May 8, 2019, Wednesday
– Hi, I’m calling you ’cause I found your announcement on leboncoin.
– Hello, which one?
– Cleaning and other.
– There’s no “other”, and there’s no cleaning anymore. I have to delete the announcement.
– So, there’s no “other”? and there won’t be no “other”?
– No, Sir. Thank you.
– Ok, have a nice day.
– Have a nice evening.
Sometimes they happen to me, these rare days of sunshine, serenity and good work at the library. While I give 90% of myself to Versailles, I feel like I am losing the best part of me. When I work four days a week, I need then three days for recovery. I only sleep and want nothing. The best part of me which is dreamful and creative, full of energy, which crosses great distances and is capable to concentrate and write, write, write, is lost for the long days. The most stunning is that the body of this best part doesn’t cause any trouble. As if it were not, so indolent, so light.
If you’re planning to visit the Château de Versailles, I’ld like to share with you some lifehacks so that you could feel better there, especially during la haute saison.
There are two entries, A and B. Most people enter via the A, the groups via the B. After the security and the audioguides the visitors head from A to B across the court-yeard, where the visit starts. So imagine how many people are in the restrooms of the B in the beginning of the day. My advice is to visit first the WC of the A and then discover the Château, if you come shortly after the opening. They’re situated on the -1 floor (EXIT from the Château to the Gardens).
If you come in the afternoon, it’s better to visit the toilets of the ENTRY (building B), as the crowds are now concentrated in the area of the EXIT (building A, -1 floor) making a looong line to the restroom.
2. To snack
There’s nothing INSIDE the palace except of the restaurant Angelina which is expensive. You may find smth to eat (like sandwiches) OUTSIDE – in the gardens. I recommend you to visit the site of the château to see what they’ve got.
As for me, the best thing is to have smth brought with you. In the palace, it is not even possible to buy a bottle of water! This is the awful politics of capitalism. What is worse, I am not sure that you’re allowed to have food in your backpacks that you take with you during your visit of the palace. So have some water with you, and an apple, nuts or chocolate in your pockets. You’ll get your food back at the exit from the palace, and in the Gardens – they are huge – find a nice quiet place to picknick.
3. Kids and toddlers
Just after you enter you must drop the strollers and even the baby carriers and then carry your toddlers in your hands all the way long until you leave the palace. Think twice about a sling.
4. Maps and Appartments
Do not leave the entry A without asking all the questions at the information desk. And take a map of the domaine. It’s silly, but this is the only point where you can find it.
5. Entry, exit
Pay attention to this obstacle: once you come into the palace, you’re nearly obliged to visit it first. See everything possible inside, and only after that go outside. Once you leave the palace and head for the gardens, practically, it is not possible to return to the palace. You are deprived of the luxury to stroll here and there in the domaine. You can return only if you’re strong enough to stay once again in a long line in front of the A. I saw: some people are that strong. But also that angry.
6. Don’t disturb
The team that distributes the audioguides is not instructed to give you any information. They are really charged, you won’t believe it but their job is as hard as the one of the waiters and flight attendants, so they would be really, sincerely greateful if you do not ask them anything beyond the area of the audioguides. Again: ask all your questions at the information desk (entry A). Because the questions you ask are asked by thousands of people every day. And because while you ask your “little question”, you distract him/her from her work so that people exit from the château without returning the guides, the guides start screaming with an awful sound, and the guide distributor runs after it trying to find the “thief” amidst douzens of tourists.
7. If you wish the Orphéo guides in the Château supported a particular language, it is recommended to write a message on the site of the Château de Versailles about your wish. At the moment, there are: French, French for kids, Langue signe, English, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Polish, Russian, Mandarin, Japanese, Corean languages. It is the Château that orders languages to the Orphéo group. So the public opinion would be taken into consideration.
8. Off-season
This tip is good for any place. Escape the crowds, chose another season for your journey. Winter instead of summer, working days instead of holidays.
château de Versailles против всего человеческого. всего два wc – на входе и выходе (что там в садах – не знаю), куда в течение дня образуются чуточку менее длинные очереди, чем у входа перед открытием. после прохождения секьюрити отбираются все коляски и рюкзаки с едой. ходите с детьми на руках, голодные и жаждущие – даже воду нигде не раздобыть внутри шато, не говоря уже о легком недорогом перекусе. разве хлебать из-под крана в том же wc… перекус в самом шато может быть только класса люкс, в “Анжелине”. в садах ситуация другая, но раз покинув шато, обратно можно попасть, лишь повторно выстояв вон ту сумасшедшую очередь снаружи. коллега из Испании сказала, сюда приезжают “разделить момент удовольствия”, как бы не так! шато к вашим услугам, чтобы этого не произошло!
и вот эти вот аудиогиды. Orpheo поддерживает всего лишь 11 языков, при том что компания появилась в 1992. все шато виновато, якобы оно заказывает языки. уже в следующем году введут экскурсии на арабском! прогресс. множество голландцев хотят родной Dutch, румыны – румынский, сербы сербский, а хорваты хорватский, португальцам и полякам неожиданно повезло, греки не жалуются, терпят, в последнее время возрос спрос на иврит, однажды прозвучало пожелание – на иврите или арабском, сильвупле. тайский, тамильский, хинди, филипино… все это остается за пределами так сказать цивилизации
вчера было дефиле японцев. а позавчера – волнами чередовались китайцы и корейцы. незабываемое зрелище и ценное: кажется, я совсем близка к тому, чтобы их всех различать
Between my work and my passion to do nothing and to walk far in order to do nothing, I have to find some space and time for Hippocrates and my mémoire about the Hippocratic skin. Neither Paris nor Versailles offer me good enough possibilities to concentrate on writing. Even at home it has become difficult since the last october: I’m not alone even here.
That is why my fields and the quiet beauty of the Vexin français’ park turned into a perfect work-room where I can stay four hours long without suffering from noise, people and desire to make a break…
At the Château de Versailles, one may hide from the crowds in the quiet, sunny and spacy salle de repos. Quiet – if and when all the staff of the Château already had his and her pause déjeuner (lunch).
Versailles. Someone’s working during Easter holidays.
It’s stunning to see crowds of people waiting patiently in a long line for the audioguides in Versailles. The guides are “free of charge” or, rather, included in price of the Billet Château. Some know that, others don’t but follow those who know, yet others are informed by us on the spot and then stand in line. This is not the desire of knowledge but the power of money and of what is seemingly free.
One of the last days, our team distributed around 100 000 guides. The price of the ticket is 18 euros. Now count how much money gets the Château de Versailles during holidays. Don’t forget that the audioguides are distributed only to the 50% of the visitors or even less.
I worked there yesterday from 8.45 to 18.30. It was Easter, and all of us were dead by the end of the day. I think that before I was not really tired. Everything is relative.
The Chinese people want the guides especially bad – for the third reason: because their human Guide told them to take the guides, and they obey.
Seems like the Chinese suffer most of all from the cultural shock. After them the Russians come: the representatives of both nations look really disoriented and… wild. But they express the shock in different ways: the Chinese are afraid of getting lost, so they move around in big cohesive groups menacing to smash everything and everyone who is on their way. It’s a collective body with no individuals. The Russians are not that “collective”, but an overt astonishment and failure to communicate is often drawn on their faces.
Here are some of the less FAL (frequently asked languages): Dutch and Deutsch, Arabic, Romanian, Swedish, Breton, British, Hindi, Farsi, Hebrew (asked once only), cantonal Chinese…
After.
I’ve been to the Préfecture de Police today to ask some important questions concerning my status. I saw all the area around the Cathedral blocked, but as a visitor of the Préfecture de la Cité, I’ve managed to come closer to see what’s there after the disaster.
All the crowds are beyond the barriers. There are only a few infiltrated souls wandering here and there, the staff of the Préfecture and Hôtel Dieu; and the firemen.
I’m losing my voice because I talk all the day long when I’m at the Château de Versailles. This Sunday there were toooo many people in the Palace. Today I think all the people who wanted to visit Notre Dame de Paris came to Versailles…
How to survive in Paris 