Trip to Versaille-Day 3

Our Versaille tour wasn't until the afternoon so we didn't set an alarm and we woke up at 9:30. We never sleep that late. I think jet lag and all the walking finally caught up to us. It was to late for breakfast at our hotel so we stopped at a little crepe stand near our hotel for breakfast. Then we headed off to catch the subway to head up for our tour. We got there a little early so we walked around the area and ended up in front of the famous Opera House. It was beautiful.

The streets in Paris are so narrow and at almost every turn there is another statue or monument.

This morning we saw something we have never seen before. A group of policeman came by......on rollerblades. We sat and stared. Still trying to figure out how effective they would be chasing a crook down the stairs into the subway system on rollerblades.

We boarded a double decker bus to head to Versaille. The drive was really nice and we got to see some more of the city. I am sure my mouth was hanging open when we pulled into the parking lot by the palace. INCREDIBLE. I knew it would be spacious.....but I really had no idea. It was huge. I guess it had to be since 5000 people lived there.....4000 of them were servants.

I have never seen so much gold before. It was everywhere. The palace entry gates were beautiful.

King Louis was known as the Sun King and there was evidence of that all over the grounds and the palace.

There were so many people touring the palace so we were happy that our tour was a guided one with ear phones so we could hear our guide. He was very informative and gave us so much background information. I felt like I was having a history lesson and I really enjoyed learning about the royal family.

The highest point in the village of Versaille is the cross on top the church in the palace. The king beleived that nobody except for God was higher than the King. There is still a statute in the city ordinances that prevent any building from being higher than that steeple.

We toured the grounds first. That took a couple of hours and I quickly saw why 4000 servants were necessary. The grounds were huge. I can't imagine the upkeep it took. There were beautiful and ornate fountains everywhere. The different fountains represented the different seasons.

If there weren't fountains there were statues.

This was an outdoor ballroom. The King loved to dance and he loved to throw parties. It was said that the king threw another party in the ballroom every time he fell in love which was about every couple of months. Apparently the King loved the ladies and had several mistresses.

I could just picture the beautiful ball gowns as they swayed to the music. I bet the royal balls were just grand.

This rock wall was the entrance to the ballroom and it represented sea shells. Just the tops of the rocks were fastened and you could lift them and move them. It was rather intriguing.

The grounds were impeccable. Lime trees lined the paths and well groomed hedges.

The interior of the palace was breathtaking. Vaulted ceilings all hand painted with different murals. Each had particular meaning. The first room we entered we were told that the artist lay on his back for two years painting the scene and then committed suicide shortly after completion. He was paid very poorly for his work.

The walls were covered with works of art. Paintings and sculptures everywhere. Several works of art depecting the royal family. Vanity was apparent here as they were everywhere. They really liked to admire themselves. Here was a beautiful portrait of Marie Antoinette

There were sculptures of King Louis everywhere. They had rock hard abs and a beautiful head of hair. Truth be told that the King was bald and short and fat. Really made me giggle that the sculptures and artwork stretched the truth a bunch. The King didn't want anyone to know he was bald so he made a decree that all who entered the palace must wear a wig. Benjamin Franklin came to Versaille and he was the only person ever permitted within palace walls without a wig. They could not find one big enough to fit his enormous head.

This is the entrance to my favorite room in the palace. The hall of mirrors. It was incredible. Hard to get a good picture inside of it though....so I'm glad I bought postcards from our palace tour. The hall is 250ft long. There are 17 arched mirrors and then 17 windows on the opposite side which have an incredible view of the gardens.

The queens bedroom was beautiful. I was suprised that the King and Queen had seperate quarters. In the Kings bedroom there was a secret door beside his bed where he would sneak his lovers in and out.

The walls coverings in some of the rooms looked like velvet. Huge chandeliers in several of the rooms. I was astonished at the wealth of the royal family. The people of France were starving and they were eating rats. No wonder that when Marie Antoinette said "Let them eat cake" that the french people turned on her. She and her husband were later beheaded. The King was convicted of committing hig treason for communicating with the enemy.

We stopped at a little cafe for dinner. I just had a salad.....but even the salads are better in France. It was the best restaurant salad I have ever eaten. We always get laughed at when we order pop. Our waiter really teased me and said "WHAT? You want a Sprite?" Everyone here drinks wine with dinner. He came out and poured it into my glass over his arm like he would with wine and he smiled and winked at me. He giggled everytime he came to our table. I gave him an extra big tip. Of course we stoppeed by the bakery on our way back to our hotel. These were Scott's favorite treat of the whole trip. They melted in your mouth. THe chocolate was divine. Scott took one bite and had a look of pure pleasure.

We stayed up late that night. The Eifell tower twinkles for ten minutes at the top of the hour and we stayed up to watch it at midnight. I can't get enough of looking at that tower as it shines in the night sky.

We kept a journal. It is funny the different things that we remember. I went on and on about the palace and the gardens and the thing that Scott remembered about the Versaille tour the most was that they had 5000 living there with no bathrooms. Poop in a bucket then dumped it out the windows....Poor fellows down below that lived on the ground level. He was also wrote an interesting fact that all of the kitchens were on the outside of the palace because they were afraid of fire.