The Magnificent Epoch-Palace Versailles
凡爾賽宮是位於巴黎近郊的凡爾賽鎮裡面，搭往郊區的火車Rer C 線，
就可以在火車站Gare de Versailles Château Rive Gauche下車，
為了方便就近玩耍，我訂了皇宮附近的飯店，
屆時搭11路(雙腳)，用走的不用5分鐘就可以到了。
火車站出口處有在出租電動腳踏板的小車，我不覺得對外來客方便，
一小時要2歐，要先下載他們的App.註冊，為什麼不用腳踏車就好?
Simply take the train that running on RER C line,heading to the town Versailles in the suburban area of Paris,
get off the train at the station of Gare de Versailles Château Rive Gauche.
That's it.
In order to play easier,I booked a room in the nearby hotel to the palace.
It's about 5 minutes walk on foot.
There was a renting booth of electrical bikes at the exit of the station,
but I didn't feel it's convenient for us.
It charged by 2 eruos per hour.
However,you need to register by downloading their app.first,
and specify which way to pay.
I wondered why not using directly the bycicles?
這條專線的火車天花板，特別裝潢了有皇家樣式的天花板圖樣，
讓訪客開始沉浸於華麗的時光隧道裡，
由火車站出來還要走一段路才會到我住的飯店，
凡爾賽鎮充滿濃濃的法式風情，我很喜歡這樣慢慢散步其中，
沿途很多家咖啡館，不禁放慢了步調，我覺得很夢幻，好像世界裹在粉紅色的戀愛裡面，
一直等到皇宮門前排隊，我的夢幻才破碎，
太多人了! 我咧~
The exclusive coach commuting between Paris and Versailles was particularly decorated with royal patterns on the ceiling.
The ride on the train is the beginning of a submerging experience to the era that's fascinating and grand.
It's like falling into a time tunnel to the past.
I needed to walk a period of distance to reach my hotel,after getting off the train.
On the way to my hotel,the town emitted thick French atmosphere from every nook and crack,
which made me slow my gaits into a leisure stroll.
The streets were dotted with various cafe shops.
I was like being wrapped in a lovably pink dream.
So romantic on my every breath until the day my romance shattered,
when having to wait in line for entering the palace,with tremendous crowds together.
The lines were too long,visitors were too many,
Gosh !
當初為了怕排隊，早就在網路買票，
沒想到還是很多人等著進宮，遊覽車還一車車把人載來，
不過還是提早買票的好，因為買票要排隊，
拿到票還要排進門的隊，進去後，還要排通過安檢站的隊伍，
因為住附近，我提早在開始營業的時間前就到，
前面廣場的人潮，早就形成一條又一條的長龍，
這麼早來，我還是呆呆地排了1小時多，算快的了。
Truth was...in order not to wait too long in lines,I had already bought my ticket on line.
It's just that I didn't expect to see crowds in the early morning.
Besides all that,more tourists were flooding in,brought in by buses.
However,I was still certain it was a good idea to have your ticket before coming.
Otherwise,it would waste you even more time in lines.
First you'd wait in front of the ticket booths,after that,
move to other lines before the entrance gate,then,
go to another line at the check point for entering the mansion.
I came quite early before the opening time,
and for the sake of convenience,I chose to stay at the nearby hotel.
Nonetheless,it had formed couples of long and winding lines in the front square of the gate.
It took me more than 1 hour standing in the line,which was considered fast enough on that day.
我來之前有點心理準備，我知道由於占地廣大，
不是普通的大，是宇宙超級無敵大，
所以我準備一整天耗在這裏面，我以為時間應該足夠了，沒想到，竟然還不夠，
因為皇家花園或森林太大了，總不能一直走、一直走，不停下欣賞一下吧!
而且這該死的路易十四，也不多設置一點椅子，都沒地方坐，
要走很遠，一直到下邊主要噴水池景點以後才有，
幸好老爺我早練就一雙鐵腿，這天，我硬是走了7小時，
還好沒有打破我之前9小時記錄，不然，
搞不好就在凡爾賽花園哪個角落仆街了。
I'd got some prepared,for I knew the site was immense,
not regularly board,but superbly esceletial big.
It might allow me to spend the whole day inside.
Well,I thought so,it should have been enough.
It turned out to be my innocence once again prevailed.
The garden,no,it's a forest was too large.
I couldn't appreciate the surroundings without halting my moving,could I?
I kept thinking about sitting down somewhere during my tour,
but the God dame Louis XIV didn't set up enough chairs,
that I had to walk very far,
down below the main fountains to get one for a short break.
Luckily my legs had already trained well from my past journey,
otherwise,I might have dropped dead soon on the ground of any corner in the garden.
歐洲很多皇宮我都去過，但沒有一座像凡爾賽宮這樣，
明目張膽的厚臉皮，哈哈，
用閃閃發光，黃澄澄的金色當基調，
巴洛克式風格的精雕細琢雕像和裝飾，鋪滿整個皇宮，
好吧，路易十四都自己號稱"阿波羅太陽王"了，
就萬道金光、瑞氣千條，不然你還想會怎樣?
I have visited many other palaces in Europe,but none of them is as unscrupulous as Palace Versailles.
It's so bold,haha,using shining,golden motif as a base in color,and scattering it all over the whole palace.
The exquisitely carvings and delicate statues with Baroque style ornamented everywhere as the eyes of guests could see.
When the core of King Louis XIV's ego was to show off among the golden,eye-stinging rays.
He even had called himself,"Apollo,The Lord of Sun."
Fine,what else could you do?
我也滿喜歡巴洛克式風格的家俱，
可是千萬別買(何況現在市面都是中國廠用機器大量生產)，
單單要擦洗就會要了你的命，這種只可遠觀，千萬別近褻，
以清潔度而言，凡爾賽宮已經算是有常在清洗的了，
雖然還是很多灰塵。
I also love the furniture with Baroque style.
Be ware,it's not an ideal gadget to own,
for a constant clearing job of ridding of the dust simply would take your life away
(not to mention that most of the furniture nowadays is made in China,
and comes with cheap quality from the mass production lines.)
Thus,don't buy it.
It would suit you better by appreciation only.
By the way,I felt the sweeping job at Versailles Palace has been frequently conducted,
for they seemed clean.Not bad.
我不知道是因為皇宮開放的區域有限制的關係，還是怎樣，
跟以往拜訪的其他宮殿相比，凡爾賽宮不算大，
參觀格局大同小異，我第一次來，所以用了2小時多，
但是下次如果再來，應該不會用到1小時就可結束皇宮部分，
所以重點，如果方便，大家可以擺在皇家花園上，
當然，這樣一來，整個參訪風格就會偏向法式園藝和自然環境上。
I don't know if it had something to do with the restriction area set for tourism at the palace itself,
however,when made comparison with its peers,Versailles palace wasn't larger.
The touring route was similar with others'.
It took me for 2 hours to complete the tour at the palace for my first time visit.
I think it would be cut to less than 1 hour next time at the palace area to me.
Thus,I think,if convenience,I suggest put your focus on the royal garden.
And so it would switch the touring point from the palace to French gardens and its adjacent nature.
這樣說好像皇宮本身不值一提一樣，並不是的，
皇宮真的金碧輝煌，
尤其各宮室天花板上華麗的繪畫、雕刻、鑲框、水晶吊燈，
每個轉角的擺飾，美不勝收，
皇家收藏的大型畫作，水準也堪稱驚世傑作，
樓梯下層梯板的漣漪造型、精心虛飾的拱門、長廊，都可以讓我駐足凝視，
還有大家耳熟能詳的鏡廳，自然而然地，"奢華"兩個字油然心生，
目前每星期的固定幾天，鏡廳直接晚上開趴，開放給另有購票的大眾參加復古宴會，
不要懷疑，很多歐洲國家的某些知名古蹟也都這樣做，
一方面增加收入，一方面讓古蹟活用，
比如，匈牙利布達佩斯的著名塞切尼溫泉浴場就是，不定期晚上變身成泳池夜店。
It's like being worthless in describing the palace this way,
no it's not that at all.
The Palace Versailles is indeed magnificent to the supreme.
All the ceilings in every room etched with stunning paintings,
carvings,exquisite frames,and grand crystal chandeliers.
There is often a masterpiece of stature found on every corner.
It couldn't be even more wonderful.
Not only that,except the great quantity in storage,
the quality of each painting is also admirable.
The huge paintings are marvelous enough to awe you,
and they are not for their size.
The ground level of the stairs looks like a ripple flowing out,which is absolutely amazing,
and there are more...
the delicate decorated fake doors,long corridors all of these could make me gaze deep and get lost in time.
Besides all that,the famous Hall of Mirrors is the one burgeoning the phrase "luxury" out of your mind ,
and it did it naturally.
Now the management holds night parties at Hall of Mirrors few times every week,
and opens to general guests to purchase tickets for the nostalgic parties at night.
No doubt that this is a fad in Europe,
so that the management can increase the income and at the same time make good use of the cultural assets.
There are other famous sites like Palace Versailles,
such as Széchenyi Thermal Bath in Budapest,Hungary is a good example,
which turns into a swimming pool club at night at specific time.
凡爾賽宮是歐洲主要王宮的華麗濫觴，
奧地利美泉宮、德國波茨坦建的無憂宮、還有名聞遐邇的聖彼得堡的夏宮，
都是向凡爾賽宮看齊的，我也是充滿了浪漫的情懷而來，
我永遠記得小時候讀過的一系列世界名著-"凡爾賽的玫瑰"漫畫版，哈哈，
可是人家真的劇力萬鈞、高潮起伏不斷、又充滿酸甜苦辣的甜蜜夢幻，
男女主角都美貌非凡，脫光光在皇宮四處遊蕩...
等一下!
記錯版本了,哈哈。
Such as Schonbrunn Palace in Austria,Schloss Sanssouci in Potsdam,Germany,
and the well-known Summer Palace in St.Petersburg,Russia,
all derived from Palace Versailles,which is the splendid source of main palaces in Europe.
I came with a heart of romance.
I remembered a series of comic books I had read long long time ago,
which have a world-wide prestige,
"The Versailles Rose",haha.
Well,it is full of dramatic tension,sweetness and sourness in a pink and shining dream,
besides all that,the leading charactors are all pretty,
chasing each other nude in the palace...
wait!
Wrong version I am recalling here,hahahaha.
快到中午，要到皇宮附設的餐廳吃一下看看，
沒想到餐廳說只開放給有預約的客人，
因為人太多，所以只能採預約制，
也就是，一定保證客滿的意思，
所以想吃看看的，先打去訂位，
不過台灣人訂好之後，可不要給人家放鳥喔。
算了，我還是去花園裡面，裡面也有餐廳和餐車，
隨便吃一下吧，因為景點的餐食一定是比外面貴
(其實還好，不要擔心)，就不想太麻煩。
It's drawing near the noon time.
I roamed to the nearby restaurant that set beside the palace.
Unexpectedly,they told me I couldn't get in for I didn't make any reservation beforehand.
It's all full,and there were too many visitors coming to the palace.
So,basically the restaurant only accepted bookings by phone in days before the guests' chosen date.
Thus,if you wanted to try it out,you'd need to book a seat earlier.
However,I hope Taiwanese visitors do not "no show" after making the reservation,
which is a bad habit to some I think.
Fine,
I had better go to eat whatever they offered in the garden's dining cars or restaurants.
Even though I thought it might be a little bit more expensive than the restaurants outside,
(It turned out the price was all right actually.),
I simply didn't want to have too much trouble in this stuff.
****
至於宮外的街頭餐廳，我剛來時也嚇一跳，
我還以為走錯地方了，因為這裡竟然充滿了各國料理，
也有中式餐廳、日本餐廳等等等，
幹嘛!飛這麼遠吃這個?才不要呢，
我這幾天跑去買當地店面的糕餅，配著咖啡吃，
真的超好又實在，還可以拿回飯店等下吃，
另外，法國的餐飲真是太競爭了，
這邊餐廳把椅子都直接放到人行道的分隔島上去了，
公家連這地方也出租喔!
As to the restaurants at the town,
I was surprised to know it's occupied by all sorts of exotic meals.
It's quite common to spot a Turkish kabak,a Chinese or Japanese restaurant,or other oriental dishes.
There's no way I would go to consume them after flying thousands of miles.
Actually,I went to local bakery to have some cakes, bread,and coffee,
which were more economic and practical.
I even bought some back to my hotel as supper.
I could see the restaurant business here was very competitive.
Some of the restaurants even placed their chairs directly onto the safety isles of the road.
I didn't expect to know the local government could even let out this type of space to restaurant business.
*****
走入皇家花園，終於，
深深切切地體會出凡爾賽宮的驚人美貌，
這個部分才是凡爾賽宮的靈魂，
雖然會邊走邊靠杯。
園區太大了，我腿等下會斷吧!
真心勸告大家，走下去前，最好先上廁所，
不然下個廁所在中段那邊，很遠喔。
At last,I set foot on the garden,and deeply felt its stunning beauty.
Royal garden was the true soul where Palace Versailles has hidden,
though I might have kept naying along the way on the process of walking down to the bottom.
Because the garden is too large.I was afraid my legs would break later.
I suggest,out of my true devotion,
visitors should go to toilets before stepping down to it.
Otherwise,the next toilets are very far,really,it's about in the middle section of the garden.
法式庭院風格美不勝收，與我來自的東方迴然不同，
寬廣開放式的庭園，佈局如編織地毯般的細緻、
優雅，由上往下攤開，視覺猶如往前至無盡的遠方。
皇宮位在高處山丘上，由此一層一層往下邊的森林鋪去，
各層由巨大噴水池當主軸串聯，定時跳起水舞，
台灣台南的奇美博物館的阿波羅噴水池，就是仿製這裡的其中一座噴水池，
此時太陽尚未太過炎熱，但是近午時，庭園沒遮沒擋，
我等一下被曬到K.O.就慘了，就開始往下遊玩去，
中段以後，林地開始取代低矮花卉園區和噴水池，應該就有地方遮陽了。
French horticultural style here is totally different from ours,it's grand as I had hoped.
The wide and open garden space,the delicate and graceful layout like fine braided blanket,
that spreading out to the far horizen.
It's endless in my vision.
The palace was located in the high place,from where it descends to below,
layer by layer,
and each layer has a great fountain as a centerpiece,
until it connects the forest below.
They set the fixed time to activate to eject the water out of each fountain.
When the fountain worked,the view was spectacular.
One of the main fountain is Apollo,
that was duplicated by ChiMei Museum in order to show the same view in Tainan,Taiwan.
It was still early,so I didn't have felt the sun yet.
But I figured I might get some burns when it drawed to the time at noon,
for there weren't many shades where I could hide in the open space like this.
I had to go down further to the middle section,
where all the tall trees were and started to replace the charactors of low,flowery shrubs and fountains.
I would find useful shades there.
法國常見，故意修剪成方形的高聳人工樹林，
在中段後出現，形成另一區域，與中間大道的另一區域成對稱，
區域內又劃分成多個大約四四方方的小區，
每小區都由樹牆分隔開來，眼視不好的人鑽來鑽去難免會迷路了，
有的小區內有另設置水池，每個水池造型各異，
走進這裡，會一時與外面人聲鼎沸的空間隔開，恬靜、舒適的心情會油然而生，
而且有的小區有椅子，哈哈，趕快坐下來把零食飲料拿出來吃喝一頓，
我覺得好安靜和美麗，很想靜靜坐一會兒，
可是我想時間不夠我用，如果我想一天玩完的話。
It's a signature style to French horticulture,
that tall trees with abundant leaves were trimmed to be large squares on purpose.
The trees with square style were in the middle section and connected with the following forest.
The middle section was pierced through by a broad avenue in the middle.
On both sides of avenue were designed to be paralleled with each other,
and there were several rectangular small areas on each side,separated by tree walls.
They looked alike to each small area.
I thought it's easy to get lost in it.
It's a fun maze.
Small fountain was found in some small area,each with different looks.
Chairs could be found here,and these small rectangular areas were separated from the avenue outside,
and which kept some degree of privacy and discretion.
Thus,they provided me a moment of tranquilt and comfort,
as I was sitting on the chair beside the little fountain.
Ah ha,this was an excellent opportunity to have some snacks and beverage that I had bought with me.
I really wanted to take a longer break,
but I didn't think I had enough time to do so,if I wanted to finish the tour in a day.
也是這時，我開始覺得門票並不貴了，
這麼大的區域，館方真的要有錢才可以維護，
單靠政府補助應該會很累。
中段這裡可以任遊客穿梭，也有點隱蔽性，
為什麼要這麼美?
Then,I sat to ponder for a while,starting to think the ticket wasn't pricey as it had looked.
The management of the palace does need a lot of funds to tackle an area this large.
It would be a hard job to depend solely on government's subsidy only.
The middle section offered the privacy for visitors roaming freely.
I couldn't help but let go my emontion running,
thinking why being so beautiful...
良久，走回中間段，又往更下邊的水池去，
應該聯通附近的河水吧，池面，不，應該說是湖面了，
可以租小船划，好多人在鬼混喔，
而且也好多人在慢跑、運動，應該是附近居民吧，
不用錢的我也會天天來。
I went back to the middle section,after a long while,
and then went down to the lower fountain on the avenue.
This one connects with the nearby river I thought.
People could rent a boat to enjoy rowing fun themselves on the pool,no,it should be a lake.
Tourists were seen many here in this section,
and there were locals doing jogging,or other exercises.
I thought they didn't need to pay for the entrance fee.
If so,I'd come everyday as well.
我一直往深處走去，這邊還有個安檢站，有告示牌提示關場時間，
裡面還有著名的皇后的村莊，
怎麼辦，這麼大，還有好多好漂亮的點，不管了，就給他走下去，
有很多外來客在這裡已經變得愈來愈少，大部分都在中、上段那邊，
一些有年紀的人大概沒辦法這樣走一天。
When going deeper,I encountered a check point,
with a sign telling guests the closing time.
I calculated a little of my residual time left to see I might need to be hurry a bit,
for there were other famous spots that I hadn't treaded yet,
such as the Queen's Hamlet,the large and the little Trianon Palaces.
Then what to do about it?
I couldn't help,but keep going on.
The tourists seen here were getting less,
they mostly gathered or stayed at the upper or middle section.
If so,then tourists with older ages might not be able to walk all day like me.
可是...真的很美麗，希望門票以後便宜一些，公園太美了，
後邊還有景點，也有皇宮別院可以參觀，
再下去應該就是古時皇帝的打獵場，而最後高潮的"皇后的村莊"，
我的天啊~
根本就是活在童話故事裡，
我即使腳開始楚楚發疼，也都一時忘掉了。
日落水平線，
烏沉彩雲間，
試問相會否，
月上枝頭現...
Nonetheless,it was really beautiful.
I sincerely hoped that the admission fee could be cheaper in near future,
for the beauty of Versailles Palace should be shared with everyone.
The whole area that Versailles occupies was large.
Except Queen's Hamlet,the large and the little Trianon Palaces,a mass of forest follows beyond.
As to the Queen's Hamlet,
my Goodness,it,indeed,came out of the fairy stories.
With the sight so fantastic,I even forgot the vaguely aching of my legs.
***
Sun sinking below the horizen line in the far,
and hidding itself among the colorful clouds,
No need to ask when we will meet again,for the time to part has come.
I'll see you when moon hunging on branches.
(The closing time is about 6 or 7 pm.Do not linger too late for the moon to rise,lol.)
我只希望...
時間可以暫時停止...
Right at this moment,
all I wish was...
time could be frozen still...for a while.
~ End ~
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