With the enormous palace making a significant impact geographically and historically, you might forget that regular people also live in the city, now a suburb of Paris. As my wife and I walked back to the train station from the Palace of Versailles, we passed character-filled residences for the regular folk.

This building, which may be an apartment, though I’m not sure, attracted my attention. I shot it from two different angles. Like any residential area, cars clutter the street but create the impression of a real neighborhood. On the other hand, the clean, clutter-free view of the palace is museum-like without any of the messiness of life.

The fading light and overcast sky created rather dull color images. Post-processing both photos into black and white added contrast and character. They also make the buildings look older and timeless. Without the modern cars, it would be difficult to know when they were taken.

This look at the real world concludes our tour of Versailles. We hopped on a train back to Paris.

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