Europe

This morning we woke to the sound of the alarm clock, at the rather unsociable time of 6:30 am. We had to get up early to get organised to get to Saint Pancras Station to catch the Eurostar to Paris.

We got down to breakfast around 7:30 am and enjoyed our last breakfast at The Berkeley. We have really enjoyed our stay here.

By 8:30 am we were in a cab on our way to the station. We got to the station in plenty of time and relaxed in the lounge after checking in. We boarded the train around 10 am and settled in for the trip of just over two hours to Paris. After a very pleasant journey (that included a little champagne, a little eating, and a little napping) we arrived at Gare du Nord in Paris, where we were met by our driver.

After a drive of about an hour we arrived at our hotel in Versailles, Le Grand Contrôle. Located inside the Estate of Versailles , Le Grand Contrôle was built in 1681 by the famous French classicism figure and favorite architect of king Louis XIV, Jules Hardouin-Mansart. It is quite a privilege to stay inside the palace grounds. Our room looks out over the palace’s famous Orangerie, a garden building designed by French architect Jules Hardouin-Mansart that features orange, lemon, oleander, palm, and pomegranate trees.

Not only has the hotel building been restored to its former grandeur, it has also been filled with original period furniture sourced over many years to ensure that it feels authentic. And all of the staff are dressed in period dress, which adds even more to the charm.

After settling in to our room we headed downstairs for a delightful afternoon tea.

Next up we decided to explore the palace gardens. The gardens cover around 800 hectares, so we opted to take one of the hotel’s golf carts to do our exploring.

After touring around the gardens we returned to the hotel to then head off into the palace for a private tour of the King’s Apartment, the suite of rooms in the Palace of Versailles that served as the living quarters of Louis XIV. Touring the palace privately when it is closed to the public is definitely the way to do it! Having the Hall Of Mirrors to ourselves was a very special treat.

After our tour inside the palace finished, we walked back to our hotel (stopping along the way for a few photos) to get ready for dinner.

By the time we got back to our room it was nearly 8:30 pm so we had only a few minutes to freshen up and head to the hotel’s restaurant for dinner. The Michelin-starred restaurant is run by Alain Ducasse, so we knew were going to have a wonderful dinner.

It was after 11 pm when we finished dinner and headed back to our room.

We have another big day tomorrow, exploring more of the palace.