Last day in Paris and then we are off to Versailles for Fetes Galantes! And the luggage arrived!!! We get up early and do all the touristy things while there is minimal people or traffic. Eiffel Tower, Sacre Coeur, Montemartre and Moulin Rouge. Like visiting romantic old friends. I hated the thought of coming all this way and not seeing them! It’s been about 20 years since I was here. Our makeshift tour is a whirlwind, but perfect! Git those photos! Ha ha!
Like this photo….80 foot woman spotted at Eiffel Tower. HA!
Stand in the middle of the street for that Vanilla Sky Eiffel Tower shot.
Then fly on over to Sacre Coeur and its lovely views.
Then a stroll through Montmartre in search of a bakery. There are many! Eat goodies. Check!
Always loving and noticing the street art. Love this.
Always love the Art Nouveau subways.
Time to turn up the crazy!
Then off to Luxembourg Gardens. They like to carve their trees like giant trucks. Love it!
And then we arrive in Versailles, home to one of the most extravagant and notorious palaces of all time. We are watching the show Versailles now, so I am excited to see it all! Our hotel, The Triannon, is on the Versailles grounds and overlooks a field of sheep. It’s off the charts. I have the perfect travel partner who understands how I love roughing it, but also that I do love finery! All about high and low and balance.
We set out to see the palace. We are on the grounds with its tall, square trees. It’s magnificent! Then we get to the maze of fountains at the base of the palace. Wow, did Louis XIV have such vision! Everything is perfect and beautiful and even super modern. You can see the profound influence Versailles has had on the world. Pretty amazing. This is one of many fountains in the gardens before the palace.
Another fountain. There are so many. You can get lost easily. They are playing Rococo music in the hedges. It’s pretty fabulous.
There is a photo at every turn. The landscaping everywhere is overwhelming. It must take an army to take care of it all!!!
We are getting closer to the palace. The mazes and fountains are back behind those giant hedges behind this grand fountain.
We take a tour of the palace. It is fascinating. The stories and history and chess game of it all! The audio is fantastic just to hear how people would have to wait, then a group of nobles would fuss take turns dressing Louis. It was a whole spectacle and a brief moment to have his ear. They cover this in the show. In fact, it looks like they have recreated many of the rooms on the show, or shot there! This below is where some magic happened, Louis’ bedroom. Or not! Depending on who you were! (Unfortunate to be Louis’ first wife!) They say he did not sleep here often.
They have what this painting is all about in the show. That is Louis and his wife, and her friend. My goodness, that Louis commissioned a painting! They are all so gorgeous in the show…to see what they really look like, well, it’s another story. I can’t help but think about the bathroom situation. No plumbing. They say that desperate people would go in the hallways or back rooms. Egads! On another note, look at Louis’ hand. I know it is hard to paint hands, but I think this painter had a bit of a hard time.
And this is the bedroom he died in. I can not remember what survived the revolution, but everything is opulent AF.
Speaking of opulent, then we take a turn into the grandest of all halls, The Palace of Mirrors. It’s breathtaking. Again, he is a man with vision!
It’s crazy to think that tomorrow eve we will be here at a party, with everyone in 18th century costumes. I am so excited!
We leave and decided to go to the bakery, wine shop and the veggie stand and go back to our extravagant hotel, where it costs 7 euros to deliver two place settings, and make a picnic in our room. I love this kind of thinking.
Perfection!
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