| The Sun Came Out In Paris |
After a week of autumn jacket weather complete with daily rainstorms, Thursday finally arrived sunny and warm, so we hopped a train to Versailles.
What a place. I wouldn't call myself much of a history buff, but it's hard not to appreciate the awesomeness of the palace and the huge gardens which lie beyond. We strolled through the many fancy rooms, awestruck at just how many places Louis XIV found to put gold paint. Seriously, every square inch of the rooms are in some way decorated. The amount of painting on the ceilings is really just absurd. Art is everywhere you look, I suppose because the chateau itself is the artwork. Apparently there isn't a room in the whole place that was not redone at least 7 times, which makes me wonder if maybe Louis wasn't a bit of a perfectionist. The most famous as well as the most grand of the rooms is the Hall of Mirrors, where the Treaty of Versailles was signed to end World War I. You definitely don't see something like it everyday. It's a long room with - you guessed it - lots of mirrors, along with painted ceilings, huge windows, and tons of chandeliers. It looks like it could definitely fit a formal ball or two. I wonder if they book it for Bar Mitzvahs.
You think you've seen something spectacular until you go outside and spot the gardens. They are huge. I would estimate about a square mile, at least. There are more fountains than you could count, an orange grove, various mazes, a lake for paddling, a forest of sycamores, marble statues galore. The list goes on. It's a magnificent place and a fantastic spot to wander on a sunny afternoon.
We caught a train back into Paris, but instead of going all the way to our hostel, we decided to get off at the Eiffel Tower and see if things weren't a little different without the pouring rain. One thing is certain, there are a lot more people around in good weather, but there was still plenty of room to stretch out in the grass with a fantastic view. We decided to have a picnic dinner, so I gathered more tasty bread, amazing pâté, some Brie, a bag of prunes, some chocolate and a coke from a nearby grocery store and plopped myself down in the grass.
In the blog comments, my sister recently pointed out that it sounds like I'm doing a lot of eating over here. Well Rebecca, when you are in France with all this fantastic food, one ought to enjoy it, right? And with the ten or so miles we walk in a given day, who needs to worry about fat content. That's what I keep telling myself anyway, as I toss back another baguette and wash it down with some fine french cheese. Yum.
So, back to our picnic, which was turning out to be a great idea as the sun started to set, painting the sky orange. We just layed there in the grass while the sky grew darker, enjoying our food, conversation, and the feeling of being among a few thousand friendly souls all laying around beneath the Eiffel Tower, enjoying the moment.
This feeling, I think is part of the magic of Paris for me. On the face of it, Paris is a big city with a lot of people and all the things that big cities have. But here, everything just seems more classy, more magestic, more fun. People are friendly and seem happy that you're here. It feels as if everyone in the city is at this big party, glad to be present and in the company of one another. Maybe not everyone gets it, but for me it makes sense.
After it got dark, the Eiffel Tower suddenly lit up with what must have been thousands of glittering strobe lights, mounted all over. Apparently they are activated once an hour. It was quite a sight to see and really made our night.
Today we spent our time exploring the right bank and it's popular landmarks, including the Arc du Triomphe and the Champs-Élysées. These were both a little overrated for me, but we eventually made it down to the Louvre, which did not disappoint. The place is gorgeous but huge, and houses far more art than we had an interest in seeing. Nevertheless, we spent a couple hours exploring, stopping to catch a glance at the Mona Lisa and several other notable works of art.
After the Louvre, we decided it was time to stop living off grocery store food and experience a real French restaurant. This was our last night in Paris so we dined at a nice place on the Boulevard St-Michel near the Luxembourg Gardens. The meal was glorious and really exceeded all our expectations. I won't go too much into detail, but I will say that I had a very memorable three courses, and of course a tasty glass of Sancerre.
After dinner, we strolled past the Luxembourg Gardens in hopes that we could sneak in and get a closer look at the outdoor performance of Rigoletto that I knew was taking place inside. I'm new to opera, but I immediately recognized La donna è mobile as it floated on the warm night air, over the trees to where we stood, listening through the locked gates. For me, it was a little more of that Paris magic and a nice way to cap off the evening.
Our five days in Paris were full of fun and surprises. I definitely think this is a city I'll be coming back to. Tomorrow we hop a train to Switzerland! |
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| 1 Comments: |
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Glad you enjoyed Paris...it obviously runs in the family!
No place quite like it. You'll be back! Love, Dad
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Glad you enjoyed Paris...it obviously runs in the family!
No place quite like it. You'll be back! Love, Dad