Wednesday 4 March 2009

The downside


The downside of course of having about 7 million visitors a year is that on a good day, you can't see the palace anymore, it is hidden behind rows and rows of coaches. These here are a few winter coaches, in the summer it's another story altogether, the place is overflowing with buses, most of which never turn off their engines. The palace chapel is in the background.
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Un des inconvénients lorsqu'on reçoit environ 7 millions de visiteurs par an, c'est que parfois, le château disparaît littéralement derrière les cars. Ici, c'est l'hiver et il y en a peu... En été, c'est une toute autre histoire, la place d'armes est noyée sous les bus, dont la plupart laissent tourner le moteur. La chapelle du château se trouve en arrière-plan.

24 comments:

Lowell said...

Goodness, are they parked on the grounds. When I was there all the buses had to park off the grounds. But they did leave their engines running and the stink was pretty impressive.

Clueless in Boston said...

I guess that's true of any tourist attraction, but especially true a world class attraction like the palace. Maybe a night time picture?

Frankie / Nick said...

Well I must admit it does take away from the beauty of the palace, but it still is a spectacular photograph. I would guess that the engines are kept running to maintain the air conditioning on the coaches. Certainly not an environmentally friendly method.

Petrea Burchard said...

Is there ever a time when the Palace is closed, and the locals can simply enjoy their town?

Olivier said...

je la trouve bien vu cette photo. Cela me fait penser au centre ville des villages avec l'église, ou il est toujours de prendre l'église en photo pour cause de voitures.

alice said...

Et les moteurs tournent pour la clim ou le chauffage...Difficile arbitrage entre tourisme et beauté du site...

Catherine said...

Ou bien, les moteurs tournent pour poursuivre les visites au pas de charge. Une autre ville, clic, un autre monument, clic, clic, vite, le quota à respecter.
Visite chronométrée pour de longs siècles d'Histoire ..

crocrodyl said...

Interesting shot. Of course I prefer this what is in the background of your photo:). This Palace is awesome. I was there few year ago and I really like the building but also its surroundings.

Arnaud said...

Et oui c'est la rançon du succes !
Pas très écolo quand même de laisser les moteurs tourner ...

Karen said...

How awful.. when I go to visit the palace, I will not go by bus. Someone should make them shut them down while parked. Both the noise and the fumes must be toxic.

Rob said...

Pretty how the light glows on the palace. So many tourists and buses. We took the RER from Paris to visit your city. The palace was packed with tour groups. But walk the grounds to the Grand and Petite Trianon to get away from the masses.

Mary Stebbins Taitt said...

The background (half-hidden) photo is gorgeous, great colors! Too bad about the buses! But, that's what you get for being famous, I guess!

Juergen Kuehn said...

Great colors - unterlined from white busses.
Love the image buildup!

Mary Helen said...

That is a lot of visitors! Very nice photo of the life near the palace...some day I would love to be one of those visitors.

Marie-Noyale said...

A funny but unfortunately realistic picture!!

Anonymous said...

I love the light on the Palace - great shot!

stromsjo said...

There are two sides to most coins. Nicely captured!

Stefan Jansson said...

This is how it looks outside the Royal castle in Stockholm for most of the summer months. Love the light here.

Unknown said...

Magnificent building! Awesome light too!

VP said...

Ah, this is really funny: the downside of group tourism... Very well captured!

EG CameraGirl said...

Ah, I think I can imagine the pollution!

Virginia said...

I'm hoping that being in France for a month that we won't be like "TOURISTS" HA! The buses do detract from the gorgeous buildings. Maybe this visit we can visit Versailles and you can join us!!! We'll have to work on that idea.

-Chris- said...

I remember all the coaches last time I went there ! It didn't change, it's still a very popular place.

gogouci said...

Beautiful photo inspite of the motorcoaches.