In route to Paris, we stopped at the Palace at Versailles. What an amazing monstrosity it was. Our time was limited, so we only toured the main chateau home of French aristocracy from Louis XIV until the French Revolution, and we had a brief walk through the incredible gardens. Versailles was built in the 18th century, over the course of several French leaders’ reign, originally created from a hunting lodge. Its massiveness is quite overwhelming, the largest residence structure I have ever seen. To give you an idea of its size, the stables alone would house 2,000 horses. It is the largest palace in Europe.
Louis XIV spared no expense (and nearly bankrupted France) in adorning Versailles with the finest furnishings to impress his subjects and foreign dignitaries. The walls and ceilings of the many drawing rooms were covered in either marble, art, or art painted directly on the surfaces. The tapestries and fabrics were rich, lots of red and purples (colors of royalty). One of the most magnificent rooms was the hall of mirrors. It was said that this period of time (elegant gowns, powdered wigs, etc.) was when the French thought exceptionally of their appearance, and thus mirrors lined the halls in order for them to see themselves. The king’s lavish balls with fashionably dressed men and women were legendary. So were his epicurean dinner parties.
This enormous structure was beautifully designed by the many architects involved. I was truly amazed at the advanced arrangement, symmetry and attention to most all details involved in the design. The most surprising fact…. With all the money in France at their disposal, there was no indoor plumbing (I won’t go into detail on that, but needless to say, it deflated the image of eloquence and grandeur quite a bit). The gardens were amazing with so many fountains. The king had a river rerouted just to provide water for the fountains. It was also said that he brought in orange trees (not native to France) and had wheels on their containers so they could be moved into specially built greenhouses when the weather got bad. Marie Antoinette, the queen, had her own farm area on the property as well where she tended to sheep and had an additional residence as well. There were multiple smaller palaces on site, but we did not get to see them due to time. It is definitely a sight that needs at least half a day to fully appreciate.
It is said that the king built Versailles out from Paris in order to escape the normality of daily life. The palace continuously hosted parties, lunches, meetings for all who sought to be in the king’s favor to converge upon. It was quite a time of political maneuvers, wild parties, and complete detachment from reality, who the people of France were and how they lived. Prior to the French Revolution, the people were so oppressed, hungry, barely surviving, yet the palace was flourishing off the people’s money. Needless to say, the French weren’t happy about that, thus fueling the fire for the revolution. After the new republic government, in 1792, Louis XVI was beheaded and the excess spending on Versailles ceased. Another significant point is that this is where the Treaty of Versailles was signed, ending World War I.
All little girls dream of living in a huge palace with beautiful gardens, servants, horse drawn carriages, all that Versailles was in its day. It was fun to imagine the glory of Versailles back during the time of its hey day, but also a stark awareness of how consumed, obsessed, and wasteful humans can become. I felt variety of emotion with this experience. It was a beautiful structure and demonstration of man’s ability to create and build, but also disappointing to learn of some of the stories accompanying its history… life lessons are everywhere!
After a day of travel and already seeing the palace at Versailles, upon arrival in Paris, Keri, Chris and I decided to head out Wednesday afternoon to see France’s number one tourist attraction, the Eiffel Tower. Our guide gave us a map and quick overview of Paris’ “Metro” (subway) system, and we were off! We got off the metro a few stops early to walk through the city and get some dinner in route to the tower. I was truly in awe of the amazing architecture and massiveness of the many buildings, ornamentation, bridges, and unique, cozy streets right off of the main thoroughfares. We had a nice little dinner at a sidewalk café, typical of what one imagines as being “French”, then we continued on toward to the tower. It was a good choice of first sights to see, as it was easy to find… we just looked up and kept moving in its direction!
On the way we cut in and out of streets that appeared interesting, happening upon little boutiques that Keri and I would take a quick look through. One of the great things about coming to Paris this time of year is that twice per year (late spring and late fall), everything goes on sale. Because Paris is the fashion capitol, all fashions released in the previous season must be cleared out to make room for new. Talk about perfect timing to visit! And the clothes and shoes did not disappoint! I have to exercise extreme self control, but have been preparing for the Paris and Barcelona part of this trip for many months so that I could take advantage of the sales on items unavailable in the states!
The Eiffel Tower is 1,000 feet tall and was built after the French Revolution, and serves no function but as a tourist attraction and that it is! There are four lines at the base of each leg to go up, but it is so big, from the ground, you can’t even see the top when standing directly under it. The surrounding residences and gardens were beautiful and it was such a hub of activity. We arrived to stand in line as the sun was starting to set, and had a good time people watching during the hour we waited for our turn.
The tower was built by Gustave Eiffel, after he won a design contest for the 1889 Centennial World’s Fair by beating out such rival proposals as a giant guillotine. It is made of 7,000 tons of metal and takes 50 tons of paint to cover it all. There are three observation levels with decks, and you must take two separate elevators to get all the way to the top, or climb the steps. During the elevator up, my ears popped, and those with a fear of heights may have a little difficulty stomaching the view.
The sun was still up when we got to the top, so we were able to see views of Paris in the daytime, and again as the sun set and the night lights came up – we got there just in time! It was breath taking, and a great first impression of Paris – which is huge!
The Seine River many landmarks in the city can be seen from the top, as well as a huge park that was full of people gathered for the “lights at the tower” that came on as a show each evening. Lights at each level of the tower were turned on one at a time, starting at the ground level. With each illumination we heard a roar from the crowd on the ground, it was great fun for all.
At ten minutes before each hour, during the dark each night, all the lights would be blink/glitter/twinkle – an amazing spectacle for sure!
There is no way for pictures to capture the experience. It is definitely a must see for Paris, an event I will always remember!
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