Saturday, November 22nd
We woke up early this morning (7am) in attempts to have breakfast and head over to Notre Dame to attend a 9:00 am choral mass. I had the same breakfast as last time: French bread, hot chocolate, fruit and yogurt, and cereal… and the tray Nazis were still implementing the ‘take your tray from you the moment you sit down’ practices. Not much has changed at BVJ Youth Hostel since I’ve been here last… two months ago…
We walked over to the other side of the Seine and left for the direction of Notre Dame, stopping to take lots of pretty pictures of the sunrise over the city. The light shone on the side of the bridges and walls down to the river were warm and welcoming. After walking a little ways, we made it to the cathedral, however since we were a bit early, we decided to stop by the bakery I went to when I was here last. I bought a croissant once again, and enjoyed every bit of flaky goodness.
We went inside of Notre Dame and marveled at the wonders inside. The gothic architecture is amazing. It is incredible looking at the detail in the door jambs, sculpted pieces, stained glass, and classical architecture. I really like this chapel…
We were hoping to hear the choirs sing, hence the choice of the 9:00am service, however, despite my research online before our departure, there was no choral service. Rather, a regular service ensued, with a bunch of rude Chinese tourists taking photos of the mass and those participating in it. I’m not sure if that really qualifies of a different customs issue or not, but I thought it was rather disrespectful.
Anyway, we spent a while in the chapel, and then decided to hop a train to the Palace of Versailles. We figured out the machines and ended up walking over to the Musee d’Orsay station so that we would have a direct route without transfer (we would have had to go pretty far out of our way to leave from the station we were at, as oppose to a 10 minute or so walk to the other station for a direct ride… man, it’s so much easier to work the subway when you know what you are doing! What a difference from the last time I was here!). After about 30 minutes, we were in Versailles, ready to start our adventure to the famous palace.
When we arrived at the palace, I was amazed at how massive it really was. Wow! Louis XVI meant business! The palace was absolutely massive, and the grounds even more so.
The Palace of Versailles, or simply Versailles, is a royal château in Versailles, in France's Île-de-France region. In French, it is known as the Château de Versailles. When the château was built, Versailles was a country village; today, however, it is a suburb of Paris, some twenty kilometers southwest of the French capital. From 1682, when Louis XIV moved from Paris, until the royal family was forced to return to the capital in 1789, the court of Versailles was the centre of political power in France. Versailles is therefore famous not only as a building, but as a symbol of the system of absolute monarchy of the Ancien Régime.
We explored nearly the entire palace, including the war room, hall of mirrors, and the peace room. This area is unique because the hall of mirrors is what connects the two, obviously for symbolic references. From previous knowledge, I knew that the hall of mirrors was also meant for showing off the grandeur of the king and his palace, used as a passage way to impress his guests. However, I didn’t know that it also functioned as an ambassadors meeting place and a ball room. We were able to see the other state rooms, filled with such elegant décor and detail. Again, the gold guilded moulding, fabric lined walls, chandeliers, paintings and interior furnishings were all so beautiful. The palace was just as impressive as I had imagined.
We walked outside to see the fountains and some of the gardens, and it was pretty cold, so we decided not to stay out too long. The wind was pretty strong as well, which didn’t help. We walked down by some of the other fountains in the gardens, and were shielded by some of the trees so that helped, however it was just too cold, so we decided to head back inside.
There was a ridiculous exhibition of a modern artists work spread out in the palace... so you would see for example, a giant inflatable lobster pool toy next to a beautiful chandelier... or giant ballon sculptures, or even a giant porcelin michael jackson... now, how did this get into Versailles? Or maybe the question should be... how is this called art?
Next, we hopped a train back to Paris, and got off at the Eiffel Tower. We took lots of pictures, and then started walking back toward the Louvre, in the direction where our hostel is. We stopped at several cafés in attempts to find a reasonably priced place to get a nice hot meal, and found one about a block away from our residence, and decided to eat and relax a while. Sitting in the warm area felt nice after walking all day, in the wind and the cold. None of us really got any authentic Parisian food, but it was nice to have a hot meal instead of cold sandwiches for once.
We left the café and went back to the hostel, relaxed for a little bit, and went to bed early. Everyone was pretty tired, and we decided we would get some rest in before waking up tomorrow to do much more sightseeing.
We woke up early this morning (7am) in attempts to have breakfast and head over to Notre Dame to attend a 9:00 am choral mass. I had the same breakfast as last time: French bread, hot chocolate, fruit and yogurt, and cereal… and the tray Nazis were still implementing the ‘take your tray from you the moment you sit down’ practices. Not much has changed at BVJ Youth Hostel since I’ve been here last… two months ago…
We walked over to the other side of the Seine and left for the direction of Notre Dame, stopping to take lots of pretty pictures of the sunrise over the city. The light shone on the side of the bridges and walls down to the river were warm and welcoming. After walking a little ways, we made it to the cathedral, however since we were a bit early, we decided to stop by the bakery I went to when I was here last. I bought a croissant once again, and enjoyed every bit of flaky goodness.
We went inside of Notre Dame and marveled at the wonders inside. The gothic architecture is amazing. It is incredible looking at the detail in the door jambs, sculpted pieces, stained glass, and classical architecture. I really like this chapel…
We were hoping to hear the choirs sing, hence the choice of the 9:00am service, however, despite my research online before our departure, there was no choral service. Rather, a regular service ensued, with a bunch of rude Chinese tourists taking photos of the mass and those participating in it. I’m not sure if that really qualifies of a different customs issue or not, but I thought it was rather disrespectful.
Anyway, we spent a while in the chapel, and then decided to hop a train to the Palace of Versailles. We figured out the machines and ended up walking over to the Musee d’Orsay station so that we would have a direct route without transfer (we would have had to go pretty far out of our way to leave from the station we were at, as oppose to a 10 minute or so walk to the other station for a direct ride… man, it’s so much easier to work the subway when you know what you are doing! What a difference from the last time I was here!). After about 30 minutes, we were in Versailles, ready to start our adventure to the famous palace.
When we arrived at the palace, I was amazed at how massive it really was. Wow! Louis XVI meant business! The palace was absolutely massive, and the grounds even more so.The Palace of Versailles, or simply Versailles, is a royal château in Versailles, in France's Île-de-France region. In French, it is known as the Château de Versailles. When the château was built, Versailles was a country village; today, however, it is a suburb of Paris, some twenty kilometers southwest of the French capital. From 1682, when Louis XIV moved from Paris, until the royal family was forced to return to the capital in 1789, the court of Versailles was the centre of political power in France. Versailles is therefore famous not only as a building, but as a symbol of the system of absolute monarchy of the Ancien Régime.
We explored nearly the entire palace, including the war room, hall of mirrors, and the peace room. This area is unique because the hall of mirrors is what connects the two, obviously for symbolic references. From previous knowledge, I knew that the hall of mirrors was also meant for showing off the grandeur of the king and his palace, used as a passage way to impress his guests. However, I didn’t know that it also functioned as an ambassadors meeting place and a ball room. We were able to see the other state rooms, filled with such elegant décor and detail. Again, the gold guilded moulding, fabric lined walls, chandeliers, paintings and interior furnishings were all so beautiful. The palace was just as impressive as I had imagined.
We walked outside to see the fountains and some of the gardens, and it was pretty cold, so we decided not to stay out too long. The wind was pretty strong as well, which didn’t help. We walked down by some of the other fountains in the gardens, and were shielded by some of the trees so that helped, however it was just too cold, so we decided to head back inside.
There was a ridiculous exhibition of a modern artists work spread out in the palace... so you would see for example, a giant inflatable lobster pool toy next to a beautiful chandelier... or giant ballon sculptures, or even a giant porcelin michael jackson... now, how did this get into Versailles? Or maybe the question should be... how is this called art? 
Next, we hopped a train back to Paris, and got off at the Eiffel Tower. We took lots of pictures, and then started walking back toward the Louvre, in the direction where our hostel is. We stopped at several cafés in attempts to find a reasonably priced place to get a nice hot meal, and found one about a block away from our residence, and decided to eat and relax a while. Sitting in the warm area felt nice after walking all day, in the wind and the cold. None of us really got any authentic Parisian food, but it was nice to have a hot meal instead of cold sandwiches for once.We left the café and went back to the hostel, relaxed for a little bit, and went to bed early. Everyone was pretty tired, and we decided we would get some rest in before waking up tomorrow to do much more sightseeing.
An Accordian Player on the train back to Paris
Hall of Mirrors- Palace of Versailles
Palace of Versailles
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