[When last we left you, The Biddies had been kidnapped by a Versailles gardens tram . . . I tried to document where they were being taken through photographic evidence.]
[Here the super looks wistfully back at the palace.]
[We were kindly allowed to disembark for food – a place not to be confused with the Alexandria restaurant of the same name (though not in the possessive form).]
[Once again, the lady of the place. I believe a Ms. Antoinette?]
[Where Maurice Chevalier learned the harpsichord.]
[“Selfie” madness!]
[The Biddies are waving . . . standing in line for a shoe sale?]
[This way to Hameau de le Reine . . . ]
[We’re on the way . . . ]
[No home is complete without a marble gazebo.]
[A big tree.]
[Where we were . . . ]
[Driftwood? This far inland?]
[Hameau de la Reine (the Queen’s hamlet), a rustic retreat for Marie Antoinette. For some reason, the women in our group found this place particularly delightful! 😉 ]
[Reetz shows this is some BIG tree in the Hameau.]
[The Hameau, of course, came fully finished with the requisite ponds and gardens.]
[Feed me, FEED ME!]
[Flower and vegetable gardens . . . ]
[Reetz, then Kay and Reetz, find something of photographic delight. ]
[Otters?]
[Elizabeth checks the plaque. This Richard Mique’s guy was Marie’s favorite architect – he appears to have designed all the facilities here.]
[There’s light at the end of the tunnel . . . and Bill has found it.]
[Looks like a bumper food crop . . .]
[I have no idea how many gardeners are employed at this place . . . but she was one of them.]
[As we make our way back out . . .]
[More trees of a size that are Californiaesque! But we had a long wait here – much to the dismay of The Biddies. It was hot, no shade, and each tram that came by was full.]
[Finally we caught one . . . which took us to The Orangerie, a/k/a, the water park? Bill, Anne, Kay, and Elizabeth had left us to walk while we waited for the tram. This is a huge place, but they beat us there. They stayed to continue to the foot tour, while The Biddies and I decided to head for “home.” I decided I’d better go with them . . . so they could protect me.]
[Well, look who we ran into here!]
[What Bill was shooting . . . (obviously from his photo site!). 🙂 ]
[We continued tramming out . . . through what seems like a giant maze.]
[The back of Reetz’s head.]
[We made it back to the palace.]
[Then walked back to the train station at Versailles . . . we arrived in time to join several thousand other tourists trying to get back to Paris. Our subway tickers wouldn’t work for the return trip? They tried to explain to all we had to buy tickets, but the ticket windows were overwhelmed. Then they tried to teach us how to use the vending machines to buy tickets, but that was going so slow they finally just opened the gates and let everyone board the arriving train for free! 🙂 ]
[Back in our neighbor, The Biddies and I just decided to hangout on the corner of an outdoor café with a glass of wine and enjoy the sights and sounds of Paris . . . ]
[I think Reetz said it was liking watching millipedes navigate through a complicated, 5-way (?) intersection, so I decided to shoot a video, just like the final scene in “Annie Hall.”]
The video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xv-UEbyJJag&list=UUDt6CCFM-8cxXEwOQhEwkiA
[These were taken with the super’s tablet, of The Biddies enjoying themselves . . . and of our waiter fooling around and enjoying The Biddies. 🙂 ]
[When everybody got back “home,” we all went out to dinner together. It appears to be somewhere on Rue Cler?]
[On the way home, back to the mall for more shots of . . . ]
[For the “Echo Press” . . . and for Reetz. ]
[Last shot on the mall that night – it’s what people do here.]
[And we made the paper! 🙂 ]
His tightly fitting jeans were unmistakably French. ~ Francine Pascal
Up next: The next day in Paris.
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