|
SubscriptionsSites I Read
|
|
|
|
| Day 3 is coming! I've already exceeded my xanga updates for '08 but I'm pushing on.
Preview of pics to come...Louvre!
(below pic is distorted)
| | |
| A little History...
It was originally built by King Louis the 14th in 1682. Building the palace was said to have cost France a quarter of the ENTIRE country's income for one year. After the French Revolution, many of the original pieces were stolen or damaged. Much of the Palace is still being restored.
Incidently, Marie Antoinette, Queen of France during the French Revolution, played by Kirsten Dunst in the movie "Marie Antoinette" was found guilty during the revolution and beheaded right by our hotel at the Place de la Concorde.
Anyhow...
You have to take a train to get to Versaille. It's about 30 minutes outside of Paris. Get there early because there are long lines! This is definitely a full day trip because there is so much to see but WELL worth it! On to the pics...
Pic Below: Day 2 of Paris! - Welcome to Versaille
Pic Below: I'll tell you it's no white picket fence. It's like someone shines up the gold gate everyday. (I know the left side looks dark. It was a cloudy day.)
Pic Below: What does every house need ...a place to reflect and pray. The Royal Chapel. It's huge. Look at the person walking by on the left side of the frame.
Pic Below: Mirrors were really rare and expensive back in the day. Result = Hall of Mirrors (The entire left side is mirrors and not windows!)
Pic Below: The Queen's bedroom. There is a hidden door in the corner near the jewel cabinet (it's open in this picture) through which Marie Antoinette escaped the night of October 5th, 1789 when the Paris mob stormed Versailles.
Pic Below: Each hall way is so different in color and architecture.
Pic Below: Family room
Pic Below: Definitely get the audio guides. They take you through each room. All you have to do is type in the number when entering each room.
Pic Below: The gardens and fountains are amazing. The gardens stretch for as far as you can see. Imagine this being your backyard! Interesting fact, the main fountain is not powered by any pumps. It is
actually naturally powered by water flowing from the Seinne river! How
smart!
You'll see Christine, Moses, and Joyce running away from me on the bottom right of the frame because it was too cold.
Pic Below: Every tree is perfectly manicured. Christine wanted to take one home. I wonder if they make Xmas trees.
Pic Below: Marie Antoinette's own estate within the Versaille grounds. I couldn't make it because the group didn't want to make the walk. I'm not still bitter or anything.
Pic Below: Bonsoir!
After a long day, we reserved this night as our fancy traditional french meal. I'd also like to call it my 400 ramen meal. The food was amazing from the froi gras to the duck.
Pic Below: 2 asian tourists we met.
Au revoir!
Up next the Louvre, Notre Dame, and the Eiffel Tower at Night!!!
| | |
| We're back from Paris and Rome! We have about 2000+ pictures to go through and piles of mail to sort. We'll be posting up our best of Europe pics and hopefully a funny story or two.
We'd like to thank our travel buddies, the Yoons, for providing some jokes and lots of laughter. =) Thanks Joyce for taking some great pictures. Thank you Moses for marrying Joyce.
I'd also like to thank my newest toy, the ultra wide angle Canon EF-S 10-22mm F3.5-4.5. It totally met my expectations!
Trip report is still under construction. Pictures to come...
Wow Xanga is all different now. It took me 3 minutes to find out how to make a new post.
-Ben
| | |
|
