Monday, August 10, 2009

Versailles

We left Paris on Sunday morning and headed to Versailles for the day. Chateau Versailles was Louis XIV's "fun palace" and monument to the most wonderful person he could think of-- himself. He was the master of self promotion and celebrity. The last king to live here was Louis XVI and his queen Marie Antoinette.... until the Revolution when they were made "a foot shorter on the top."

Rob had been here before, but I was excited to see all of the decadent grandeur for myself. :)


Our first stop was the garden.
(That's the palace back behind me.)

I'm glad I don't have to trim the hedges around here.
Louis XIV liked to call himself the Sun King, and compared himself to Apollo a lot. This fountain shows Apollo rising up on his chariot out of the water.

We were there for the "fountain show" but the crowds were pretty massive by that time of day-- this was still early in the morning. Oh, they also had classical music playing throughout the gardens while we walked around.

This is the front gate to Versailles. This was the line at 9 am. When we got in line for the palace around 11 am, it was 45 minutes long. By the end of the trip, we had been on our feet for 4 hours- Charlotte included. She was a very good girl... and only told me about 20 times "I'm soooo tired."

Leah in the Hall of Mirrors.
Also, the Treaty of Versailles was signed here to end World War I.


Statue of Louis XIV to the left. Paintings of Louis all over the ceiling.
Yeah, he was a fan of himself.

I'm not sure the fireplace is big enough... what do you think?

Paris

Bonjour y'all!

We just returned from an exhausting weekend in Paris... a trip to cap off Leah's Summer in Germany. We had a great time, and the most perfect weather we could have hoped for (70s all weekend)-- especially considering that the hotel we chose since it advertised AC, turned out to not actually have AC and we were on the 5th floor.

We reaffirmed that we are not "city people," and that traveling with children is a lot more work than traveling just the two of us. But we had a good time seeing the sights, and everyone survived. We took about a zillion photos, but here are just a few of my favorites.

Rob & I at the Arc de Triomphe

Sacre Coeur Cathedral (from the corner view.)

The doors of Notre Dame Cathedral--- I tried to prep Charlotte for this trip by having her watch Disney's Hunchback of Notre Dame. Wow!! That movie was way too scary for her, and she burst into tears when they threw food at Quasimodo, so I had to turn it off.


Riding the doubledecker Red Bus around gave us a different view of Paris and let us rest our weary feet.

The landmark that doesn't need explanation.

The streets of Paris---
sooo crowded on a weekend in August.

Leah at the metro stop in Pigalle. This is the "smutty" part of town just down hill from the beautiful Sacre Coeur. Home to Le Chat Noir (not there anymore) and the Moulin Rouge, which we saw only from a distance since I opted not to walk Leah past the 80 or so sex shops between us and there.

This is part of a series of sculptures outside the Musee d'Orsay called "Women of War." Charlotte put on her best "mean face" and posed like the statue. I loved seeing all of my favorite impressionists in this museum soooo much, that I forgot to take any photos.

Waiting for the Metro on Saturday evening.
The next morning we drove to Versaille before driving home.