One time at girls camp, I was whittling a piece of wood in attempts at creating a masterpiece. The 2 inch scar on my ankle just goes to show I was never meant to create masterpieces, however King Louis IV definitely was. Versailles... the palace to outdo all other palaces as well as become the new capitol of France, is bigger than words. As we waited outside the golden gates, we were freezing. The weather here is very temperamental, and once again: I opted to bring 5 boxes of fruit roll ups instead of rain gear/warm clothing. Suddenly, the day was turned right around. Sid was his name, and I couldn't have asked for a better rat tail to stare at during our 6 hour walking tour. I've not been so entertained by just watching someone talk in quite some time. Nicolas Fouquet had built Vaux (stay tuned for tomorrows blog) and King Louis IV was jealous that a man who was not a king had such a palacial estate. So he had him arrested and build Versailles as grand as he could. The palace is gigantic, and my favorite part (which is also the most famous) was the hall of mirrors. But then we entered the gardens. Over 19,000 acres of gardens: I'll never complain about mowing the lawn again, you've never seen gradens like these before. Beautiful, but almost too big to comprehend. There are 99 working fountains, mile long trenches that used to house full sized vessels, duck filled ponds, and geometric topiaries for miles. About a mile into one side of the gardens, we happened upon the most incredible area: it is just like the movies. Ivy covered cottages, moats with waterwheels, antiqued shutters sitting crookedly on worn brick walls, lilypads on ponds, quaint little gardens, it was the France I have always imagined. It was such a long day, but thanks to Sid it was as good as it could be. After a train and then metro ride home, we stopped at one of our favorite pastry shops on our street and each got two pastries. I've had at least 2 eclairs every day thus far, and they're unbeleivably good. I will miss that the most when I leave Paris...
The weather here is very temperamental, and once again: I opted to bring 5 boxes of fruit roll ups instead of rain gear/warm clothing. Suddenly, the day was turned right around. Sid was his name, and I couldn't have asked for a better rat tail to stare at during our 6 hour walking tour.
I've not been so entertained by just watching someone talk in quite some time. Nicolas Fouquet had built Vaux (stay tuned for tomorrows blog) and King Louis IV was jealous that a man who was not a king had such a palacial estate. So he had him arrested and build Versailles as grand as he could. The palace is gigantic, and my favorite part (which is also the most famous) was the hall of mirrors.
But then we entered the gardens. Over 19,000 acres of gardens: I'll never complain about mowing the lawn again, you've never seen gradens like these before. Beautiful, but almost too big to comprehend. 
There are 99 working fountains, mile long trenches that used to house full sized vessels, duck filled ponds, and geometric topiaries for miles. About a mile into one side of the gardens, we happened upon the most incredible area: it is just like the movies. Ivy covered cottages, moats with waterwheels, antiqued shutters sitting crookedly on worn brick walls, lilypads on ponds, quaint little gardens, it was the France I have always imagined.
It was such a long day, but thanks to Sid it was as good as it could be. After a train and then metro ride home, we stopped at one of our favorite pastry shops on our street and each got two pastries. I've had at least 2 eclairs every day thus far, and they're unbeleivably good. I will miss that the most when I leave Paris...
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