Should I Stay or Should I Chateau?

Waldorf Astoria Versailles – Trianon Palace. Where I finally became the Disney princess my name has set me up to be.

In reality, I got very lucky – and I relished every minute of it. When I booked my trip to Versailles, I had no idea that I’d booked a night in an actual, real-life palace, but when I arrived, I was astonished to find her in all her glory.

You might be asking yourself, how does one accidentally book a night in a palace?

I booked my stay through one of my travel rewards programs, and when I was searching for a hotel, I looked for one as close as possible to the Chateau de Versailles, or the palace of Versailles. I knew I would want to walk as much as possible, so I wanted something conveniently located, and as I searched through the listings, I found one that appeared right on the grounds of the Chateau. The photos looked amazing, and along with the killer pricepoint, thanks to my rewards program, they also offered me $100 toward the Gordon Ramsay restaurant located on site. Which was, in fact, a deal I was not going to pass up. When I made the booking, I saw that next to the hotel’s name, it included a ” – Trianon Palace.” Because many hotels will title themselves based on the nearest tourist attraction, I assumed that meant the hotel was nearest to the Trianon Palace, and not, in fact, actually Trianon Palace.

Dear reader, it was the palace.

Yes, I have broken out my Jane Austen dialect for this one.

When I took the train from Paris to Strasbourg, it was too dark to make out much of the landscapes we were flashing past, but on my train to Versailles, I was actually able to take in the French countryside, which made for an extremely peaceful trip.

It didn’t hurt that I was hurtling toward Versailles, a place I’ve dreamed about traveling to since I was a child. I’ve always had some fascination with Marie Antoinette – when I was first learning how to read, I remember being at a library and wandering off into the young adult section, which was far more advanced than my then-current picture book phase. I was drawn to a light blue book with gold gilt edges and a gold fabric bookmarker. On the front was a beautiful woman in an elaborate gown, high hair, and a rosy face – Marie Antoinette. I wanted to read it, but my Dad informed me it was too advanced for me, which I somehow misinterpreted as the book being in French, because in my mind, nothing was too advanced for me in English. I asked him if he could read it to me, and he said yes. I enjoyed listening to him read the book to me each day, and I remember thinking for quite some time that my Dad could read French!

My time in Versailles was a tour of many palaces, and so we will begin with my hotel, the Waldorf Astoria Versailles – Trianon Palace.

The first thing I noticed when I walked into the hotel, was surprisingly not the astonishingly beautiful welcome area.

It was the scent.

I have no idea what the actual scent was, but it pervaded the entire hotel, and it was absolutely lovely. It was not overpowering at all, and had a very light, fresh, and simultaneously opulent feel to it. I wracked my brain trying to determine what the notes could have been, but ultimately decided they were simply Trianon. I have to admit that it made me think of our friend Emily in Paris, who helps a hotel chain collaborate with a perfumery to create a signature scent for their hotels. It must be what they had done here, and hats off to them, because it was wonderful!

I went to the reception area, where I was informed that they had upgraded my room – uh, score!

The receptionist then showed me to the elevator area.

Nothing here was average.

My room was huge, and had these incredible, massive windows overlooking the gardens at the Chateau.

I liked the curtains, too. The black and white theme carried into the bathroom, which had lovely tiling and marble details.

My chaotic travels to France, the fast pace of my adventures in Strasbourg, and successive travels to Versailles had taken a lot of energy, and I felt completely renewed just stepping into this hotel room. Everything was soft and plush, including the scent in the air; the bed was comfortable; the bathroom came with a deep bathtub, plenty of wonderful soaps, and heated floors; and I had my own little coffee bar. The ceilings were vaulted, and the room was spacious. I felt ready to relax. The only thing missing was still my luggage.

I decided to walk into town, where I needed to buy some essentials, since the AirTag in my luggage was still reading as being in Boston. I also had successfully scored a reservation at the Gordon Ramsey restaurant that evening, and didn’t think my sweater and leggings would cut the dress code, and since the dress I’d been planning on wearing was sitting somewhere in Boston, I needed to buy a new dress in France. Ugh, what a drag. That was complete sarcasm, and while I was bummed that my luggage was missing, I was super stoked about having an excuse to buy a fancy new dress in Versailles. Heck yeah.

As I was getting ready to leave, there was a knock at the door. My heart leapt – maybe my AirTag hadn’t refreshed, and my luggage had actually arrived! However, when I answered the door, there was a young man, without any luggage, but standing with a covered metal tray.

“The hotel would like to offer you a welcome gift, mademoiselle,” he said.

I was beginning to feel like a real life queen.

He carefully arranged a few bottles of sparkling water and a tray of strawberry macarons on my desk.

All of it was delicious.

I put off my plans to stroll through town momentarily, so I could relish the comforts of my hotel room and the sweetness of the macarons. After savoring the delicate French treats and some peaceful time after an eventful 48 hours of adventure, I realized that in order to make it back to the hotel in time to get ready for my dinner reservation, I’d need to head to town to do a little shopping.

The city of Versailles was exceptionally lovely. Rows of neutral and pastel apartments, buildings frosted with pale shuttered windows, an eternally blue sky puffed with clouds – I felt like I was in a dream.

My experiences with the kindness of the French only continued in Versailles. Everyone was extremely friendly, and with every store I visited, I felt more confident in my “Bonjour’s” and “Au revisor’s.”

As I was in need of deodorant, toothpaste, face wash, and makeup remover, I headed to a Pharmacie, lit up in green lights. When I walked in, I was surrounded by a wave of French writing, so I utilized the Google Translate scan feature to help distinguish the face washes from the mouth washes. Not that those look the same, but you know what I mean.

As I was perusing and scanning, a kind employee came over to me and began speaking to me in French. “Parles vous anglais?” I asked. Do you speak English?

“A little bit,” she responded. “Can I help you find something?”

I told her I was looking for a few things, and she helped me select a face wash and makeup remover. The last item on my list was toothpaste, and when I let her know what I was looking for, she led me to an entire wall of toothpaste. The entire wall, covered in an array of options for toothpaste. It was almost comical how many choices there were. Faced with that many decisions, I hesitated, my eyes landing on a box that seemed to indicate the toothpaste had a coconut flavor, which intrigued me. Seeing that I was hesitating, the employee began explaining each. And. Every. Toothpaste to me. This woman went box by box, describing to me in her wonderful French accent the benefits of each variety of toothpaste. My personal favorite was described as being “for when you’re eating food zat is too cold, or too hot, and your teeth go ‘ahh!'” My close second favorite was for a gingivitis toothpaste, which she described as “for when your tooth, zey bleed!” Finally she got to a toothpaste that she described as “just normal,” so I hastily grabbed that one.

It really struck me that she not only stopped to help me, but that she went above and beyond to make sure each product was something I would like, including going box-by-box to describe each toothpaste to me. She knew I was going to purchase these items regardless, but she went to the trouble to make sure they were all something I would like.

After I completed my purchases at the Pharmacie, I went to a store called Zapa, where I was greeted by another friendly employee. She said hello, I said hello back, and she asked me how I was doing. I responded in French, and asked how she was doing, feeling excited about the opportunity to practice my conversational French again. She said she was doing well, and then broke out into rapid French. I waited until there was a natural break, before asking her in French if she could speak English. She told me they were having a holiday sale – score – and to let her know if I wanted to try anything on. They had one of each item out on display, and she could help me get my sizes in a dressing room. I found a few options for my dinner attire, and when I handed her the pieces I wanted to try on, she simply told me she would get each one pulled for me, disappearing without asking my size. I was wondering how accurate she would be, and when I got into the dressing room, checked each piece out of curiosity. Each and every one of them was a different size, which perplexed me.

And yet. Somehow. Each one of them fit me absolutely perfectly. I have no idea how that woman did it. I actually liked several of the dresses, but settled on a metallic number that incorporated both silver and bronze into the knit material. It also had shoulder pads, which I enjoyed. We all love a power shoulder.

It was fun strolling the city, but I had to get back to my hotel to get ready for dinner.

Look how absolutely stunning my hotel/palace was when I returned at dusk. Good lord.

Here was the final result of my primping efforts:

Gotta show off the shoes.

In fact, let’s get a closer look.

I’m so glad I decided to pack these in my carry on instead of my (lost) checked luggage.

And now, it was time to really indulge.

They started by offering me a glass of champagne that was so good it recalled the quote from Perignon when champagne was supposedly created: “Come quickly, I am tasting the stars!”

Tasting the stars, indeed.

The Gordon Ramsey au Trianon was the best dining experience I’ve ever hard, largely in part to the awesome staff. Between each course or item they brought to the table, they would entirely clear the table, scrape any crumbs away, and completely reset the table. As they did so, I said “thank you,” and quickly realized I should instead be saying “merci.” I made a comment about needing to utilize my French more, and the waiter looked surprised and said, “Ohhh, you speak French?” and I responded with a hesitant “Un petit peu? Is that right?” and he responded with an enthusiastic “Oui!”

I told him I only knew basic conversational French, and he told me that if I helped him practice his English, he would help me practice my French. I said that sounded like a deal! The dinner was so fun because he kept teaching me how to say different phrases, and would ask me questions in French and teach me how to respond in French. As he brought each course to me, he also began saying the names of all of the foods in both English and French, and let me pronounce everything back to him, correcting me when necessary.

Word spread through the restaurant that we were doing this, and the other staff got in on it, which made it even more fun! At one point, my waiter was occupied, so a different waiter who only spoke French brought the course out to me. As he approached, I saw a look of panic grow in his eyes as he realized he didn’t know how to talk to me or describe the plate to me. He looked around for his colleagues who spoke English to help him, and when he spotted one, his colleague said, “Non, Francais!” No, French.

The waiter turned to me nervously, and I responded with an enthusiastic, “Francais!” He laughed and described each of the dishes to me in French. As soon as he left, my main waiter came back and asked me if I understood the other waiter. It was a resounding no, though whatever he did say to me in French sounded very nice! My waiter described the dish to me, and once again let me pronounce it back to him.

At a different point in the meal, another waiter brought me one of the courses while my main waiter was busy, and she immediately described everything to me in English. As she was walking away, my waiter came back and said, “Non, Francais!” So she came back to my table and repeated everything back to me in French, also letting me pronounce the words back to her and correcting anything that didn’t sound quite right. It was super fun, and I could tell they had a lot of pride in their language, and they were also enjoying teaching someone. I clearly have a love for language, so it was nice to be able to ask them specific questions about various nuances in the French language.

Throughout the dinner, my waiter kept saying, “Your accent! It’s beautiful!” To which I thought, it’s really your accent, I’m just borrowing it. I wasn’t sure if he was just bullshitting me to be nice, or if he truly thought my accent was good, but as my trip went on, more and more people complemented my accent, and some thought I was French altogether, which I took as a massive compliment.

I learned a ton from my waiters, which I was able to utilize during the rest of my trip. It made me way more confident during my consequential dining experiences, and I was grateful that they taught me various words and phrases during dinner.

The entire meal was seven courses in total, and I spent about three and a half hours with them, which was filled with a lot of laughter and learning. My waiter chatted with me between each course, and it was a really great conversation – he gave me tips about things to see in Paris, several of which I actually ended up doing; he gave me advice about visiting the Chateau the next day; and we also talked about the differences between the French and American COVID-19 responses. The latter not being the most uplifting topic, but we were both genuinely interested in hearing each other’s experiences in one another’s home countries, and it was really interesting to hear his perspective.

As far as the dinner went, it also didn’t hurt that the food was phenomenal.

The “experience,” as they called it, began with three adorable little items which were not on the menu, and the names of which I did not retain after they were described to me by the staff.

All I know is the tiny one that looks like a taco was one of the most delightful things I’ve ever eaten. The avocado at the center was incredibly smooth. I could have eaten 100 of them. The one in the middle looked like a tiny basket, and I genuinely questioned whether or not I should be eating it. I did eat it, and it was delightful.

Next up was a red tuna concoction, which I was not entirely sure about until I tasted it – it was divine.

This was followed by a saddle of rabbit, stuffed with Taggiasca olives. I have an affinity for bunnies, so I was also a little nervous about this one, but I am ashamed to admit that it was also exceptional. Also, check out that presentation.

Next was an item I was really looking forward to, mostly because I am obsessed with truffles: pappardelle stuffed with butternut squash, leeks, and black truffles. Good God was this absolutely heavenly. Another item I could have eaten 100 of.

Take me back now, so I can consume this again.

The next course, however, was probably my favorite. Fresh scallops from the Normandy Sea, Jerusalem artichoke, and Prunier caviar from Aquitaine. It. Does. Not. Get. Better. Than. This.

And look at that presentation. It’s in a literal seashell.

The next course was wild venison Wellington, glazed chestnut, and parsnips.

In between, I was served an herb sorbet, which was a lemony mint flavor, and was so light and refreshing. It was perfect.

Following the sorbet was glazed hazelnuts, chestnuts, and confit mandarin.

The final course was dessert, which contained the only items I did not like. There were lemon berlingots and pepper ice cream, neither of which I was a true fan of, mostly because I’m not a big fan of lemons. Seven courses, and only one that I didn’t love? Not bad, at all. Not bad, indeed.

The meal ended with coffee, and I questioned if I should be drinking it at 10 p.m., but ultimately decided, fuck it, I’m in France and I want French coffee at the end of my fancy meal. So I did. And it came with tiny little hazelnut-flavored treats.

At the end of the meal, one of the waiters who was Italian began joking around with my main waiter of the evening – the two of them were giving each other crap for being Italian and French, which I found very funny. I had been asking my waiter how to say thank you with the highest amount of praise, and the Italian waiter made a joke about the French language. I asked him how to say a huge thank you to someone in Italian, and he said “Grazie mille,” and informed me that it meant a thousand thank you’s. I thought that was incredibly adorable, and when I said so, he turned to the French waiter and said, “See! It’s adorable!”

I laughed and said that I thought the French language was very charming, as well, and the French waiter turned to the Italian waiter and said, “See! French is charming!”

Their little rivalry was funny, and I enjoyed chatting with them until the end of the meal. I was completely full by the end, but a little said that the experience was over, as I had such a fun time! The waiters told me they thoroughly enjoyed having me for dinner, which I am sure they say to everyone – that must have crossed my face, because my waiter quickly said, “I really mean it! Please come back and visit me again.”

Once I returned to my room, I decided to enjoy the luxurious bathtub in my room before drifting off to sleep in one of the comfiest beds ever.