'Last night I dreamt I went back to Manderley'...no wait it was Versailles!
The plan was to visit the marché Notre Dame in town and look up a few patisseries. The musical fountains were an afterthought. *Take the Direct train from Gare Montparnasse. No fancy trellis decor but just 13 minutes et voila. Get a free 'plan' or city map (not a carte as yours truly called it. Carte = menu ahem) at the welcome desk in the Versailles Chantiers train station. Then take the B bus across the street and more voila. FYI the above watercolor is mainly Burnt Sienna _ Fr Ultramarine blue (Winsor and Newton watercolor paint).
See! You don't need 60 colors.
The plan was to visit the marché Notre Dame in town and look up a few patisseries. The musical fountains were an afterthought. *Take the Direct train from Gare Montparnasse. No fancy trellis decor but just 13 minutes et voila. Get a free 'plan' or city map (not a carte as yours truly called it. Carte = menu ahem) at the welcome desk in the Versailles Chantiers train station. Then take the B bus across the street and more voila. FYI the above watercolor is mainly Burnt Sienna _ Fr Ultramarine blue (Winsor and Newton watercolor paint).
See! You don't need 60 colors.
I did this tracing on top of my iPad.
From this photo.
A BIG MERCI for supporting Parisbreakfast dear PBers! Just a few more watercolors to ship out. Now back to those delightful fountains.
The weather cleared up so I headed to the Versailles gardens. You'll need to buy a ticket. Some cafes even sell them and have signs outside. No free entry when the water is bubbling (3:30 to 5pm, 8.50 euros). I love these hole-in-the-wall entryways leading you down a long dark passage. Then suddenly...
You're in a grand enclosure.
'Conceived exactly as open-air drawing rooms, the groves in the garden contain superb examples of 17th and 18th century decorative arts.'.
Other fountains are out in the open. The negative ions are all over the place so you'll feel positively delightful. (or is it positive ions?)
Long passage ways lined with cherubic fountains.
This little girl is keeping her fish wet - very sweet I guess...
You do begin to have delusions of grandeur after a bit...
These guests are completely ignoring the fountains!?
The grounds are so huge it doesn't seem too crowded. The music is of course Vivaldi.
You have many areas to yourself
Serenity now!
Lovely no?
You are NOT supposed to picnic in the gardens except in designated areas - this was not one of them. But a Corcheval from Maison Guinon must be ok no? Draped crepe over a vanilla concoction with rasberries intermingled.
And the box is sooo pretty. I bought the pastry mostly for the box I must admit... Follow my blog with Bloglovin