Paris, entry #4

After seeing Malmaison, I was excited to visit Versailles on Thursday and see what the real royal glory was all about. Marie Antoinette and Louis XVI’s palace, or chateau, loomed grandly in front of us when Nick and I stepped onto its vast grounds. And behind it lies acres of gardens, two separate smaller palaces that the pair could escape to whenever, and Marie’s infamous peasant village (to be explained later…she’s ridiculous). So we headed in for the long haul, as they say it takes almost a whole day to see all that Versailles has to offer. Nick had been before but didn’t spend more than a few hours and still had rooms left to see in the giant palace. We stopped first to gaze at the main chapel and its oversized organ, then walked through statue-lined halls (like Harry Potter’s Hogwarts!) on black-and-white checkered floors to the rooms. Much of Versailles appears like a museum, with paintings as big as walls covering from floor to ceiling. Speaking of ceilings, they are ornate and painted, much like the ceilings of most cathedrals and some museums in Florence. Now that I think about it, even the ceilings in Karine’s apartment were decorated with embedded borders in the paint. These people love their ceilings…Anyway, the rooms of Versailles were beautiful all around – My favorite thing was the chandeliers, huge hanging masses of crystals proudly displayed in the center of each room. Some had two or three. And then there was the Hall of Mirrors, Louis XIV’s creation: a long hallway lined in the ceilings center with sparkling chandeliers, one wall lined with floor-to-ceiling mirrors and the other with windows opening into the gardens. At sunset, the sun shines through the windows to reflect on the opposite mirrors, sending rays of light bouncing across and down the hall. I wish we could’ve seen it! We saw both Marie Antoinette’s bedroom and Louis’ two rooms (one that he actually slept in and one to perform the daily and nightly “good morning and good night” sessions that his servants did to greet the King). Nick’s favorite was a room he hadn’t seen before, the Hall of Battles. It held larger-than-life depictions of every important battle in French history, chronologically along each long wall.
After viewing the palace inside, we went outside to walk along the gardens, but since it’s winter and they aren’t as nice now just ended up taking the tram to the smaller palaces, called the Trianons. Louis’ Grand Trianon was made of pink and white marble – so pretty – and stood far away from the main chateau. In between are the gardens, which would take hours to walk through entirely. Still, the best part of Versailles I think is Marie Antoinette’s peasant village. She commissioned a mock village to be built in her “backyard” so when she got bored Marie could dress up as a peasant (along with hired “peasant” actors) and play poor-person for the day. The village area is gorgeous, with tiny thatched-roof houses lined along a pond, complete with fish and geese lazily swimming. There are even wagons and a farm, teeming with sheep, chickens, cows and goats. If I were Marie Antoinette, I would’ve much preferred to spend time here than in stuffy old Versailles! Oh to be a bored rich lady cooped up in a palace…poor thing.

So to thank Karine for all her help and guidance in the city of Paris, we let her cook us an authentic French dinner. She welcomed us into her apartment after our long day at Versailles; we were starved for some good French food. After the usual pre-dinner wine and chat that I’ve become accustomed to after meeting so many European relatives, we sat down to foie gras and cassulet. I wasn’t a big fan of the goose liver, but did like Karine’s bean/meat stew. And after, a raspberry and vanilla warm dessert in ice cream dishes! She was a wonderful host and it was fun talking with her kids and husbands about everything from videogames and TV to politics and the life of Hitler (her husband is a history buff, so he and Nick talked Napoleon and other crazy generals for a while). It was my final goodbye to the family and such a nice one. I hope to be able to see them all again sometime in the future. Hopefully back in Paris!