Le Grand Trianon

Visiting the palace in Versailles is a popular touristy thing to do when you visit Paris, and we wanted to give K.J.'s parents a glimpse.  They got the more intimate tour because our favorite areas are around the Grand Trianon, the Petit Trianon, and Marie Anotoinette's hamlet.  It's a great place to ride bikes, so while the kids and our husbands went on a cycling adventure  T and I went inside the Grand Trianon, a smaller palace commissioned by Louis XIV.  I love this pretty blue room!

It has been a few years since I last walked through the Grand Trianon, and I was excited to see the terrace again.  It opens up to gardens on the left and a courtyard on the right and is so beautiful!

There's something about that open, light-filled space with that black and white floor that is stunning.

My other reason for preferring this back corner of the Versailles property is that there are gardens with flowers and grass.  The more formal gardens are all shrubs and perfectly trimmed trees along straight dusty paths.  

Our intention was to walk through the gardens to the hamlet Marie Antoinette had built so she could play at life as a peasant.  Unfortunately, I have long had a bone to pick with arrows on French signs.  They twist and turn and point in directions that don't always seem to indicate the direction they want you to go.  All that to say, we took a wrong turn at a sign and missed the hamlet.  We were treated instead to gorgeous fall trees in a quiet space devoid of all other visitors, so we weren't complaining.

I'd be happy to be lost here any day of the week.