Versailles--The Grand Finale

15 years ago I went to Paris and I didn't really love it. It probably had less to do with the city and more to do with an annoying girl (who we'll call Sally) who was part of the group I was traveling with. This time around, Paris was lovely and I am sure that a big part of it was traveling with these ladies. We don't keep in contact a whole lot but when we get together it's just like old times. I am  super lucky to have such amazing friends. 

I am seriously reconsidering those sunglasses. 

Before we left Paris, I wanted to get a picture of this church that is in the process of restoration, we think is St. Paul's.  The doors were painted while we were there. 

It was a little sad to bid farewell to Paris, but we had a pretty spectacular destination. My first impression of the city of Versailles when we arrived earlier in the week was that it was a little dumpy. But when we walked by this flower clock on our way to the Palace of Versailles my opinion improved. You just don't see this very often. I better be careful, or Zack will get some lofty landscaping ideas. 

This is Versailles  and it is huge. King Louis the XIV (aka the Sun King) moved the court from Paris to Versailles in 1682. It was the center of government until the French Revolution. Marie Antoinette and Louis XVI were the last royal residents. 

 

 Shadowy picture of us, but see how big and gold trimmed it is. 

This is a little better picture of the gold detailing.

Inside you will find a whole lot of fanciness. Let's begin with a few ceilings:

Here are some ceiling and hallway photos.

The chapel:

The King's bedroom chamber:

 The Queen's bedchamber:

 A staircase

 The Queen's staircase

The famous Hall of Mirrors- or hall of a million people getting in my way. 

This is a statue of Turenne. Our apartment in Paris was on Rue Turenne. It never once occurred to me that it as named for a person. 

 Most of what we saw was just what I expected to see. Here are a few surprises: 

Stilletos made from pots.

Ugly yarn and felt chandelier trashing up the place.

In hindsight, I probably should have also taken a picture of the random helicopter that was inside the palace. I don't recall what it was decorated with (maybe feathers, maybe even peacock feathers) but it was weird and like the other things, out of place. I just don't always understand art.  

The interior of the palace is remarkable and the gardens are incredible.  We almost didn't go. Then we realized that would be completely stupid.  I would have liked to stroll out to Marie Antoinette's summer house. But the gardens are huge and we didn't have time.

 There are plenty of fountains. 

 

Some statues

and lots of pretty plants and trees.

 

This final Versailles garden picture also documents the time I became a giant. 

Versailles was a great ending to our trip in France. And so it was back to England with one last trip under water.

 This is how you get into the train. We were behind a Ferrari this time. Cool! 

When we were planning this trip I thought 12 days might be a little too long to be away. Even though we saw a lot, there was plenty more we could have seen. But all good things come to an end and really, I can hardly believe we pulled this off. Now that we know we can do it, we're in talks for the next trip--my vote is for Italy.  

Paris--Walking Tour with Rick

The pocket Rick Steves' guidebook is an excellent resource. Rick is a little goofy but we used the heck out of that little book. I was really excited to go on his Paris walking tour, but we had to wait for the weather to be decent. 

The starting point is Notre-Dame. It is impossible not to see cool things while walking in Paris. We had our own little walking tour on our way to the actual walking tour. This is the Hotel de Ville. It's not even mentioned in the book, but I think it looks interesting. 

 We also witnessed this firefighter moment. 

Our first stop should have been Point Zero, but we couldn't figure it out right so we just went straight for the cathedral. It took over 200 years to build.

Notre-Dame is everything you want it to be. It's dark and Gothic and pretty amazing. 

Here's a good story: St. Denis lived and was martyred in the 250s. The story goes that having his head chopped off didn't stop him. He walked for six more miles, carrying his head and preaching the gospel. He was given a place of honor on Notre-Dame. 

We went a little off script again and went to the top of the cathedral. This involved climbing a lot of little circular staircases. It's worth the workout. We had great views of the city, 

the cathedral

 and the gargoyles. 

We also met Emmanuel. It's a bell. It was actually given a name and baptized. What? I didn't know they did that. 

It was bugging me that we couldn't find Point Zero (the point from which all distances are measured in France).  It took a minute, but finally success!

Also near Notre-Dame is this statue of Charlamagne, King of the Franks. 

We were impressed with the side of the cathedral and gardens along the Seine River. 

We found the Deportation Memorial next but it was closed and we decided not to wait until it reopened. 

 We failed to go to Ille St. Louis too because we were all turned around. This meant a missed opportunity for gelato-as that area is famous for its ice cream and delicious gelato. 

The bridge crossing the Seine had a whole bunch of locks on it, which we were told are called engagement locks. People in love come to France and put them on the bridge. Very romantic!

Now we were on Rive Gouche (or left side of the river). 

This is the Square Viviani and the church of St Julien-le-Pauvre, which has been around since 1250. 

Meet Robiner-the oldest inhabitant of Paris. It is an acacia tree that was planted in 1602 and named for the guy who planted it. 

In 1920 Sylvia Beach opened the Shakespeare and Company Bookstore. Ernest Hemingway, James Joyce, Gertrude Stein and other like minded individuals would hang out here.  

 

  My Zack would never commit this crime, but I had to take a picture of it because the spelling is the same. 

Our next stop was St. Severin. This church took longer to build than Notre-Dame and is an example of "Flamboyant Gothic" architecture.  I don't have any pictures of the exterior. It is a neat looking church. 

Here are some interior shots. 

At this point we were about half way through our tour. We were hungry and really needed a bathroom break. Note: bathrooms in Paris are completely disgusting no matter where you go. We went as quickly as possible through the next stops: 

#22 Rue St. Severin is the skinniest apartment in Paris. 

That is saying something. This part of the city was very windy and crowded. The streets were strategically sloped to allow for the "flushing" of the toilet before toilets and plumbing were used. It all eventually flowed to the Seine. Nice.  Also kind of appropriate for us, not long after we took advantage of a bathroom in a Subway restaurant. 

We were in the Left Bank area where the Sorbonne (University) is and where  there is a rich history of philosophers, misfits and malcontents who walked the very streets we were on. 

This is Place St. Michel the location of many riots. 

 We crossed back over the Seine to find Sainte-Chappelle. This cathedral took just six years to build. The stunning interior is all stained glass.

Sainte-Chappelle is next to the Palais de Justice. Where there was apparently a piano being delivered. 

 

We were now in search of the Conciergerie which sounds like a nice place but really was a prison. Marie Antoinette spent her last days here. The interior is really something. I think this giant room was the dining hall for the guards.  Not bad. 

At this point of the day the walking tour was losing its luster for me. We were in a bit of a hurry as well although I am not really sure why. Maybe it was about to close, so we rushed through and didn't take any pictures like we should have. I have no idea what this is, but it was deemed picture worthy at the time. 

Just down the street from the Conciergerie is this clock. The oldest one in the city, built in 1334. 

Even though we weren't quite finished with the outlined tour, we were finished with the tour. So we set off on our own to find Rue Cler to do some shopping. We inadvertently ended up at this statue of Henry IV (whose grandson was Louis XIV) 

and Pont Neuf (new bridge) which is actually 400 years old.  These were the last two stops on Rick's tour. We should have just stuck with him. These are all the pictures of bridges we took. See if you can guess which one is Port Neuf: 

The correct answer is none of the above. I have no explanation for that oversight. 

Even though we had walked for hours, we still weren't finished. We walked what had to be the ENTIRE city of Paris. We passed a lot of buildings and places that I can't identify but will add now:

And that was our last day in Paris. It was exhausting but fun. We ended the day by getting some gelato to eat before dinner. When you walk thousands of miles in one day you can eat whatever you want, whenever you want.