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…

• In which language?
• Breton.
• British.
• Dutch.
• Deutsch.