Setting off -sudden decision

We'd planned from way back  to take an extended tour once Marilena retired. So we bought a little camper van, an awning and some crates to store our stuff and just set off with little camping preparation. Our first stop was a camp site somewhere west of Paris.










Next day we checked out Versailles Palace and grounds and  found it curiously empty of people; indeed the town itself (very chi-chi) seemed short of people too. Then the penny dropped - lots of French people are on holiday in August. We get the same phenomenon of reduced traffic during holidays in the UK - but nothing on this scale!

Versailles Palace is a building of excess. One can't help but admire the astonishing architectural achievements. Even though many French citizens of the time had to put up with considerable poverty and misery.