We were up early and decided to take a walk around the area while looking for a coffee shop to have breakfast.  We got to River Seine in just a few minutes and were just in time to see the beauty of the sky during sunrise.

We weren't able to pass by any open coffee shop on this early Sunday morning so we just continued walking. 

View of Île de la Cité from one of the bridges over River Seine
One of those love lock bridges in Paris.  I guess this one is somewhat new as it's still not full of locks.

It was still early for the mass at Notre Dame Cathedral so we went to Eiffel Tower first.  We got back at around 11AM, dropped by Fontaine Saint-Michel and still had some time to take some pictures outside and inside the cathedral before attending the mass.  The 11:30AM Sunday mass is an international mass but it's still celebrated in French.

Fontaine Saint-Michel

Notre Dame de Paris

Ceiling of the cathedral

After the mass, we went back outside and looked for the entrance to the tower.  We started to the right (facing the church) of the cathedral.

We saw a restaurant named Esmeralda
near the back of the cathedral

As we were going back to the front, round the cathedral (this should be the left side when facing the cathedral), we saw the line going to the tower.  It was long enough that we decided not to go up.  There's only a limited number of persons allowed to go up at a time, and falling in line might mean we have to wait around 2-3 hours for our turn.  We don't have the luxury of time so we just passed up on the opportunity.  For those who want to do this, it might be better to be here early.  Please note that it's 387 steps to the top of the tower, no elevator. 

Sculptures on top of the doorway

Gargoyles in the tower

The Paris Visite pass (zone 1-5) that we bought allows us to use the same card to travel to Chateau de Versailles (which is in zone 4).  From where we were staying, we took RER B to Saint Michel-Notre Dame station, then we changed to RER C to the direction of Versailles Rive Gauche.  Upon arrival at the platform, look for the schedule of the train going to Versailles (train VICK).  There are many trains that stop on the same platform so be sure to hop on the correct train (names can be seen in front/upper part of the train).  Here's a link to more information on getting to Versailles.

As for our experience, we hopped on the first train that stopped on the platform and got curious when it was taking a long time for the train to move from the 3rd stop.  We got off the train and it appears that we are at a terminus (uh-oh).  We looked for directions and got to another platform to wait for the correct train this time.  We were busy taking some pictures while waiting for our train on the left side of the platform.

While waiting for train VICK at the platform

After a while, we were surprised that the other people waiting in the platform hopped on the train that stopped on the right side of the platform.  Geez... another boo-boo! On this station, trains can stop on either side of the platform.  It took almost 30 minutes for us to get on the correct train from the time the train stopped at the terminus.  Finally!

Views going to Versailles

Versailles Rive Gauche is the terminus for train VICK.  Upon going out of the terminal, cross the street and walk going to the right.  On the first intersection, turn left and go straight.  At the end of this road is Versailles.  You won't get lost here as most of the people who got out of the station is going in this direction.

Facade of Chateau de Versailles

We went straight to the entrance as we did not have to buy tickets, the 2-day Paris Museum pass includes visit to the Palace, the Grand Trianon and Marie Antoinette's Estate.  During the time of our visit, the entrance to the gardens have an additional fee due to the fountain show.  Ticket information can be found here.


The Palace

From the seat of power to the Museum of the History of France

The Château de Versailles, which has been on UNESCO’s World Heritage List for 30 years, is one of the most beautiful achievements of 18th-century French art. The site began as Louis XIII’s hunting lodge before his son Louis XIV transformed and expanded it, moving the court and government of France to Versailles in 1682. Each of the three French kings who lived there until the French Revolution added improvements to make it more beautiful. 

Source: http://en.chateauversailles.fr/the-palace-

Palace view from the marble courtyard
Above: Some rooms on the first floor Below: Layout of Versailles
Some paintings and sculptures on the first floor (The Gallery of the History of the Palace)

View from one of the windows

Hercules drawing room
The first salon of the King’s Grand Apartment, the Hercules salon was actually the last to be created, at the end of Louis XIV’s reign. From 1682 onwards, the chapel of the palace occupied its location over two floors and served until 1710, when it was replaced by the present chapel.
 - Chateau de Versailles

The Abundance Salon
On evening soirees, the Abundance Salon was the place of refreshments, where a buffet served coffee, wine and liqueurs. It was also the antechamber of the Cabinet of Curiosities or the Rarities of Louis XIV (now occupied by the Games Salon of Louis XVI) which was accessed by the rear door. The king liked to show his distinguished guests the silverware vases, gems and medals which were kept here and which inspired the decor of the vault, where one can see in particular the great royal vessel depicted above the doorway.
- Chateau de Versailles

The Mercury Salon   
Originally, the Mercury Salon was the parade chamber of the Grand Apartment, hence its name of "bedchamber", even though this bed was quickly removed in winter in order to free up the space and install the gaming tables. Until 1689, when Louis XIV had to bring himself to have them melted down to finance the war of the League of Augsburg, tables, mirrors, andirons and chandeliers in solid silver, magnificently carved by the Gobelins silversmiths, decorated walls, ceilings and mantelpiece. A balustrade, also in silver, separated the alcove from the rest of the room. Brocade – fabric woven with gold and silver thread – lined the walls as well as the bed, but they in turn were sent to the Mint, this time to support the Spanish War of Succession. One of the rare times when the Mercury Salon served as a room was on the occasion of the proclamation of the Duke of Anjou, the grandson of Louis XIV, as King of Spain: the young prince slept here for three weeks, before going to his new country. It was also in this room that, from 2 to 10 September 1715, the mortal remains of Louis lay in state.
- Chateau de Versailles

The War Room Mansart started to build the Salon de la Guerre (War Room) in 1678. The decoration, completed by Le Brun in 1686, glorifies the military victories that led to the Peace of Nijmegen. The walls are covered with marble panels decorated with six trophies and gilded bronze carvings. - Chateau de Versailles

Hall of Mirrors
It is the central gallery of the Palace of Versailles. The principal feature of this hall is the seventeen mirror-clad arches that reflect the seventeen arcaded windows that overlook the gardens. Each arch contains twenty-one mirrors with a total complement of 357 used in the decoration of the galerie des glaces. The arches themselves are fixed between marble pilasters whose capitals depict the symbols of France. These gilded bronze capitals include the fleur-de-lys and the Gallic cockerel or rooster. Many of the other attributes of the Hall of Mirrors were lost to war for financial purposes, such as the silver table pieces and guéridons, which were melted by order of Louis XIV in 1689 to finance the War of the League of Augsburg.
- Wikipedia

The Queen's Bedchamber 
The chamber is the main room of the apartment, the one where the Queen spent most of her time. She slept here, often joined by the King. In the morning, she received here during and after her Toilette, which constituted a Court event as regulated by etiquette as the Lever du Roi [Rising of the King]. It was here, too, that births took place in public: nineteen "Children of France" were born here.
- Chateau de Versailles

There is a barely discernible hidden door in the corner near the jewel cabinet by Schwerdfeger (1787) through which Marie Antoinette escaped the night of 5/6 October 1789 when the Paris mob stormed Versailles.
- Wikipedia

Mini-Train

Since the garden is limited to those who bought tickets for it, the easiest way to the Grand Trianon is via the mini-train.  Even if it also has additional fee (Euro 7.50 per person), it would save us some time and allow us to rest our feet even for a while.  It actually turned out to be a good choice since the other parts of Versailles is far from the Palace.

The mini-train leaves from the North terrace of the Palace and can take you to and from the Estate of Marie Antoinette (Petit Trianon), Grand Trianon and Little Venice.  We took the train going to Grand Trianon, then hopped back in at Petit Trianon.  We did not get off at Little Venice after that since the line for the train is rather long.

View of the garden from the 2nd floor

View of the garden from the North terrace

Mini train ticket counter

Mini train tickets

Mini train

Along the way to the Grand Trianon, we passed by some fountains and the park (which is a free admission part of the estate).  The fountains are part of the gardens so we are not allowed to get off in this area.

The Neptune Fountain
The Neptune fountain was built under the direction of Le Nôtre between 1679 and 1681, and was then called the “Pool below the Dragon” or the “Fir Tree Pool”. Jacques-Ange Gabriel slightly modified the pool area and, in 1740, the sculptural decoration was installed. Three group: Neptune and Amphitrite, Proteus and the Ocean god by Jean-Baptise Lemoyne. The new fountain, officially opened by Louis XV, aroused admiration for the number, the force and the variety of the jets of water playing over the lead sculptures. It features ninety-nine water effects that compose an extraordinary aquatic spectacle.
- Chateau de Versailles

The Dragon Fountain
The Water Path begins with the half-moon of the Dragon Fountain which depicts one of the episodes of the legend of Apollo: the Python snake killed by an arrow shot by the young Apollo. The reptile is surrounded by dolphins and Cupids armed with bows and arrows riding on swans. The principal water jet rises twenty-seven metres into the air. On either side of this fountain restored in 1889, paths lead to the two Groves, France Triumphant and the Three Fountains in the west.
- Chateau de Versailles

The Grand Trianon

Mansart architecture

In 1687 Jules Hardouin Mansart built the Grand Trianon, probably the most refined group of buildings anywhere in the domain of Versailles, on the site of the “Porcelain Trianon”, which Louis XIV had had erected in 1670 to escape the pomp and rigid formality of court life with his mistress Madame de Montespan.

Source: http://en.chateauversailles.fr/grand-trianon-

Facade of Grand Trianon

The Room of Mirrors
The mirrors and lovely view of the Grand Canal make this the south wing’s most beautiful room. It is the last one in the apartment Louis XIV occupied in this part of the château from 1691 to 1703, and served as his council room. Like most of the Trianon, it still has most of the original décor but the furniture was sold during the Revolution and replaced by Napoleon. The archduchess Marie-Louise, Marie-Antoinette’s great-niece, whom the emperor married after divorcing Josephine, used this as her drawing room from 1810 to 1814.
- Chateau de Versailles

The Empress' Bedroom
Originally Louis XIV’s bedchamber, this room still features the original décor of Corinthian columns and admirably sculpted mosaic panelling. Under the Empire it was divided into a smaller bedchamber and a sitting room (or antechamber) used by Empress Marie-Louise, who furnished the spaces as they appear today. The only exception is the bed, which comes from the Tuileries Palace: it belonged to Napoleon and his successor, Louis XVIII, Louis XVI’s brother, who died in it in 1824.
- Chateau de Versailles

The Chapel Room
Created as a chapel, this room continued serving its original purpose after becoming an antechamber in 1691, when Louis XIV moved into this part of the palace. The door at the end of the room opens a recess with an altar, which was opened for mass and closed afterwards. The décor recalls that use: a cornice with ears of wheat and bunches of grapes symbolises the Eucharistic bread and wine and paintings of the evangelists Saint Mark and Saint Luke hang on the walls.
The portraits of Louis XV and Marie Leszczinska, by Jean-Baptiste Van-Loo, recall the queen’s stays at Trianon.
- Chateau de Versailles

View of the Grand Trianon from the garden

Buffet d'eau
In 1703 Hardouin-Mansart had this fountain, also called the Cascade, built on the same axis as the Trianon-sous-Bois wing’s northern end. It was decorated with different coloured marbles ornamented with lead sculptures by Mazière, Le Lorrain, Hardy, Poirier and Van Clève.
- Chateau de Versailles

Marie Antoinette's Estate (Petit Trianon)

The Queen’s residence

From the Petit Trianon to the Queen’s Gardens, passing by the Hamlet, the Estate, opened in 2006, reveals Marie-Antoinette’s private life. Louis XVI’s wife loved this place where she could return to the pleasures of simple, rural pursuits, away from the pomp of Versailles. 

Source: http://en.chateauversailles.fr/marie-antoinettes-estate

The French Pavilion
The pavilion is called "French" because it was built in the centre of one of those geometrically patterned gardens that people were starting to call French in opposition to the growing vogue for 'English' landscape gardens.  Built by Gabriel in 1750, it consists of a vast circular salon with four small rooms at its cardinal points: a boudoir, a heating room, a kitchen and a dressing room.
- Chateau de Versailles

The Queen's Palace
Although Madame de Pompadour, who wished to “relieve the king’s boredom”, was the instigator of this small palace that Gabriel built in the 1760s, it is the memory of Marie-Antoinette that hangs over the building. In 1774, Louis XVI offered the Trianon estate to the Queen who was able to live away – too far away for some – from the Court.
- Chateau de Versailles

The Queen's Hamlet
Marie-Antoinette, seeking to flee the Court of Versailles, ordered the construction of her hamlet in 1783. There, she regularly found the charms of country life, surrounded by her lady's companions. It became a veritable farm, directed by a farmer, whose products supplied the kitchens of the Palace. Under the First Empire, the Hamlet was refurnished with refinement for Empress Marie-Louise.
- Chateau de Versailles

Facade of Petit Trianon