palace of Versailles.
But only the interior. Gardens were closed because of weather (thanks Storm Benjamin). I guess I have a reason to go back to Paris now...
But, there was time for one last attempt to see if I could retake a photo - and this one really shows the recent restoration of the building for the Olympics. As someone who works in historic preservation, I can't imagine reapplying gilt to rooftops and window frames - and expecting it to stay there. The pile of dirt on the right suggests the reality of near constant work to keep historic buildings in good condition (the 2025 version of this is out of frame just to the left). I'm amazed looking at all of these photos (and his other photos of Europe - taken only a bit over a decade following World War II.
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The weather really was kind of miserable, so I did hop on the train back to Paris, where I suddenly had a lot more time on my hands than I was expecting.
Musée Rodin
As I scrolled through my phone looking for something nearby, I saw the Musée Rodin about a mile away, and remembered a friend who had been to Paris saying that she had really enjoyed the Rodin museum (turns out that was the museum in Philadelphia, but it still got me up and moving, instead of sitting on my phone for one of my last days in Paris.
In addition to the museum, there is a lovely sculpture garden, where I got to see the statues like the Thinker and The Kiss in the lovely grounds that were clearly not at all impacted by Storm Benjamin.
Taking myself out to dinner
That night I decided that I'd actually take myself out to dinner - a nice dinner (after all, I'd brought along a nice pair of shoes that took up precious space in my carry-on). I ended up at Les Cocottes near the hotel. It was a truly wonderful experience and now I also want to go back to Paris to dine out at nice restaurants more (so, gardens of Versailles and food...). As I had been doing elsewhere, I ordered the menu for that evening, which included the stuffed tomato in the photo, along with an appetizer which had smoked herring (which I never thought would be that delicious), a cheese course, and tarte tatin for dessert. The restaurant had seating at the bar, which can be nice when dining alone, as you have more opportunity for conversation with other diners or the staff behind the bar - and I don't feel guilty for taking up a table. I have since discovered that everything on the menu that night is also in the cookbook I bought at the Versailles gift shop, so I have some cooking to do (if I can find smoked herring...).
