We are house sitting in La Celle St Cloud, just a short trip from Versailles. Our kind home owner got us started off with some bus-metro tickets to use so we could explore the area. They sat on the table silently daring me to use them, so after much wondering 'what if we can't find our way home again', found ourselves on a bus to Versailles.
We decided our plan would be if we got lost to find a taxi to bring us home again. Like a couple of kids we wrote our address down on paper. Not that we didn't know the address, it's just that no one seems to understand our great French language skills, and we've found it easier to 'show'.
So off we set to the bus stop and hoped on the bus. After using the vaporettos - the ferry system in Venice, I was trying to swipe my ticket, which gave the good-naturred bus driver a great giggle, and he was telling me to 'push push the ticket', 'push push the ticket' - well that took a few moments to find where to push push the ticket, but finally I found the push push spot and off it went into the validator.
Now I never, ever use a bus, or a train, so it would be confusing for me in my own home town, let alone in a foreign one, so I was rather delighted to be finally on the bus and on my way to Versailles. How exciting, like a kid again on a bus trip.
We arrived at a stop that looked like Versailles and I asked just to make sure and the driver nodded, so off we hoped at Versailles Gare - the train station.
At the station we found a sign that in detail, showed how to get to The Palace. Thinking we had our location right, we headed off to The Palace... but in the opposite direction, luckily we saw a street sign that said Chateau and made a sharp U-turn.
However the tour through the Palace was truly amazing and as we have another 3 weeks here will be back regularly to visit. I discovered that an annual pass would be the way to go for us, it not only gives access to everything, but we also don't have to wait in queues to get in.
