HOLY DAY FOURTEEN BATMAN!

Two weeks in and I still pinch myself that this trip is real. Two weeks ago the only other country I had been to was Canada! Now I have been to three major cities in Italy. I can’t even accurately describe the noise i just made. Squeal and a sigh wrapped in one. It’s the best kind of overwhelming.

Today we woke up early (Paris’s day seems to start after 9 AM) and went to the train station to buy tickets to Versailles. It took about forty minutes to get there. The Palace isn’t that far from the train station and in case we got lost we could have followed the multitude of tour buses.

Before I say anything else let me say this. I can’t even imagine going to Versailles during “peak” season. The tour groups today were both rude and more rude. They want to move en mass to follow their guides but the space is just too narrow so they end up pushing and bumping anyone in their path. There is also no thought to those behind them, so when they stop in the middle of the path to take a selfie…we all stop in the middle of the path so they can take a selfie. Gah. Humans.

Anyway.

Today was awesome. Versailles was very reminiscent of the Boboli gardens in Florence, but amped up a million times. I’m going to let the pictures do the talking — mostly (you all know I like to talk!).

First was the Royal families private quarters. Although we learned Louis XIV insisted the family receive people in their chambers. The Kings rooms were very opulent with rich colors in red, golds, and blues. Almost all of the furniture was sold after the Palace was overtaken during the Revolution. The furniture displayed is either replicas or similar to what would have been used. The wall coverings are all original still.

The Queens rooms were in softer but no less richer tones of pinks, blues and yellows. I most enjoyed the little details like the tassels or the curve of a chair. The Princes rooms had all the walls knocked down during Marie Antoinette’s stay and it was changed into a gallery of huge paintings depicting famous French victories.

Here are some of my favorites:

After the Palace we wandered into the gardens. There is a main pathway called the Grand Canal, and dozens of offshoots. There are also at least a dozen other buildings including the houses Marie Antoinette created when she moved into the palace.

Here are some more of my favorite colors and shapes I found in Marie Antoinette’s rooms:

We had some time left in the day so we headed back into Paris and stopped by Napoleons tomb.

We ended the day with a tour (and some more stairs) of the Arc de Triumph.