Water

This was, by far, my longest day in Paris thus this post will be, by far, the longest. Just a warning. I got up later than I had wanted to. I set my alarm for 7:30 but either I was in a deep sleep or the alarm didn't wake me up. I went down and I ate the free breakfast (croissant, small French bread, jelly, OJ). Then I showered and got ready to leave. I decided to head to Versailles Palace (view from the back picture 1). To get there, I walked over to the train station near my hostel and got on the RER. The RER (I don't know what it stands for) is like a cross between the Metro and a normal train. It runs to places a little farther out from Paris and is mostly above ground. The day before, one of the guys in my hostel said that he tried to go Thursday but the workers were on strike so the palace was closed and he didn't go (I chalked that up to a one day thing and decided to risk it). I was waiting in line to buy my train tickets when I noticed the couple in front of me talking in a familiar accent. They were talking about going to Versailles with the worker. They stepped away to discuss. I told them that I heard that it was closed the day before but hadn't heard or read anything online today and that I was just going to go for it. They said that they might as well too. It turns out that that couple was traveling with two other couples. The kicker: they are all from Minnesota!!

There was one couple who were both older. I don't remember either of their names. They were the ones in front of me in line for the tickets and I'm pretty sure they live in Roseville. Another couple was also older (younger than the first couple though). The woman's name was Carol (I think). She works for NWA and works with the woman of the third couple, Barb. Barb and her husband live in Red Wing and are approximately my parents' age. They have two daughters, aged 23 and 25. One of the daughters is going to U of M Medical School. Barb's husband works for the nuclear plant at Prairie Island. They own a condo near Merida, Mexico. I can't remember the name of the town though. If you can't tell, I talked to Barb the most. I ended up sitting by them on the train to Versailles and then we had to wait in line for about an hour to buy tickets to get in so we talked during that time too. I was really glad I had someone some people to talk to while I waited in line. They were also so nice and it felt so good to talk some other Minnesotans about places like Lake Calhoun (where Barb's older daughter is going to live soon). We got separated at the end of the line because I was paying in cash and they were paying with cards. Before we parted I gave them my email and blog address because I figured I wouldn't see them again.

The ticket was a little expensive (15 euros) but totally worth it. First off, Versailles is a palace. It was originally built as a hunting lodge but was expanded by the Sun King, Louis XIV. The total cost of building the entire complex is estimated at a half of France's annual GNP. That's a lot of money. It was constructed from around 1670-1710 but has had renovations (especially the gardens) since then. Louis XIV left the Louvre (the original Royal residence) and moved to Versailles. He moved there because he loved the outdoors and he wanted to keep an eye on the nobles of France. There were as many as 5,000 (yes, five thousand) nobles living here at one time. Plus all the enough space to have all the nobles of France to live with him so he could control them. The doesn't include all the servants and cooks that are required for nobles. It was a large city in and of itself. The gardens were open to the public (even peasants) as long as they adhered to a dress code. This was very different for the time. The Palace is a neo-classical construction. The thing that surprised me most was all the Roman mythology references. Every room in the King's Rooms and every road in the garden has the name of a Roman God. It is the most impressive and complete Palace in all of Europe (according to Rick Steves). Needless to say, I had to visit.

I walked by the Royal Chapel first. It was added later than everything else. Louis would sit on the second level and all the servants would be on the lower level watching him worshiping. The chapel is really beautiful and still has concerts inside it during the summer. There were two halls of statues right by the Chapel (picture 2). The best area was the King's Rooms. These were a bunch of rooms in a row that were all used to entertain and house all those nobles staying at Versailles with Louis but especially for Louis. Every room was named after a Roman God and had a painting of that God in the ceiling. There was the Hercules Drawing Room (ceiling picture 3) and the Mars Room (etc.). Every room had amazing wallpaper and gold carvings and paintings and draperies. It was all ornate and jaw dropping. The most famous and most spectacular room in the whole palace is the Hall of Mirrors (picture 4). Gold candelabras line each side (picture 5). Huge glass chandeliers hang from the ceiling. Seventeen arched windows line the right side while seventeen arched mirrors line the left. The room is awe inspiring. It really is. The decadence is palpable. The mirrors were even more spectacular because when the room was made mirrors were an incredible rarity (let alone 17 6' high ones). I could go on about the palace some more but I will save you the trouble. Just know that every single room was as amazing as the one before. I was sort of jaded or numbed to the decadence by the time I got to the end.

The gardens were just as incredible. I already said that Louis liked the outdoors so he spent a ton of money and man power creating them. There are a ton of different groves and statues and trees and I don't even know. The place is just so huge. I followed a walk from Historic Paris Walks through the Garden. There was one grove with with an auditorium where the seats were grass and the "stage" was a terraced waterfall made out of seashells from all over the world (picture 6). Another grove had a big pond with a statue of one of the Titans being prisoned under a bunch of stones (myth held that one of the Titans is under Sicily). There were four fountains of a series that had a God representing a season (like Bacchus representing fall picture 7). The main part of the gardens stretched from the back of the palace down some terraces and fountains to a huge pond with a statue of Apollo and his chariots (picture 8). Behind that is the Grand Canal which is about .5 miles long. The gardens were incredible and, after the Hall of Mirrors, my favorite part of Versailles.

I walked back to the train station and, lo and behold, the three MN couples were there too. I talked to them on the way back to Paris (I did not get a picture of or with them which is a big regret of mine...). I got off at a different station than them because I wanted to try and see the Musee d'Orsay (the Impressionist museum). I had to get cash first and walked around the neighborhood of St. Germain des Pres looking for a machine. By the time I found one and came back, the museum was closed. I walked over to the Place de la Concorde instead (picture 9). This has an Egyptian obelisk in the middle of it that is some 3,000 years old. It is a really famous square because the Champs Elysses starts here and runs down to the Arc de Triomphe (picture 10). I walked to La Madeleine, a church that looks like a Greek Temple. The altar (a big statue of Mary) was really cool (picture 11). Then I walked over to the Opera Garnier. It is a very fancy building. My plan was to walk up to Montmartre and walk around the neighborhood until it was time to eat. So I walked up the hill and by the Moulin Rogue (picture 12). This was where I went online. Then it was up to the Basilique de Sacre Couer (Basilica of the Sacred Heart). It was built around 1900 and has an extremely famous look. It is completely out of character with the rest of Paris but I love it. The whiteness of the stone and curved parts are very soothing and beautiful (picture 13). I walked around in the neighborhood behind the church. It started raining so I went to find some cover. It turns out that the place I decided to take cover by was a very famous restaurant, La Bonne Franquette (picture 14). A lot of the Impressionists (Cezanne, Gauguin, etc.) hung out here. One of Van Gogh's only paintings in Paris is of this restaurant.

It was getting late, I was really hungry, and the rain was letting up so I headed out to find Chartier (inside picture 15). That is a restaurant that my mom frequented a lot when she lived in Paris as an au pair in 1977. It was a huge priority for me to go there and eat so that's what I did. I arrived at 9:30 and there was a line outside. The place was packed and the host came out and said that service stopped at 10. I was worried I wouldn't be able to eat there. More people left so I was able to get in. Because it was so busy and I was alone, I was seated with three strangers. One was from Finland and in Paris on business. He spoke really good English. The other two guys came together and one was from Rome but had lived in Paris for a month and the other was a native Parisian. I didn't catch any of their names or take a picture (another regret, I am learning from my mistakes though). We had a conversation in English and it was really nice. They helped me order because the waiter was in a hurry and kind of gruff. I had roast chicken and fries. Delicious and pretty cheap for Paris. They were all older than me (around 40) so I automatically felt kind of weird but they were really nice and tried to include me in the conversation. I tried to order rice pudding for dessert but they didn't have it so the waiter brought me a pineapple. I didn't want it so the Italian ate it. Anyway, it was really fun and I loved eating and going to a place that my mom visited.

I was determined to see the Eiffel Tower lit up so I started by walking down from Montmartre and passed the Opera Garnier and La Madeleine. I got to the Place de la Concorde and then walked down the Champs Elysees. This is the most famous street in Paris and is really awesome. It was pretty deserted because it was past 11 pm and it was raining still (it rained the entire time I walked from Chartier). I bought a crepe with nutella and banana to keep my spirits up. Scrumptious and really fun to eat while walking down the Champs Elysees. I got to the Arc de Triomphe (picture 16). I thought about quitting here and taking the Metro back. I was worried that the Metro closed early (like London's Tube closes at around midnight) and I wasn't sure if my hostel had a curfew (I didn't think it did but the thought was there). I decided to screw it and just go to the Eiffel Tower. So it was dark, I didn't know exactly how to get there and it was raining. Plus I was super tired but I made it to the Tower (picture 17). Fantastic. Stunning. All lit up it was stupendous. I took a whole bunch of pictures as I walked up to it, under it, and away from it. I was quite lost and wandered for a while and was constantly thinking about the Metro and my hostel closing but I eventually found a Metro and it was still open.

I rode the Metro back to a stop where I knew how to get back to my hostel. I don't know exactly how it happened but I was turning to walk up the stairs and turned or something but the railing got caught in the pocket of my pants. They ripped. They ripped a lot. The left side from where the pocket is down to my knee or so was totally ripped along the outside seam. I was soaked from walking in the rain. I was tired from all the walking I did that day (I estimate I walked over 12 miles total). I was strung out from stressing about being lost and things closing. Then my pants ripped. I could not believe it. So I walked back to my hostel at 2 am, in the rain, with my underwear showing. Haha. Unbelievable. I threw the pants away without thinking of taking a picture (regret) and then went to bed because I was so tired.

I took about 180 pictures this day (about 100 at Versailles) because of all the places I went so check out facebook for more pictures.