Skip to main content

Paris - Versailles


After a "petit" breakfast, we boarded on the bus for Versailles, with many tired faces. Our tour guide, Valerie led us out of the city and into the town Versailles, which is the oldest section of Paris. The town is mostly residential, with a 30 minute train commute to Paris.

We got to the palace and were simply amazed by the size. Valerie "whispered" in our ears as she gave a tour of the palace.

Just three kings lived in the palace - Louis XIV (Sun King), Louis XV (his grandson) and Louis XVI (great-grandson of the Sun King who was married to Marie Antoinette).

The palace was lavish and ornate. Clearly the Sun King was trying to impress the other rulers across the world (and his palace has been copied many times over).

Most impressive was the Hall of Mirrors - extraordinary!!!!

We also saw the Private and Public bedrooms of the king and the queen.

Once we left the palace we toured the grounds which were equally impressive! The fountains were not working (out of season) but everything was so beautiful and almost overwhelming!

Such a great experience!!!

Comments

Anonymous said…
Indeed Paris visit is such a great experience. It's everyone's dream to have a taste of Paris lifestyle. Thanks for sharing. By the way, I found a fantastic Paris adventure that might interest you too. Thanks and have a wonderful day!
October 16, 2009 at 6:02 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Barcelona - Dos

Day two in Barcelona has been fantastic! Jose gave us lots of information on the artist Gaudi - not born here but arrived in 1852 to attend the university.  His artistic style and influence can be seen across the city. We stopped at Park Guell which was an amazing outdoor area Gaudi designed near the home he lived in.  Inspired by nature, fairy tales and classical legends the park is beautiful.  With its kissing benches, 'candy house', salamander and plaza with the longest bench in the world it is a work of art in itself. Some of us made the walk up to the top where the three crosses are - and found even more breathtaking views of the city. From there we headed back downtown for a short walk to La Sagrada Familia cathedral.  Design by Gaudi and still not yet finished, it is very unique and ornate.  Just walking around the outside, Jose had enough informatiion to share about its intricacies that it took some time.  The line for entrance was nearly ...
Read more

Cordoba

First our morning started with an alarm - or a lack of one; as Mary Jane and Pat's room never received a wakeup call.  So everyone else was on the bus ready to go when they finally got a knock on the door.  What troopers they were, though!  In 15 minutes they were on the bus with everyone and not long after they were able to laugh at the 'chaos' of it all. Our local guide Isabel was just delightful - and clearly has a love for her city.  She tells us that filmmaker Pedro Almodovar is from here as we begin our walk. First we go through the old Jewish center.  Nearly all of the city's buildings are white-washed (originally by the women we hear). We stop at an old Jewish synagogue and learn some history of the area.  Then we stop at the statue of a famous rabbi ( can you name him ?) which legend is that by rubbing his foot and then touching your own head you will get taller and wiser.  most of us did that - some hoping for extra height, others for a...
231 comments
Read more

2011: Day 4 - Vienna

Another great day! We had a 6am wake up call - but it paid off! Our tour director, Robert, secured the first reservations of the day at Shronbrunn Palace - which meant we were the only guests in the Palace for the most part. We went room to room with our own local guide, Gabi, for a nearly private tour! A one-of-a-kind experience for sure. The Palace and Gardens were beautiful. 1,441 rooms and acres and acres of grounds. We learned about Mary Theresa (and all of her 16 children). This was the summer palace for the Hapsburg dynasty. We then switched gears and went to see modern art at KunstHausWien - what a creative artist Friedensreich Hundertwasser was. And a man who epitomized eco-friendly living and work. A very different experience after our tour of the Palace. Next was a driving tour of some of the city's monuments, etc. with a stop for lunch along the way. We ended with a walking tour to additional historic spots and a tour of the downtown palace - the winter residence of the...
132 comments
Read more