Saturday morning, everyone was scheduled to depart. The family was headed to the airport for their flights home, while Robert and I were going to finish packing and grab a cab to Versailles. I had to take a photo as the gang was leaving. My mother-in-law made me think of a mother duck with her little ducklings trailing behind, all in a line.

We had a great cabdriver on the way to Versailles. His name was Karim and he treated us to all sorts of suggestions for outings around Versailles – from a horseback ride through the forest to a drive to Honfleur, a semi-nearby beach town. Didn’t follow through on any of them, but we did consider changing a few of the items on our itinerary.

Here’s where hotel room fun began. We had reservations at the Waldorf Astoria Trianon Palace, where we stayed on our previous two visits. Robert requested a room with a view of the Queen’s garden. While you could see the garden, it was really a view of the swimming pool, with the garden visible if you hoisted yourself over the TV and turned your head to the left, where you could catch a slim peek of green parkland. Robert harrumphed and retreated downstairs where he was told we could change rooms the next day for one with a better view. Relieved of unpacking everything, we relaxed until time for dinner.

Next was a walk up the hill to the Palace for dinner at Ore. We had tickets for Les Grandes Eaux Nocturnes, the nighttime fountain and light show on the grounds. Ore is located in a portion of the palace buildings and like the original palace, we discovered it apparently had no air conditioning, As the day was in the upper 80s, we were both feeling overdressed rather quickly. Robert was thinking he would have to remove his dress shirt and sit there in his undershirt. Luckily, waitstaff kept moving past us rather quickly, creating just enough of a breeze that we made it through the meal without stripping or fainting.

The meal was prix fixe and paired with champagne and several wines. First course was wild mushrooms, grape and sorrel gourmet casserole. Remind me that I should add grapes to more dishes in the future. Next was medallion of monkfish in saffron broth with fennel, then my favorite, chicken and foie gras pithiviers and herb salad. For dessert, roasted figs, blackcurrant, and yogurt ice cream.

Having stuffed ourselves in a very kingly and queenly manner, we walked out toward the fountain show just as the sun was setting.

As usual, the fountains are my favorite thing, and since they aren’t on during the daytime, it’s exciting to see them in their glory at night.

Now, confession here. We didn’t refresh our memory on how this whole fountain and light show is organized, and trying to study a map in the dark by cell phone light was less than perfect. I have some suggestions for the show organizers that involve some lighted pathways with colored lights to indicate where the “in” opening is and where the “out” route lies. However, we saw enough, including the big fire finale before being directed out the Palace gates toward our hotel. Once at the hotel, we retreated to the patio seating/dining area and ordered vodka on the rocks, while I placed the ice pack Robert had retrieved from our room on my very overworked foot. (Foot on the rocks.)

We went a little off script from our itinerary during the remainder of the trip to accommodate my willingness to walk all over God’s (and King Louis’) creation. That walk uphill over cobblestones to the Palace is NOT friendly. One of the first few days we decided we should do the golf cart tour – a wise decision by my husband. We drove the golf cart ourselves, staying within the prescribed pathway – else the cart would stop running. It was helpful in once again acquainting ourselves with the grounds and possible options for getting me to the Trianon Palace, Hamlet and Petite Trianon with as little walking as possible.

Robert is a huge fan of the Palace grounds. He would like to structure our yard after them, but fortunately we don’t have that much acreage or I’d never see him again. I did take a photo of some topiaries I would like him to attempt for us. (That should keep him entertained.) And we ALMOST got the best photo ever. ALMOST. We spotted a lawn mower and I joked he should go over and act like he’s mowing while I get a shot of him with the palace in the background. Everyone who knows him knows that would likely be his dream job. To my horror, he took off like a shot, waving me along to follow him as he tried to find a quick route to the mower. Luckily, before we got too far, a landscaper returned to claim it.

That night we took it easy and ordered room service in our 2nd room at the hotel. Which we were not fans of and had already asked to change a third time the following day. They tried to tell us all the rooms were the same – but we knew better. (At this point they were still very friendly to us but I knew they were getting annoyed.) Somewhere was a room with a view of the garden, and TWO balconies – one off the bedroom, and one off the bath. By golly, we were going to find that room if it drove all of us insane. Because THEN I could finally unpack. But in the meantime, dinner and much needed rest.