Versaille - closures?

I am going to be in Paris in 2 weeks. I just checked the Versaille website and this is what they have listed as closed -

Opera House : closed for restoration for about 20 months as from June 2007

▪ Mesdames’Apartments

▪ Petit Trianon is temporarily closed to the public. The 1st floor will reopen on 14 July 2008 and the ground floor will reopen in September 2008 for independent tours and the Attics for guided tours.

▪ History of France Galleries

▪ Coach Museum and Salle du Jeu de paume : closed until the first months of the 2008 season.

We are planning to go on a weekend day and see the fountain show as well. Will we be missing anything big based on the closures?

Thanks.

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Hi neitzjl

I%26#39;ll offer my opinion which is that the list of closures sounds a bit worse than it really is and you will still have a great day and feel that you have seen alot of really interesting stuff.

I have been three times to Versailles and still haven%26#39;t seen everything including some on that list (such as the coach museum and the salle du jeu du paume and the Mesdames appts which have fairly limited access generally ) - so firstly, you would not have been likely to make it to all of the %26#39;closed%26#39; list in any case.

The History of France Galleries is nothing to be concerned about missing - it is a long gallery lined with large paintings celebrating France%26#39;s many war victories - established by Napoleon - its a bit boring unless you know French military history extremely well.

Shame about the Petit Trianon being partly closed but given the slightly more lavish Grand Trianon, and the very interesting Hamlet are still open, with half of the Petite Trianon open you will still get a really good overview of Marie Antoinette%26#39;s Estate - maybe all the better for the fact that the part of the PT you will see has now been renovated. I wish her theatre in the gardens had been open when I was there - didn%26#39;t see that myself but you might!

It would disappoint me a little not to see the Opera because I find it an interesting room for its history - eg Marie Antoinettes%26#39; marriage celebrated there.

But the main, really impressive sights are to be seen in the main tour of the Chateau, the fountains and the gardens and that will override the fact there was an interesting room or two that you couldn%26#39;t see.

Hope you enjoy your visit.

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We were just at Versailles last week and there is still plenty to see, at least part of the Petit Trianon is open because we did go in there and the Grand Trianon. The theater is open, you can%26#39;t walk into it but you can view it from the back.

We spent from about 10:30am-4pm there, had a nice leisurely picnic under the trees in the garden, walked down to the hamlet and the Grand Trianon and through the gardens.

If you are not using the Museum Pass, you can get your ticket at the RER station for combined train and admission, it will save you a lot of time as the queues were HUGE for tickets at the Palace. And be sure to keep a hold of your ticket, I somehow dropped ours and you need it to get into the Grand and Petit Trianon and for the included audio guide for the Palace. We just stuck our train ticket in the slot on the pass and waved it really fast in front of the guards :-)

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Thanks for the advice - we%26#39;ll plan to go.

JND

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I plan to be in Paris for 3 days and have never been before. Then will travel to Nice for 3 days. Again first time. Would anyone recommend taking an extra day to visit Versaille or spending the time in Nice.

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FirstTime,

If you think you will never visit Paris again, go to Versailles. However, Nice is a really charming city and good jumping point to explore other areas of the Riviera so in my opinion, I%26#39;d take the extra time on the Cote d%26#39;Azur.

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thanks, that%26#39;s good to know.

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