image day 7

The chapel inside the palace.

The front of the palace.  They are currently in the process of re-doing all of the gold gilding on the building.

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Day 7 images

The ceiling in one of the palace drawing rooms.

View from the Seine during evening cruise.
The hall of mirrors.
View from the river
Marie Antonette had a little hamlet built for her personal use.  When life at the palace became too much she would sneak away to this place and dress as a peasant.  She would live for a while as a farm girl.

Day 7 in Paris

This morning wake up call wasn't until 8:00.  However I was up much earlier because I have come down with the cold I was hoping I wouldn't get.  On the plane coming here I sat next to a lady that was sick and then Molly was sick as well.  Monday Olivia came down with the cold and now I'm the lucky one.  Yuck!  I am so congested.  

Today we took the big train to Versailles.  It was a double decker which was pretty cool.  Versailles is a nice city just outside Paris.  We spent some time at the open air market.  Again there was a huge variety of fresh produce and other foods.  There were whole roasted rabbits and also raw ones.  They cut off the feet and ears when they skin them but for some reason they leave the heads complete with teeth and eyeballs.  Kind of disturbing.  One guy who spoke very limited English spotted us as American and he was trying to sell us his goods.  "See my beautiful vegetables?  They are very sexy and beautiful."  That is the first time I ever heard artichokes and egg plants described as sexy.  All of the vendors yell - it's fun.  We actually went to a McDonalds because they have a bathroom.  Bathrooms are not easy to find in France, especially free ones.  The food is different from our McDonalds.  The small burgers are on crusty french rolls.  The desserts are apple crumble and chocolate mouse.  You can get big macs on white or whole wheat.

We walked through the palace and guess what?  More gold, more crystals and more classic naked art work on the ceilings!  Very beautiful.  Very sumptuous.  The gardens weren't ready for summer yet but you could still get an idea of what they are like in the peak of season.  Just like you see in the movies.  The hall of mirrors is something to see.  One of the gross by kind of interesting facts is that there are no bathrooms there.  (Unless you count the modern bathroom in the gift shop.)  They used to have 3,000 or 4,000 people at a time there and no bathrooms.  People didn't wash much.  They just layered on more perfume and put little fake moles over their pimples.  The hall of mirrors has lots of little inset windows.  People would go to the bathroom in the corners and the servants went around and cleaned up after them!  Legend has it that when the palace was full you could smell the stench for miles!  Yuck!  Beauty on the the outside, rotten within?  Ooof.

In my stuper this morning I forgot to put the battery in my camera so Lydia is going to share photos with me and I will post them later.  Today I will post some canned photos so you can see where we were.

We took the train back to Paris and went to the Eiffel Tower.  Some people decided to go up the tower but since we were tired and not feeling great we went to a restaurant and had dinner.  I had a lovely glass of Cabernet and the dinner I ordered was Beef Bourgenoin which is basically a heart beef roast or stew.  It was a generous portion of roast beef with brown gravy (contained wine of course) along with carrots and potatoes.  Very nice way to warm up.  Olivia had yummy french onion soup with bread.  at 8:00PM we took a river cruise down the Seine.  There was commentary from the guide that was interesting and the city was beautiful because it is all lit up.  The eiffel lights sparkle at the top of every hour.  Very beautiful.  We returned to the hotel at about 10:30 - long day!  Tomorrow we head back home.  I will not want to eat bread or cheese for quite a while.  I have a lot to reflect on and I know that I want to read more about the history of France.  This was just enough to wet my appetite.  

Day 6

Olivia being awesomely French.

Sculpture of Pan feeding two bear cubs honey combs.
The grand clock at the Orsay.  The Orsay was a train station at the turn of the last century.
I loved this sculpture.  It is a guardian angel looking over a young child.
Kala's favorite Renoir.  

day 6

Renoir's dancers.

Vincent Van Gogh's very famous self portrait.  It was small - about 11 x 14".  It was amazing.
The Little Dancer by Edgar Degas, 1881.
"Whistler's Mother"
"The Picnic" by Manet.

more from day 6

While out strolling the side streets we spied some local people out exercising their dogs.  It was cute to watch them play.

Painters Square.
Sacre-Couer.
Looking over the city from in front of the church.
Another street musician.  This is the only one we've seen playing a harp.  They usually have accordians or saxaphones.

Pictures from day 6

A mime outside the cathedral.

Sacre-Coeur church was built on the place where Saint Dennis performed his 3rd miracle.  He was a martyr that was executed during the religious war.  After being beheaded he picked up his own head and walked a few steps before collapsing.  This is also called Martyrs Hill.
Typical foot traffic on the streets.
In the subway.
The famous Moulin Rouge.  Their least expensive show is at 11PM and the tickets cost 113 Euros for that one!