Garden Ice Café

You really have to love how there's the château de Versailles just a half mile away from this humble little café. Unfortunately, my stay here was rather brief because I had taken the train from Paris to Versailles early in the morning and had to get to the gates of the château by 9:00 AM. My visit to this place may have been cut short due to my being in a hurry, but what I saw was okay and I would come back next time to be able to give it a more thorough review.

I got a croissant here, and the notable thing about French croissants is that they're somewhat harder and flakier than their American counterparts! They're smaller, denser, and puffier than the ones you buy in bulk at Costco. They're also straight instead of curly. Overall, I think I like the ones here more. Since they're so small, though, one of them doesn't make for much of a breakfast, not even for a light French continental breakfast.

I also got a cup of coffee here, and it's basically like coffee anywhere else. It came with two packets of powdered white sugar... and this little cookie thing. I honestly wasn't sure whether I was supposed to eat it plain, but I didn't feel like asking the waiter, so I crushed it inside the plastic wrapping, opened it up, and dumped the contents into the coffee. Do people have their coffee this way? I honestly don't know, but hardly anyone visits a foreign country without committing some cultural faux pas. The coffee after mixing it all like this was good, for the record.

I didn't have time to dawdle, so I skedaddled on right out of there after paying. The waiter knew that I had to go and was very understanding and quick with service. The whole experience was probably worth it. For a place so close to the former French seat of royalty, it's exceedingly simple and does not flaunt itself the same way the Palace does. However, it may be worth checking out for that reason. The food is reasonably priced, and I don't know whether it's fitting for Louis XIV. I personally found no major flaws with it, and it seems pretty suitable for anyone.

Great casual restaurant to grab a place to eat or drink near the Palace of Versailles. Service was fantastic and the food was very good. Make sure you attempt to speak a few words in French.

Free public toilette downstairs.