We'll always have Versailles...

Melinda got up and out extra early this morning.  Me and my mom were lazyheads.  Then me and my mom came to have breakfast and pick Melinda up, and we walked down to the Metro station and waited for a Metro and another one and another.  When we got off the last one, we had to go to the train station, but we were clueless where that was.  We spent a lot of time walking around the giant half train-half Metro station.  We went up escalators.  We went down escalators.  And all around the half train station-half Metro station.  When we finally got to the trains, they were all closed.  So we had to take another Metro.  Then we stopped at a train station with trains that actually worked.  And then my mom met some Mexican people.  We worked together with the Mexicans, and we all got on the train to Versailles.

We got off at Versailles and had lunch at a Spanish restaurant. 

 The chicken was too gross for me, but my mom brought up some stories of our family.

  Then we left.  We got on this sort of shuttle looking train thing.  It took us to Versailles, and it was raining really hard when the shuttle dropped us off.  

When we walked in, there was this rude guy (I mean RUDE RUDE) who said he didn't work at Versailles because he really didn't want to help us.  There was a really long line, and we said, "Do we have to wait in THAT?!"  Then we met the second jerk of the day, and he sent us to the end of the line...in the rain.  We waited and waited and waited.  When we finally got to the entrance, we noticed something--it didn't go all the way through to the castle gates.  It was chopped off and didn't go fully.

We walked in, and I thought it was awesome.  Then we walked some more, and we saw the castle chapel.  Then we walked some more, went to the stairs, and there was another long line.  I have a name for this blog--Long Lines Galore!

I got up and out extra early, had breakfast at the cafe on the corner (tea and a 1/2 baguette), and read a few chapters of my novel.  We set out at 8:30 for Versailles...and then it started to rain...both literally AND figuratively.  We descended into the Metro and began a labrynthine journey.  We found the right line, the right train, the right platform, even ended at the "right" station, only to discover that some RER strike had pretty much paralyzed the Mont Parnasse station.  All the RER counters and trains were not operating.  Okay--no big deal.  With the assistance of, no kidding, about 7 people, we re-routed.  We rode, as directed, to the end of the line and then got off to find our connection to Versailles.  We and several others stood around wondering where to go next.  Somehow, Laura strikes up a conversation in Spanish with this other passenger.  She also appeared to be the leader of her tribe.  No one was lisping, so I was pretty sure they were Mexican (vs. Castillian, Catalon, from Spain, OKAY?).  Anyway...after the tribe leaders consulted, we joined our packs and went on a mission of discovery.  We found the stop, and did I mention it's still raining?  Our tickets that we bought way back in that first big station in Paris, before we knew anything about the RER, SCNF, bus system or the tribe from Guanojuato, were not working.  At all.  The ticket machine?  Not accepting cards.  At all.  Believe me, we tried every single one we had between the two of us (about 10).  We stood there in the rain looking at those turnstiles, and I began to envision Jackie Joyner Kersee.  I was.  I was ready to put Aidan on my back and pull a Flo Jo.  (Yes, I know they are not the same person!  Also--if you think I can hurdle ANYTHING, even WITHOUT 47 extra pounds on my back, well...yeah.)  Laura, in her genius, tries one of our old Metro tickets--and wonder of wonders--the gates opened.  We all launched ourselves through.  After all, we DID pay them to get us to Versailles...  We reunited with the Guanajuato tribe only to find a timetable showing the next train arriving in...TWO HOURS?!?!?!?  Cue the wailing and gnashing of teeth!!  We, the Guanajuato tribe and the 3 Americans, joined our voices, and while it was not timely exactly, about thirty minutes later, a train came and picked us all up.  A recap of the moment:

Melinda:  "Um...where is this train going?  Is the train to Versailles?  Or is it taking us back to Paris?"
Laura:  "I don't know.  I'm following the Mexicans.  Wherever they're going, WE'RE going."

We held our collective breath for the first stop and discovered, indeed, we were FINALLY on the last leg of our Versailles trip.

Upon arriving at Versailles, we had a most unpleasant encounter with a man in the guard booth at the very front entrance.  We walked up, and Laura asked in very polite French if he could tell us where we need to enter with our Museum Pass cards.  He got all swishy, and said, "I don't know.  I don't work for Versailles.  Do I have something on me that says I work for Versailles?!"  I can't remember her reply, but it's really good a) I wasn't there, and b) I don't know enough cursing in French to do as good a job as he deserved.  If that guy only knew what we went through to even get to that gate...  Honestly, we haven't met any rude Parisians.  The people at Versailles on the other hand?  I'd rather eat glass than live there.  Next unpleasant encounter with a person who DID work for Versailles...approximately 3 minutes later...

Laura: "Hi.  Can you tell us where we need to go to get in with these passes?"
Jerk: "To the end of the line."
Laura: "I'm sorry.  I don't understand.  The pass is sold on the premise that you don't have to wait in the line."
Jerk: "Read number three....AT THE END OF THE LINE."

The weather at this point?  You guessed it.  Still raining.  Still windy.  Still cold.  The wind has destroyed the umbrella, but it didn't really matter because we were all soaking wet anyway.  Aidan had a fit, I had a fit, Laura nearly killed us both right there on the cobblestones in front of those pretty golden gates at Versailles.  We all lived though.  We saw Versailles.  We were happy that we did.  We got back to the train station (yes, it was STILL RAINING), got on our train, and we rode all the way home without any mistakes or "lost" moments.  We also avoided anything to do with the RER at all costs.  We figured we'd already paid enough to them in ALL RESPECTS for...oh, the rest of the trip!!

 Laura: Sorry that the pictures are sideways-- I'm done fighting w. the computer for the day.  Also, Aidan picked up a Napoleon Christmas ornament, a Napoleon pin, and a Napoleon commemorative coin.  Slightly obsessed...