Paris: Day 3

Friday we went to Versailles.

We left the house and OJ had to go and meet one of her advisors. So she went to get paper advice and I sat in a cafe, drank some tea and ate some croissants. People watching was awesome. Probably had too much tea, but there we go.

Then we got on the Metro and easily on to the RER to the Chateau de Versailles. It is just to the south west of Paris and was less than an hour train ride. (At this point I would like to say that the French public transportation system is far easier to get around than the British system. And by get around I don't mean getting from point A to point B.) Then we got off and I had to make a bee line for the toilet.

Unfortunately this necessitated a trip to the tourist office and then a power walk to the Palace itself. We got tickets then went inside to the toilet. It was only at this time that I could truly see the splendor of the place.

It is breath-taking. I can't really put words to how amazing it is, so I don't think I am really going to try.

One thing that was pretty jarring from the antiqued beauty was the modern art scattered throughout the property. This actually happens at a lot of historic sites. I think it is a very French thing, because there is no way you would see modern art at places like this in London. Huge dead space men in front of Buckingham Palace? No way. (I refused to take pictures of them directly, but you can see them in some pictures anyway)

In these pictures it is a bit easier to see the restoration work that is being done to the palace. On the left all the gold has been redone, and the roof has been refinished. They haven't finished the right side yet.

Here is OJ, yet again, taking pictures. It's weird to think that this is where the angry mob stood during the French Revolution and pulled King Louis XVI out of his bedroom and where France became a Republic. Marie Antoinette lived here (we visit her house later) and basically all the Kings of France. Yeah, its awesome.

Obviously, this blog is not a history lesson, so I won't bore you with all the ridiculous, "this king sat here on his 47th birthday," "this room was built for the king's mistress, he built a fireplace for his wife," type nonsense that is very interesting on a tour, but not quite as much later.

In this picture you can see a bit of the modern art popping out of my head, it's like a big purple jewel thing. But the balcony right behind me is the King's bedroom. It is where they climbed up to get him. Cool huh?

After going inside, one of the first things that you see (after picking up your handy-dandy headphones) is the Chapel. Literally everything is made of marble, gold and silver. The ceiling painting is gorgeous and the organ at the far end is really spectacular. It's the tallest building in the entire palace and is flooded with light all day long. (No flash was necessary, and therefore none of those weird backlit pictures, which is very rare in all these buildings with very little electric lighting added afterwards)

We wandered through the portrait gallery detailing the French Monarchy's history since the Palace was built. There were lots of paintings and busts, but none so interesting as to warrant a picture.

I thought that I should chronicle how ridiculous and touristy I looked wearing the informational headphones. They told me interesting things like, "there is no room in the entire Palace that has not been redecorated at least 10 times." And while I could have read the French plaques that were strategically and unobtrusively placed in the rooms, it was far easier to listen than to attempt to decipher French.

We wandered through the King's appointment rooms, the King's receiving rooms, etc. and the amount of detail in every single thing is quite astounding. Every ceiling is painted, every room a slightly different theme, Apollo, Athena, French military victories, etc. Just to illustrate a bit more, the thing below that is a golden face, is actually a curtain holder. Yeah, really intensely over-wrought details in every nook and cranny of the place. No wonder the people revolted, the place cost fortunes.

In my opinion, the most beautiful place in the entire Palace is the Hall of Mirrors. It's a hallway, essentially, the one side is window and the other side is mirrors, so the light reflects. There are ceiling paintings, chandeliers, marble statues; it is ridiculous. And it is huge. The picture below gives you a little bit of an idea of scope. (Also it took me several tries to get a picture of myself that didn't have a chandelier growing out of my head.)

After we explored all the bedrooms, halls of white marble statues, exhibits, etc. We headed outside to look at the Gardens of Versailles. It is beautiful. I think that the wandering around outside in these immaculately kept gardens, even as winter approaches and things are covered up and leaves have fallen. it is just beautiful.

To see a map of the place and how huge it is, check this out.

There are fountains and ponds, reflecting pools, hedges, roses (or would be), lines of trees, pathways, direct routes and meandering ways, mazes, follies, statues and much more. I was in awe pretty much the whole time we were walking around.

We wandered through most of the park, all the way down to the private residences of the royalty on the far end. We saw The Grand and Petit Trianons, Marie Antoinette's house, the farm she created that still keeps sheep, and sat down for a lovely cup of hot chocolate. It is Angelina (a cafe near the Louvre that is filled the gills most of the time) hot chocolate. It is literally like drinking melted chocolate. I was in hot chocolate heaven. OJ said she couldn't drink more than a cup it is so rich. I of course looked at her like she was insane, but I guess I understand how one person could only drink one cup...

Anyway, after seeing all that we wandered back towards the Palace. The sun was going down and setting. The way the light was reflecting the colors on the clouds, and on the water and buildings was really pretty. I attempted to do it some justice with my point and shoot camera.

Growing up in Tahoe I love nature, and especially sun sets and rises. And usually I think that buildings and such get in the way, but standing here I understood why the French did things the way they did. Most of it is opulent and ridiculous, but when you have a mirror for nature in those reflecting pools it is just that much better. Or when you see the sun setting through the windows in that mirrored room, or watch the colors on a masterpiece statue, it just makes everything that much more beautiful.

We left as the sun was almost down and the lights were coming on to highlight the gold in the fence and on the palace. It was really fun day (although my feet hurt from walking on cobbles all day) filled with a little history, a little intrigue, a lot of walking, more gold and marble than I think I will see in one place ever again, and a lot of really beautiful sites.

We went home, had dinner with Patricia, Huber and Eric, had an oddly translated, but very interesting conversation about religion, and went to bed content.