Sorry I didn't write yesterday...the internet at the hostel was down and I was too tired to try find an internet cafe. Wow....what did we do yesterday? Yes...we went to Versailles. Versailles is a palace on the outskirts of Paris. We took a train about 40 minutes or so to get there. It was built by one of the kings...Louis XIV? It gets a little fuzzy after awhile... We were blessed with VERY nice weather...sunny, 70s...which was lovely because Versailles is HUGE! We started in the garden...I should say crazy maze of multiple gardens. The garden is abosuletly ginormous but gorgeous. They said it literally took thousands of people to keep the gardens manicured back in the day (I'm sure it still takes more than a few:). There are sculptures and fountains everywhere and it is a very long walk. I think we spent at least 3 hours just walking in the gardens...not even counting the palace. On one edge of the garden is the humble abode of Marie Antionette (the horrible queen that was hated by her people and eventually hung). It is unbelievable! She just visited every once in awhile and they gave her this ornate mini-palace to stay in. The actual palace was ridiculous....gold or gold-plated objects everywhere. It's beautiful but actually makes you sad when you think about the reality of it...the royalty of the day lived in absolutely ridiculously lavish palaces with paintings and sculptures of themselves everywhere while their people lived in squalor (there was wide-spread poverty at that time). We eventually took the train and then the subway back to our hostel (I completely passed out on the train...I was worn out:) and hurried to get ready to head down to the Eiffel tower so we could see it at night.
The Eiffel tower area is beautiful. The Seine (river) is right there and parks nearby...everything is beautiful...it's hardly worth mentioning anymore. I am sad to say that I did not go to the top. Well...I'm not really sad about it to tell you the truth, I'm pretty happy I didn't go up. Honestly...I had all ready gotten my view of Paris from a very tall building and I wasn't thrilled with the thought of doing it again. Just looking up at it from the bottom made me dizzy. Plus, once you're up there it's a few hours before you can get down...sounded like a nightmare to me actually:( So Heath went up and I hung out down below. It was fine...I got some great pictures.
So that brings us to today....whew. I'm going to get carpal tunnel I think...haha. This morning we headed to the Latin Quarter (I know...Latin...I should love it right? :). We went to the Parthenon. The Parthenon was ordered to be built by Napolean (I think) because he was so grateful for being alive (it has something to do with the patron Saint Genevive). The parthenon was beautiful...of course...but my favorite part was the crypt. The crypt is underneath and houses the tombs of some very famous French people...Voltaire, Rousseau, Louis Braille (yep...invented Braille:), and patron Saint Genevive herself...at least that's what it said. Seriously, I need to do some reading. There is so much to learn... We then grabbed a Starbucks (yep...they really ARE everywhere) and headed to the Museum of War (it's called something else in French but I can't remember). It holds an arsenal...guns, cannons, swords, plus coats of armor and old knights gear, old military uniforms, etc. Then it has a more current war display which includes video and pictures of World War II, Normandy, etc. I know...I didn't think I'd like it, but it was very interesting actually. Again...I need to do some reading...there is so much I don't know about history. It also houses Napoleans tomb (the famous emperor). The tomb isn't really a tomb...well the tomb is there and all...but it's an entire huge building. It was neat. Heath LOVED it...he's actually still there:) I came back because I am tired and museumed out... I thought about trying to head to another museum but I just couldn't do it...feet hurt. I need a shower... I also need to do some laundry and prepare for our departure to Barcelona tomorrow. Holy shit...another day of travel...I might need a nap:)
Love you all...have a lovely night
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment