Paris Day 2: Sunday, June 24, 2007

Versailles & boat ride on the Seine

On our way to the metro on this morning, we stopped for this photo-op of teeny-tiny French cars.























This is the river Seine that runs through Paris.









Jacob is standing in front of the Musée d’Orsay, which houses 19^th Century French art, including Impressionist paintings by Monet & Renoir. I really wanted to go here, but… so many things to see, so little time! We didn’t get a chance to go inside, but we got to see the outside because our metro stop to get to Versailles was right next to it.










Versailles is a little outside the city, so you can't get there by metro; you have to take a train. This is inside the RER train station, waiting for our train.

This is what we saw when we arrived -- Versailles is huge!
(even though this picture is miniature -- click it to enlarge it)





from Wikipedia:

It was Louis XIV's hope to create a center for the royal court. Following the Treaty of Nijmegen in 1678, the court and French government began to be moved to Versailles. The court was officially established there on May 6, 1682.

By moving the royal court and the seat of the French government, Louis XIV hoped to gain greater control of the government from the nobility to distance himself from the population of Paris. All the power of France emanated from this centre: there were government offices here, as well as the homes of thousands of courtiers, their retinues, and all the attendant functionaries of court. By requiring that nobles of a certain rank and position spend time each year at Versailles, Louis prevented them from developing their own regional power at the expense of his own and kept them from countering his efforts to centralize the French government in an absolute monarchy.

Some of the rooms inside the château:

Picnicing at Versailles.

The chapel at Versailles (from Wikipedia):

As the focal point of Louis XIV fourth building campaign, the final chapel of the château of Versailles is a masterpiece. Began in 1689, construction was halted due to the War of the League of Augsburg and was consecrated in 1710.

During the 18th century, the chapel witnessed many court events. Te Deums were sung to celebrate military victories and the births of children born to the king and queen; marriages were also celebrated in this chapel, such as the wedding of the dauphin — later Louis XVI — to Marie-Antoinette in 1770.

The Hall of Mirrors (from Wikipedia):

As central feature of Louis XIV’s third building campaign, construction on the galerie des glaces — The Hall of Mirrors — began in 1678. The principal feature of the room is the seventeen mirror-clad arches that reflect the seventeen arcaded windows that overlook the gardens. Each arch contains twenty-one mirrors with a total complement of 357 used in the decoration of the galerie des glaces.

In the 17th century, mirrors were one of the most expensive items to possess and at the time, the Venetian Republic held the monopoly on the manufacture of mirrors. In order to maintain the integrity of his philosophy of mercantilism, which required that all items used in the decoration of Versailles be made in France, Jean-Baptiste Colbert enticed several workers from Venice to make mirrors at the Gobelins Factory for use in Versailles.

During the 17th century, the galerie des glaces was used daily by Louis XIV when he walked from his private apartment to the chapel. At this time, courtiers assembled to watch the king and members of the royal family pass.

I was so excited to see the Hall of Mirrors -- it’s been under restoration for the past three years and has just reopened.

Looking out at the gardens from inside the château:
















The gardens at Versailles:

After dinner Sunday night, we got to take a boat ride on the Seine River. Our boat left at 10:00, so we got to see the sunset while we were on the boat.

The boat rides go under the many bridges that cross the Seine.

Pictures of the Eiffel Tower from the boat:




























At night, the walkways along the banks of the Seine are full of people sitting and chatting. We saw lots of couples who were out with a blanket and a bottle of wine, lots of groups of young people, even a group playing instrumental music with people waltzing! After our boat ride, Jacob and I walked down and sat on the bank to experience this for ourselves. ...
It was great until we saw a rat scurry by when we were leaving!



That's all for Day 2!

Hope you're having a great day!