Day Trips from Paris - Paris - page 591

PPLANNING F ANNING FOR VER OR VERSAILLE SAILLES

By noon queues spiral out of control: arrive early and avoid Tuesday and Sunday,
the busiest days. Prepurchase tickets on the château's website or at Fnac
branches and go straight to Entrance A ( GOOGLE MAP ) .

The estate is so vast that the only way to see it all is to hire a four-person electric
car ( GOOGLE MAP ; 01 39 66 97 66; per hr €32) or hop aboard the shuttle train (
GOOGLE MAP ; www.train-versailles.com ; adult/child €7.50/5.80) ; you can also rent a bike (
01 39 66 97 66; per hr €6.50) or boat ( GOOGLE MAP ;

01 39 66 97 66; per hr €15) .

DINING A DINING AT VER T VERSAILLE SAILLES

Eateries within the estate include tearoom Angelina ( GOOGLE MAP ; www.angelina-ver-
sailles.fr ; snacks €14-25, mains €23-35; 10am-6pm Tue-Sat Apr-Oct, to 5pm Tue-Sat Nov-Mar)
(with branches inside the palace and by the Petit Trianon). In the Louis
XIV-created town of Versailles, rue de Satory is lined with restaurants; try À la
Ferme ( GOOGLE MAP ; 01 39 53 10 81; www.alaferme-versailles.com ; 3 rue du Maréchal Joffre;
menus lunch €15.50-22.90, dinner €21.50-26.20;

noon-2pm & 7-10pm Wed-Sun) .

THE ST THE STABLE ABLES

Today Versailles' school of architecture and restoration workshops fill the Petites
Écuries (Little Stables), while the Grandes Écuries (Big Stables) house the
Académie du Spectacle Équestre . In addition to its 45-minute Les Ma

s Matiinale ales the

academy presents spectacular Repriises Mus s Musiicale ales, which sell out weeks in ad-

vance.

Louis XVI convened the États-Généraux, made up of more than 1118 deputies
representing the nobility, the clergy and the Third Estate ('common people') in
May 1789 to moderate dissent. Denied entry, the Third Estate's reps met separ-
ately on the 1686-built royal t is couurt, formed a National Assembly and took

the Serment du Jeu de Paume (Tennis Court Oath), swearing not to dissolve it
until Louis XVI accepted a new constitution.

al tennis c