On Thursday Sarah and I went to Versailles! It was kind of an adventure finding our way there on the train system, but we made it in one piece! I didn't realize that Versailles isn't in the middle of no where booney's of Paris, but it is now surrounded by normal buildings and the like. Unfortunately the weather was not very nice, it was cold and windy and cloudy... but thankfully everything was still brilliant inside! We decided to splurge a little and pay for a personal guided tour through the palace, which would be too overwhelming on our own! Our tour wasn't for a few hours, so we got to go into the Royal Apartment (open for special exhibition) and see how these people lived!!
I must have taken a million and a half pictures because everything was so incredible and worth capturing (too bad I ran out of room on my memory card part way through). But we were going through the apartments, seeing how the family set up their dinner table and hearing stories about how the queen would give birth in public so people would be convinced she actually gave birth to the royal line.. Ugh!
The biggest problem while we there was the crowds!! Even though it isn't high tourist season, the number of people at Versailles was intense! They had to do major crowd control between each room of the apartments and even if you managed to fight your way in, you were literally sandwiched between people. Half the time I could barely lift my arm to take a picture without bumping people! It was not the most pleasant experience, but thankfully the views were worth it!
At the very end of the Royal apartment you finally enter into the Hall of Mirrors!!! It was so ornate and covered in so much gold and glass... its hard to imagine how one family could amass soo much wealth... or manage to take so much money from the government! It almost seemed like it was too much. I can't imagine living in a place where you don't even use all the rooms, or even see the other rooms! But all that doesn't stop me from admiring it and of course, taking a picture there! (me and my headphones )
After we finished with the Royal Apartments, we met our tour guide, Louis *not his real name, we made it up for various reasons I will describe later* He brought us to different rooms that are normally closed off to the average public * the plebs* First we went to the royal chapel, which was gorgeous, and he told stories about how the royal family and court lived. Only the King, Queen were allowed chairs in the chapel, the royal family each had one cushion, and everyone else in attendance had to stand and kneel on the hard marble... for 3 hour masses!!!! The procession was also quite complicated because no one was allowed to turn their back on the King, and of course, the King would stand at the top of the balcony at the entrance to the chapel... so people had to walk in sideways so they would not offend the King. The only person who was allowed to turn their back on the kind was not the priest, but Beethoven, who at the age of 8 came and played the organ for the king, and of course it would be impossible to play the organ facing away from the actual organ, so he was permitted!
The tour went on from there and Louis was hilarious. He was the typical French snob... I'm sorry to say, dressed to a T with his little sweater vest and thick accent. He kept saying things like 'our ancestors,' and 'we never did this...' and by the end we were all curious who these 'we's' were. So we asked him and he said he is one of the 280 something descendants of the royal family! I guess he gives tours because it's the only way for him to 'return home?' He definitely seemed like he wanted the royal family to reclaim power... it was quite funny!
Despite the aweful weather, Sarah and I wandered the gardens, which were not in bloom, nor were the fountains working, but since I was there, I just had to see it! After Versailles, we jumped on the metro for a quick view of the Opera house! I was practically giddy because you all know how much I LOVE Phantom of the Opera! It was so exciting to see the stairwell where they filmed and etc!!
Since we had such a long day, we decided a casual stroll through the touristy parts of Paris, the Arc and the Eiffel Tower. It was so gorgeous at night!!! We even got to watch the night show of the Eiffel Tower, which was so neat! It was quite a romantic evening, dinner at a quite Italian restaurant, the Eiffel Tower at night, a stroll along the Siene... all with Sarah of course!
I must have taken a million and a half pictures because everything was so incredible and worth capturing (too bad I ran out of room on my memory card part way through). But we were going through the apartments, seeing how the family set up their dinner table and hearing stories about how the queen would give birth in public so people would be convinced she actually gave birth to the royal line.. Ugh!
The biggest problem while we there was the crowds!! Even though it isn't high tourist season, the number of people at Versailles was intense! They had to do major crowd control between each room of the apartments and even if you managed to fight your way in, you were literally sandwiched between people. Half the time I could barely lift my arm to take a picture without bumping people! It was not the most pleasant experience, but thankfully the views were worth it!At the very end of the Royal apartment you finally enter into the Hall of Mirrors!!! It was so ornate and covered in so much gold and glass... its hard to imagine how one family could amass soo much wealth... or manage to take so much money from the government! It almost seemed like it was too much. I can't imagine living in a place where you don't even use all the rooms, or even see the other rooms! But all that doesn't stop me from admiring it and of course, taking a picture there! (me and my headphones )
After we finished with the Royal Apartments, we met our tour guide, Louis *not his real name, we made it up for various reasons I will describe later* He brought us to different rooms that are normally closed off to the average public * the plebs* First we went to the royal chapel, which was gorgeous, and he told stories about how the royal family and court lived. Only the King, Queen were allowed chairs in the chapel, the royal family each had one cushion, and everyone else in attendance had to stand and kneel on the hard marble... for 3 hour masses!!!! The procession was also quite complicated because no one was allowed to turn their back on the King, and of course, the King would stand at the top of the balcony at the entrance to the chapel... so people had to walk in sideways so they would not offend the King. The only person who was allowed to turn their back on the kind was not the priest, but Beethoven, who at the age of 8 came and played the organ for the king, and of course it would be impossible to play the organ facing away from the actual organ, so he was permitted!The tour went on from there and Louis was hilarious. He was the typical French snob... I'm sorry to say, dressed to a T with his little sweater vest and thick accent. He kept saying things like 'our ancestors,' and 'we never did this...' and by the end we were all curious who these 'we's' were. So we asked him and he said he is one of the 280 something descendants of the royal family! I guess he gives tours because it's the only way for him to 'return home?' He definitely seemed like he wanted the royal family to reclaim power... it was quite funny!
Despite the aweful weather, Sarah and I wandered the gardens, which were not in bloom, nor were the fountains working, but since I was there, I just had to see it! After Versailles, we jumped on the metro for a quick view of the Opera house! I was practically giddy because you all know how much I LOVE Phantom of the Opera! It was so exciting to see the stairwell where they filmed and etc!!
Since we had such a long day, we decided a casual stroll through the touristy parts of Paris, the Arc and the Eiffel Tower. It was so gorgeous at night!!! We even got to watch the night show of the Eiffel Tower, which was so neat! It was quite a romantic evening, dinner at a quite Italian restaurant, the Eiffel Tower at night, a stroll along the Siene... all with Sarah of course!
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