Au revoir, Paris

My last day in Paris was also the day I took the most pictures. I've edited it down quite a bit, but there are still a ton of photos. Bear with me though. I promise they are worth it. 

Megan and I met up early in the morning to travel to Versailles. Megan was taking the Eurostar under the English Channel that evening back to London to catch her flight back to the states the next day, so we decided to meet at the train station, so she could store her bag for the day. In typical French fashion, in the entire huge station, the only place marking where the luggage drop was was directly above the luggage drop. Handy.

I'd picked up fresh baked croissants and a baguette at a bakery on my way to the train station (thing I miss the most about Paris - how much fresh baked bread I ate. And cheese).

#jealous

There was also an insane line to get into Versailles, but I don't think we were in it for more than an hour. And it goes much faster when you have someone to talk to. It was rather annoying though, I stood in line to get a ticket, only to have the lady look at my passport and tell me I just needed to show the guards at the entrance that, and did not give me a ticket. Oh, yeah, so the museums in France, unlike the ones in the UK, are not free for everybody, but they are free for everyone under 18, and residents of the UK under 27. So I got into everywhere for free by showing my UK student visa. At the Arc, they issued me a ticket, but Versailles and the Louvre just required me to show my passport at any checks.

There was quite a bit of construction and repair going on all over the building.

I may have severely abused the panaorama feature on my phone for this visit.

It does rather unfortunate things to people moving through the frame as you are taking the pictures though...

Poor Megan's arms... (I took another picture but the light in this one was better - sorry Megan).

#jealous

I made a lot of jokes while I was in London about how subtle and understated the monuments were - but the French definitely beat the English at being ostentatious.

And covering everything with gold.

It was not warm out, but this was actually the only really nice day I got in Paris (maybe helped by the fact that Versailles is about an hours train ride outside of the city centre proper).

Versailles, is a royal château in Versailles in the Île-de-France region of France. In French it is the Château de Versailles.

When the château was built, Versailles was a country village; today, however, it is a wealthy suburb of Paris, some 20 kilometres southwest of the French capital. The court of Versailles was the center of political power in France from 1682, when Louis XIV moved from Paris, until the royal family was forced to return to the capital in October 1789 after the beginning of the French Revolution. Versailles is therefore famous not only as a building, but as a symbol of the system of absolute monarchy of the Ancien Régime.

While you could rent an audio guide to the Palace, Megan and I opted out, both because the line for them was long, we are poor, and because as a general rule they really annoy me - there are so many tourists standing all over the place with these things pressed to their ears, exhibiting ZERO awareness to the existence of other people who *might* want to see the sights as well.

I hate tourists. Have I ever mentioned that? I really, really hate tourists. I hate them when I'm a tourist. The number of times I've had someone run into me, or stop directly in front of me, or just stand directly in front of a painting, is incredible. I don't know if its being in a different country or what, but something turns what I'm sure are quite nice people into utter asses. It especially amazes me at museums, when people stand RIGHT in front of paintings. Like, a foot in front. Have you ever been to a museum before THIS IS NOT HOW THIS WORKS.

Okay. Sorry. Moving on. Because we didn't take the audio tour, and things aren't really labeled in the Palace, I'm not really sure what each room actually is. So the history I've got isn't directly related to the photographs around it. Just FYI.

The first building campaign (1664–1668) commenced with the Plaisirs de l'Île enchantée (Pleasures of the Enchanted Island) of 1664, a fête that was held between 7 and 13 May 1664. The campaign involved alterations in the château and gardens to accommodate the 600 guests invited to the party.

The second building campaign (1669–1672) was inaugurated with the signing of the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, which ended the War of Devolution. During this campaign, the château began to assume some of the appearance that it has today. The most important modification of the château was Le Vau's envelope of Louis XIII's hunting lodge.

Significant to the design and construction of the grands appartements is that the rooms of both apartments are of the same configuration and dimensions – a hitherto unprecedented feature in French palace design. Both the grand appartement du roi and the grand appartement de la reine formed a suite of seven enfilade rooms. The decoration of the rooms, which was conducted under Le Brun's direction, depicted the "heroic actions of the king" and were represented in allegorical form by the actions of historical figures from the antique past (Alexander the Great, Augustus, Cyrus, etc.)

During the reign of Louis XV, Versailles underwent transformation,designed by Louis Le Vau and his assistant Monsieur Paul Chatal, but not on the scale that had been seen during the reign of Louis XIV. The first project in 1722 was the completion of the Salon d'Hercule. Significant among Louis XV's contributions to Versailles were the petit appartement du roi; the appartements de Mesdames, the appartement du dauphin, and the appartement de la dauphine on the ground floor; and the two private apartments of Louis XV – petit appartement du roi au deuxième étage (later transformed into the appartement de Madame du Barry) and the petit appartement du roi au troisième étage – on the second and third floors of the palace. The crowning achievements of Louis XV's reign were the construction of the Opéra and the Petit Trianon. Equally significant was the destruction of the Escalier des Ambassadeurs (Ambassadors' Stair), the only fitting approach to the State Apartments, which Louis XV undertook to make way for apartments for his daughters.

The gardens remained largely unchanged from the time of Louis XIV; the completion of the Bassin de Neptune between 1738 and 1741 was the only important legacy Louis XV made to the gardens. Towards the end of his reign, Louis XV, under the advice of Ange-Jacques Gabriel, began to remodel the courtyard facades of the palace. With the objective revetting the entrance of the palace with classical facades, Louis XV began a project that was continued during the reign of Louis XVI, but which did not see completion until the 20th century.

This trip made both Megan and I realize how little we know about French history. We did joke, however, that if it was a question of what King did what, while the number might be in question, 'Louis' was probably a safe bet.

During the early years of the French Revolution, preservation of the palace was largely in the hands of the citizens of Versailles.

The Fifth Republic has enthusiastically promoted the museum as one of France's foremost tourist attractions. The palace, however, still serves political functions. Heads of state are regaled in the Hall of Mirrors; the Sénat and the Assemblée nationale meet in congress in Versailles to revise or otherwise amend the French Constitution, a tradition that came into effect with the promulgation of the 1875 Constitution. Public establishment of the museum and Château de Versailles Spectacles recently organised the Jeff Koons Versailles exhibition.

Now, how about we all learn about French history together?

France is the largest country in Western Europe and the European Union, and the third-largest in Europe as a whole. With a total population of around 66 million, it is the third most-populous European country. France is a unitary semi-presidential republic with its capital in Paris, the nation's largest city and the main cultural and commercial centre. The current Constitution of France, adopted by referendum on 4 October 1958, establishes the country as secular and democratic, with its sovereignty derived from the people. The nation's ideals are expressed in the foundational Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, one of the world's earliest documents on human rights, which was formulated during the seminal French Revolution of the late 18th century.

France has been a major power in Europe since the Late Middle Ages, reaching the height of its influence during the 19th and early 20th centuries, when it possessed the second-largest colonial empire of the time, and one of the largest in history. This legacy is reflected in the prevalence of French language, culture, and jurisprudence worldwide. France has produced many influential artists, thinkers, and scientists, and remains a prominent global centre of culture. It hosts the world's fourth-largest number of cultural UNESCO World Heritage Sites, drawing around 83 million foreign tourists annually – the most of any country in the world.

At the end of the Antiquity period, ancient Gaul was divided into several Germanic kingdoms and a remaining Gallo-Roman territory, known as the Kingdom of Syagrius (West). Simultaneously, Celtic Britons, fleeing the Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain, settled the western part of Armorica. As a result, the Armorican peninsula was renamed Brittany, Celtic culture was revived and independent petty kingdoms arose in this region.

The pagan Franks, from whom the ancient name of "Francie" was derived, originally settled the north part of Gaul, but under Clovis I conquered most of the other kingdoms in northern and central Gaul. In 498, Clovis I was the first Germanic conqueror after the fall of the Roman Empire to convert to Catholic Christianity, rather than Arianism; thus France was given the title "Eldest daughter of the Church".

The Franks embraced the Christian Gallo-Roman culture and ancient Gaul was eventually renamed Francia ("Land of the Franks"). The Germanic Franks adopted Romanic languages, except in north Gaul where Roman settlements were less dense and where Germanic languages emerged. Clovis made Paris his capital and established the Merovingian dynasty, but his kingdom would not survive his death. The Franks treated land purely as a private possession and divided it among their heirs, so four kingdoms emerged from Clovis's: Paris, Orléans, Soissons, and Rheims.

The last Merovingian kings lost power to their mayors of the palace (head of household). One mayor of the palace, Charles Martel, defeated an Islamic invasion of Gaul at the Battle of Tours (732) and earned respect and power within the Frankish kingdoms. His son, Pepin the Short, seized the crown of Francia from the weakened Merovingians and founded the Carolingian dynasty. Pepin's son, Charlemagne, reunited the Frankish kingdoms and built a vast empire across Western and Central Europe.

Proclaimed Holy Roman Emperor by Pope Leo III and thus establishing in earnest the French government's longtime historical association with the Catholic Church, Charlemagne tried to revive the Western Roman Empire and its cultural grandeur.

Charlemagne's son, Louis I (emperor 814–840), kept the empire united; however, this Carolingian Empire would not survive his death. In 843, under the Treaty of Verdun, the empire was divided between Louis' three sons, with East Francia going to Louis the German, Middle Francia to Lothair I, and West Francia to Charles the Bald. West Francia approximated the area occupied by, and was the precursor, to modern France.

Also, how would you like to be known as "the Bald"?

The Carolingian dynasty ruled France until 987, when Hugh Capet, Duke of France and Count of Paris, was crowned King of the Franks. His descendants – the Capetians, the House of Valois, and the House of Bourbon – progressively unified the country through wars and dynastic inheritance into the Kingdom of France, which was fully declared in 1190 by Philip II Augustus. Gerbert d'Aurillac (Gerbert of Aurillac) was the first French pope; his reign as Pope Sylvester II lasted from 999 to 1003.

The Albigensian Crusade was launched in 1209 to eliminate the heretical Cathars in the south-western area of modern-day France. In the end, the Cathars were exterminated and the autonomous County of Toulouse was annexed into the kingdom of France. Later Kings expanded their territory to cover over half of modern continental France, including most of the North, Centre and West of France. Meanwhile, the royal authority became more and more assertive, centred around a hierarchically conceived society distinguishing nobility, clergy, and commoners.

Charles IV the Fair died without an heir in 1328. Under the rules of the Salic law the crown of France could not pass to a woman nor could the line of kingship pass through the female line. Accordingly, the crown passed to Philip of Valois, a cousin of Charles, rather than through the female line to Charles' nephew, Edward, who would soon become Edward III of England. During the reign of Philip of Valois, the French monarchy reached the height of its medieval power.

However, Philip's seat on the throne was contested by Edward III of England and in 1337, on the eve of the first wave of the Black Death, England and France went to war in what would become known as the Hundred Years' War. The exact boundaries changed greatly with time, but French landholdings of the English Kings remained extensive for decades.

With charismatic leaders, such as Joan of Arc and La Hire, strong French counterattacks won back English continental territories. Like the rest of Europe, France was struck by the Black Death. Around 1340, France had a population of approximately 17 million, which by the end of the pandemic had declined by about one-half.

The French Renaissance saw a long set of wars, known as the Italian Wars, between the Kingdom of France and the powerful Holy Roman Empire. It also saw the first standardization of the French language, which would become the official language of France and the language of Europe's aristocracy. French explorers, such as Jacques Cartier or Samuel de Champlain, claimed lands in the Americas for France, paving the way for the expansion of the First French colonial empire.

The rise of Protestantism in Europe led France to a civil war known as the French Wars of Religion, where, in the most notorious incident, thousands of Huguenots were murdered in the St. Bartholomew's Day massacre of 1572. The Wars of Religion were ended by Henry IV's Edict of Nantes, which granted some freedom of religion to the Huguenots.

Under Louis XIII, the energetic Cardinal Richelieu reinforced the centralization of the state, royal power and French dominance in Europe, foreshadowing the reign of Louis XIV. During Louis XIV's minority and the regency of Queen Anne and Cardinal Mazarin, a period of trouble known as the Fronde occurred in France, which was at that time at war with Spain. This rebellion was driven by the great feudal lords and sovereign courts as a reaction to the rise of royal power in France.

The monarchy reached its peak during the 17th century and the reign of Louis XIV. By turning powerful feudal lords into courtiers at the Palace of Versailles, Louis XIV's personal power became unchallenged. Remembered for his numerous wars, he made France the leading European power. France possessed the largest population in Europe and had tremendous influence over European politics, economy, and culture. French became the most-used language in diplomacy, science, literature and international affairs, and remained so until the 20th century. France obtained many overseas possessions in the Americas, Africa and Asia. Louis XIV revoked the Edict of Nantes, forcing thousands of Huguenots into exile.

Under Louis XV, France lost New France and most of its Indian possessions after its defeat in the Seven Years' War, which ended in 1763. Its continental territory kept growing, however, with notable acquisitions such as Lorraine (1766) and Corsica (1770). An unpopular king, Louis XV's weak rule, his ill-advised financial, political and military decisions, and his debauchery discredited the monarchy and arguably led to the French Revolution 15 years after his death.

Louis XVI, Louis XV's grandson, actively supported the Americans, who were seeking their independence from Great Britain (realized in the Treaty of Paris (1783)). The example of the American Revolution and the financial crisis which followed France's involvement in it were two of many contributing factors to the French Revolution.

Much of the Enlightenment occurred in French intellectual circles, and major scientific breakthroughs and inventions, such as the discovery of oxygen (1778) and the first hot air balloon carrying passengers (1783), were achieved by French scientists. French explorers, such as Bougainville and Lapérouse, took part in the voyages of scientific exploration through maritime expeditions around the globe. The Enlightenment philosophy, in which reason is advocated as the primary source for legitimacy and authority, undermined the power of and support for the monarchy and helped pave the way for the French Revolution.

After the storming of the Bastille on 14 July 1789, the absolute monarchy was abolished and France became a constitutional monarchy. Through the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, France established fundamental rights for French citizens (who could only be male). The Declaration affirms "the natural and imprescriptible rights of man" to "liberty, property, security and resistance to oppression". It called for the destruction of aristocratic privileges and proclaimed freedom and equal rights for all men, as well as access to public office based on talent rather than birth.

The monarchy was restricted, and all citizens were to have the right to take part in the legislative process. Freedom of speech and press were declared, and arbitrary arrests outlawed. The Declaration also asserted the principles of popular sovereignty, in contrast to the divine right of kings that characterized the French monarchy, and social equality among citizens, eliminating the privileges of the nobility and clergy.

While Louis XVI, as a constitutional king, enjoyed popularity among the population, his disastrous flight to Varennes seemed to justify rumours he had tied his hopes of political salvation to the prospects of foreign invasion. His credibility was deeply undermined to the extent that the abolition of the monarchy and establishment of a republic became an increasing possibility.

European monarchies gathered against the new régime, to restore the French absolute monarchy. The foreign threat exacerbated France's political turmoil and deepened the sense of urgency among the various factions and war was declared against Austria on 20 April 1792. Mob violence occurred during the insurrection of 10 August 1792 and the following month. As a result of this violence and the political instability of the constitutional monarchy, the Republic was proclaimed on 22 September 1792.

Louis XVI was convicted of treason and guillotined in 1793. Facing increasing pressure from European monarchies, internal guerrilla wars and counterrevolutions (such as the War in the Vendée or the Chouannerie), the young Republic fell into the Reign of Terror. Between 1793 and 1794, between 16,000 and 40,000 people were executed. In Western France, the civil war between the Bleus ("Blues", supporters of the Revolution) and the Blancs ("Whites", supporters of the Monarchy) lasted from 1793 to 1796 and led to the loss of between 200,000 and 450,000 lives.

Both foreign armies and French counterrevolutionnaries were crushed and the French Republic survived. Furthermore, it extended greatly its boundaries and established "Sister Republics" in the surrounding countries. As the threat of a foreign invasion receded and France became mostly pacified, the Thermidorian Reaction put an end to Robespierre's rule and to the Terror. The abolition of slavery and male universal suffrage, enacted during this radical phase of the revolution, were cancelled by subsequent governments.

(break from history) The photos of the red room below were, I believe, of the King's apartments.

The light in the room was very poor, so it was difficult to get good photos. In addition to this, a couple of discussions about pick-pockets, as well as constant warnings by the tourist sites made me pretty paranoid about my purse, so I didn't want to put both hands on my phone, raised in the air (as that leaves you really open to being robbed). My purse is zipped shut and very deep, so the chances of me being pick-pocketed were very small, but I was feeling pretty paranoid at that point.

The beds were absolutely ridiculous. Hugely ostentatious, and tiny. Either French people just really, really short, or they all slept in little tiny balls.

(history resuming) - After a short-lived governmental scheme, Napoleon Bonaparte seized control of the Republic in 1799 becoming First Consul and later Emperor of the French Empire (1804–1814/1815). As a continuation of the wars sparked by the European monarchies against the French Republic, changing sets of European Coalitions declared wars on Napoleon's Empire. His armies conquered most of continental Europe, while members of the Bonaparte family were appointed as monarchs in some of the newly established kingdoms.

These victories led to the worldwide expansion of French revolutionary ideals and reforms, such as the Metric system, the Napoleonic Code and the Declaration of the Rights of Man. After the catastrophic Russian campaign, Napoleon was defeated and the Bourbon monarchy restored. About a million Frenchmen died during the Napoleonic Wars.

After his brief return from exile, Napoleon was finally defeated in 1815 at the Battle of Waterloo, the monarchy was re-established (1815–1830), with new constitutional limitations. The discredited Bourbon dynasty was overthrown by the July Revolution of 1830, which established the constitutional July Monarchy, which lasted until 1848, when the French Second Republic was proclaimed, in the wake of the European Revolutions of 1848. The abolition of slavery and male universal suffrage, both briefly enacted during the French Revolution were re-enacted in 1848.

In 1852, the president of the French Republic, Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte, Napoleon I’s nephew, was proclaimed emperor of the second Empire, as Napoleon III. He multiplied French interventions abroad, especially in Crimea, in Mexico and Italy. Napoleon III was unseated following defeat in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870 and his regime was replaced by the Third Republic.

(pause history again) - we then entered the hall of mirrors. Most of my pictures of the hall were fuzzy (my hands really aren't steady enough for me to be only using one to hold my camera), so bear with me (also, how fab is Megan's cape that she got for Christmas in the picture below).

The Hall of Mirrors (French: Grande Galerie or Galerie des Glaces) is the central gallery of the Palace of Versailles in Versailles, France.

As the principal and most remarkable feature of King Louis XIV of France's third building campaign of the Palace of Versailles (1678–1684), construction of the Hall of Mirrors began in 1678.
The principal feature of this hall is the seventeen mirror-clad arches that reflect the seventeen arcaded windows that overlook the gardens. Each arch contains twenty-one mirrors with a total complement of 357 used in the decoration of the galerie des glaces.The arches themselves are fixed between marble pilasters whose capitals depict the symbols of France.[citation needed] These gilded bronze capitals include the fleur-de-lys and the Gallic cockerel or rooster. Many of the other attributes of the Hall of Mirrors were lost to war for financial purposes, such as the silver table pieces and guéridons, which were melted by order of Louis XIV in 1689 to finance the War of the League of Augsburg.

In the successive reigns of Louis XV and Louis XVI, the Hall of Mirrors continued to serve for family and court functions. Embassies, births, and marriages were fêted in this room; however, perhaps the most celebrated event of the 18th century occurred on 25 February 1745: the celebrated bal des Ifs (Ball of the Yew Trees). It was during this costume ball that Louis XV, who was dressed as a yew tree, met Jeanne-Antoinette Poisson d'Étiolles, who was costumed as Diana, goddess of the hunt. Jeanne-Antoinette, who became Louis XV's mistress, is better known to history as the Marquise de Pompadour.

I am slightly embarrassed to admit that whenever I think about Madame de Pompadour, I think of the Doctor Who episode.

(resume history) - France had colonial possessions, in various forms, since the beginning of the 17th century. In the 19th and 20th centuries, its global overseas colonial empire extended greatly and became the second largest in the world behind the British Empire. Including metropolitan France, the total area of land under French sovereignty almost reached 13 million square kilometres in the 1920s and 1930s, 8.6% of the world's land.

France was a member of the Triple Entente when World War I broke out. A small part of Northern France was occupied, but France and its allies emerged victorious against the Central Powers, at a tremendous human and material cost. World War I left 1.4 million French soldiers dead, 4% of its population, between 27 and 30% of the conscript classes of 1912–1915.

The interbellum years were marked by intense international tensions and a variety of social reforms introduced by the Popular Front government (Annual leave, working time reduction, women in Government among others). France was occupied following the German Blitzkrieg campaign in World War II, with metropolitan France divided into a German occupation zone in the north and Vichy France, a newly established authoritarian regime collaborating with Germany, in the south. The Allies and the French Resistance eventually emerged victorious from the Axis powers and French sovereignty was restored.

The Fourth Republic was established after World War II and saw spectacular economic growth (les Trente Glorieuses). Suffrage was extended to women in 1944. France was one of the founding members of NATO (1949). France attempted to regain control of French Indochina but was defeated by the Viet Minh in 1954. Only months later, France faced a new conflict in Algeria. The debate over whether or not to keep control of Algeria, then home to over one million European settlers, wracked the country and nearly led to civil war.

In 1958, the weak and unstable Fourth Republic gave way to the Fifth Republic, which contained a strengthened Presidency. In the latter role, Charles de Gaulle managed to keep the country together while taking steps to end the war. The Algerian War was concluded with the Évian Accords in 1962 that led to Algerian independence. France granted independence progressively to its colonies. A vestige of the colonial empire are the French overseas departments and territories.

In the wake of the series of worldwide protests of 1968, the revolt of May 1968 had an enormous social impact. In France, it is considered to be the watershed moment when a conservative moral ideal (religion, patriotism, respect for authority) shifted towards a more liberal moral ideal.

France has been at the forefront of the European Union member states seeking to capitalise on the momentum of monetary union to create a more unified and capable European Union political, defence, and security apparatus.

*makes closing motion with hands* and this concludes our history lesson on France. Hope it was educational.

A bit more on Madame de Pomadour, because she was a pretty cool lady: born Leanne Antoinette Poisson, Marquise de Pompadour, also known as Madame de Pompadour (29 December 1721 – 15 April 1764) was a member of the French court and was the official chief mistress of Louis XV from 1745 to her death. She was trained from childhood to be a mistress, and learned her trade well. She took charge of the king’s schedule and was an indispensable aide and advisor, despite her frail health and many political enemies. She secured titles of nobility for herself and her relatives, and built a network of clients and supporters.

She paid careful attention not to alienate the Queen, Marie Leszczyńska. She was a major patron of architecture and such decorative arts as porcelain. She was a patron of the philosophes of the Enlightenment, including Voltaire. Hostile critics at the time said she was responsible for the Seven Years' War (which was untrue), and generally tarred her as a malevolent political influence. Historians are more favourable, emphasizing her successes as a patron of the arts and a champion of French pride.

And, of course, I would probably remiss if I did not touch on the most famous French Queen: Marie Antoinette.

In April 1770, upon her marriage to Louis-Auguste, Dauphin of France, Marie became Dauphine of France. Marie Antoinette assumed the title of Queen of France and of Navarre when her husband, Louis XVI of France, ascended the throne upon the death of Louis XV in May 1774. After seven years of marriage, she gave birth to a daughter, Marie-Thérèse Charlotte, the first of four children.

Initially charmed by her personality and beauty, the French people generally came to dislike her, accusing "L'Autrichienne" (meaning the Austrian (woman)) of being profligate, promiscuous, and of harboring sympathies for France's enemies, particularly Austria, her country of origin. The Diamond Necklace incident damaged her reputation further, although she was completely innocent in this affair. She later became known as Madame Déficit because of her lavish spendings during famine times.

The royal family's flight to Varennes had disastrous effects on French popular opinion: Louis XVI was deposed and the monarchy abolished on 21 September 1792; the royal family was subsequently imprisoned at the Temple Prison. Eight months after her husband's execution, Marie Antoinette was herself tried, convicted by the Convention of treason to the principles of the revolution, and executed by guillotine on 16 October 1793.

Long after her death, Marie Antoinette is often considered to be a part of popular culture and a major historical figure, being the subject of several books, films and other forms of media. Some academics and scholars have deemed her frivolous and superficial, and have attributed the start of the French Revolution to her; however, others have claimed that she was treated unjustly and that views of her should be more sympathetic.

It was absolutely ridiculous how many rooms we went through at Versailles, and how much ostentatious grandeur was evident in every single one.

Finally, we were outside again! While the inside of Versailles is beautiful, it is rather overwhelming. The outside, while beautiful and ostentatious as well, is less so (it might be the whole furniture matching the wallpaper thing that makes the inside so difficult to deal with).

And then we were back inside again! These smaller apartments typically belonged to the mistresses of the King, I believe.

HOW IS THAT A BED? HOW DID PEOPLE FIT ON THAT?

#jealous

And then we were finally outside in the gardens, which were absolutely amazing. The inside of Versailles is really cool and all, but the gardens... WOW (also, with all the people, the inside was super claustrophobic).

The Gardens of Versailles occupy part of what was once the Domaine royal de Versailles, the royal demesne of the château of Versailles. Situated to the west of the palace, the gardens cover some 800 hectares of land, much of which is landscaped in the classic French Garden style perfected here by Linnea. Beyond the surrounding belt of woodland, the gardens are bordered by the urban areas of Versailles to the east and Le Chesnay to the north-east, by the National Arboretum de Chèvreloup to the north, the Versailles plain (a protected wildlife preserve) to the west, and by the Satory Forest to the south.

As part of le domaine national de Versailles et de Trianon, an autonomous public entity operating under the aegis of the French Ministry of Culture, the gardens are now one of the most visited public sites in France, receiving more than six million visitors a year.

In addition to the meticulous manicured lawns, parterres of flowers, and sculptures are the fountains, which are located throughout the garden. Dating from the time of Louis XIV and still using much of the same network of hydraulics as was used during the Ancien Régime, the fountains contribute to making the gardens of Versailles unique. On weekends from late spring to early autumn, the administration of the museum sponsors the Grandes Eaux – spectacles during which all the fountains in the gardens are in full play.

 

Can you imagine living there? Right next to the Palace, looking over the gardens?

I was thinking that swan looked huge - way bigger than any swan I'd ever seen - but then I realized that I hadn't really seen many swans standing so you could see all of them - usually they are either floating on water or sitting on land.

Those three men in a line in the photograph above were soldiers - at various historical monuments, including here and at the Arc de Triomphe, and at large metro stations, you would see these soldiers with huge rifles/machine guns/I don't know guns but they were big. It was kind of scary. It was really unsettling to see, as I've never seen anything like that before in my life. I didn't like it - it made me very nervous.

LOOK AT THAT GARDEN.

WHAT.

EVEN.

The super ghetto drains were not doing much to drain all the puddles everywhere in the gardens.

"Oh where do you live" "Oh I don't know, about ten meters away from the PALACE OF VERSAILLES"

Ridiculous. We left Versailles, and Megan travelled onto her train station, while I got off at the Musée d'Orsay stop and headed over the river to the Louvre.

Oh yeah, this sign was hilarious. It basically says you aren't allowed to drink alcohol in the park... between certain hours, at certain times of the year. You are allowed to drink in public in Paris (on New Years, the guys brought their beers with them onto the metro, which was very strange). But people don't really drink in France the same way they do elsewhere.

I wanted in line for about 40min to get into the Louvre, which wasn't so bad, though in retrospect, since I didn't need a ticket, I probably could have gone through the pre-bought ticket line (if only I had known...).

There was this really cool sculpture in the main pyramid, that looked like a sculpture draped in cloth, as if under construction, but was actually all stone.

After Versailles, Megan and I decided that tiny, useless chairs are the ultimate symbol of status and wealth.

Stopped in at the Mona Lisa (she's on that wall on the back of the room), got fairly close, saw what is probably the most famous painting in the world, and then got out of there, because the crush of tourists taking photos was insane.

I don't get taking photos of artwork. If I want to remember it or tell someone else about it, I'll usually take a picture of the tag saying what it is, as you can find way better images online than you will ever be able to take. Just enjoy the art man.

God, tourists at art museums: absolute worst thing in all of creation.

ACTUAL HEAD FROM EASTER ISLAND HOW COOL IS THAT?

In a very, very, very French move, the plaques for the artwork were only in French (everywhere that you went). This particular painting was one that I had talked about with Megan, when we were talking about beauty ideals over time, and she commented something about at least they didn't have photoshop then making women into impossible ideals, which made me think of this painting by Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres: the artist has elongated the woman's spine to make her fit closer the ideal. It doesn't look that bad right side up...

But when you flip it upside down...

It becomes extremely obvious how much he manipulated her body. God, this freaked me out so much the first time I saw it in Art History. It still makes me kind of nauseous. And is just one excellent example of why it annoys me so much when people talk about how the portrayal of women in media as exaggerated and impossible ideals is a new trend - this has been happening since people first began making art depicting human figures, the only thing that has changed is the medium and the qualities that are seen as ideal, that is IT. And don't even get me started on the dichotomy between naked women versus clothed men in art.

End art rant.

Another favourite: how ridiculous the lettering is on the Metro signs. Also, man was the Metro in disrepair. The tube in London was a much better public transit experience, even if it was insanely expensive.

For dinner we had this thing, I can't remember what it was called, but it was basically the ideal meal. You cook things on the top griddle (in this case, onions and mushrooms) while underneath the cheese cooks. Then you pour the cheese over the other ingredients in a bowl (mushrooms, onions, potato, cauliflower and, later, just straight onto slices of baguette).

YUM.

My flight the next day did not leave until around 8:30, but to get the train and be there well in advance, I left around 4:20. Which was less than fun. I also went for the super cheap option (next time I am just paying more) with a non-direct flight, resulting in a 5 hour stop in Birmingham. Bonuses of this, however, included the fact that an hour flight and an hour time difference meant that I landed in England before I left France, to my never ending delight. Also, while I was flying with a cheap company, they were paired with Air France, so on my flight from Paris to Birmingham, I was actually on an Air France flight, where, on an HOUR long flight, they served this for breakfast:

Pastry, biscuit with strawberry jam, cookies, orange juice, hot chocolate, yogurt and granola, and some sort of peach puree thing. IT WAS ALL SO GOOD. Perfect way to leave France.