Versailles

A group of family and friends went to Versailles a couple of weeks ago on a beautiful sunny day.  It is only about one-half hour on the RER train from Paris.  It seemed hundreds got off the train with us to see Versailles.  I laughed when two American students asked me how to get to the chateau--I told them to just follow the crowd.
For some reason I didn't take a picture of the front of Versailles but here is a picture from the back.  A picture of the front would have shown long lines of people waiting to get inside the chateau.  I think half of the tourists were Japanese who had arrived in large tour buses.

There were not many flowers out yet-just a few daffodils.  But we didn't mind with all the sun shining and the weather in the sixties.
We were wowed by the Hall of Mirrors inside the chateau.  I had last been in Versailles in 2005 when the Hall of Mirrors was being renovated and we felt we had been cheated.  It did not disappoint this time.  This is where the Treaty of Versailles was signed after World War I.

Jeanene and Sande Hall of Mirrors

Breanne and the Japanese Tourists in the Hall of Mirrors

Louis XIV, unlike the previous kings, decided to move all the nobility and members of his court to Versailles where he could keep an eye on them, keep them busy and prevent them from gaining regional power.  He also wanted to be away from the noise and the rabble in Paris.  He had to keep these nobles occupied, so one of the daily ceremonies included nobles watching his rising in the morning, or the Lever du Roi. 

King's Bedroom

Mom in the Queen's Bedroom

We ate lunch at Angelina's inside Versailles in a room that was the bedroom of Louis XV when he was a child.

Angelina's Pastries

Then we went to the gardens behind the chateau to find where Marie Antoinette spent her time at the Petit Trianon and the Hamlet.

Breanne and a View of a Portion of the Gardens

When we reached the canal, we found that they had rowboats to rent.  Our neighbor Jenny and her girls, Morgan and Breanne, and our neighbor Sande went out for a spin in the row boat.

Jenny Rowing

Sande Takes her Turn Rowing

Everything involved a lot of walking at Versailles.  So when Sande, Jenny and the girls found they could ride bikes to the Petit Trianon, they couldn't pass that up.  My parents and I opted for walking-we weren't so sure about those bikes!

The Petit Trianon was a "little"chateau where Marie Antoinette could get away from Louis XVI and the court at Versailles.

Morgan and Breanne in the Petit Trianon

Marie-Antoinette ordered the construction of a hamlet in 1783 near the Petit Trianon. There she regularly found the charms of country life.  It became a veritable farm, directed by a farmer, whose products supplied the kitchens of Versailles.

The Lake and Lighthouse in the Hamlet

The Hamlet was created over four years to look like a Norman village.  Eleven houses were spread around the lake.   Five were for the Queen and her guests and four were used by the peasants for the farm.

Mom and Sande

We thought it looked like a great place to get away from it all.  We could understand why Marie Antoinette preferred it over the palace with Louis XVI.

Morgan, Sande and Breanne

Mom and Dad at the Hamlet

We were happy to find that for a few euros there was a little tram that we could take back to the chateau after doing all that walking, much of which was downhill.  We weren't looking forward to making our way uphill after a long day at Versailles.  It was a great little excursion out of Paris.

A Tale of Two Cathedrals

Thursday we had a day trip to see two cathedrals in towns about two hours east of Paris.  The first was in Reims and the second in Laon.

Reims Cathedral

Laon Cathedral

The cathedral in Reims, which began construction in the 1200s, is where almost all of the kings of France have been crowned since 816.  It is where Joan of Arc brought the dauphin, Charles VII, to be crowned in 1429 so that he would be recognized as the legitimate king of France.

Reims Western Rose Window and Statues

Reims is also known for its statues--there are over 2,300.  It has the most statues of any cathedral in France.  They were everywhere inside and outside the cathedral.  This smiling angel is its most famous statue.

Smiling Angel

The cathedral was heavily damaged during WW I and John D. Rockefeller contributed one million dollars to the Reims Cathedral and the chateaux at Fontainebleau and Versailles for repairs.  Part of his money replaced the fleur-de-lys you can see along the roof line of the cathedral.

Northern Facade and Fleur-de-Lys along the Roof Line

My favorite feature of Reims Cathedral are the stained glass windows designed by the Russian artist, Marc Chagall, in 1974.  They were so beautiful and the blues exquisite. 

Chagall Windows

Close up of Chagall Window

This is the view of the east facade of the cathedral as we left the town of Reims.  Everyone loved this cathedral.

Our bus driver, Robert, who was also our bus driver in the Loire Valley and Normandy, drove us about one hour to the town of Laon.  Kelly and I had visited Laon with our friend, Dominique Forgon, in January.  It is at the top of a hill and the roads are narrow and winding.  Somehow Robert was able to steer our big pink bus up to the top. 

Kelly, Robert and the Big Pink Bus

Laon Cathedral

After spending a lot of time on the bus with Robert for all of our trips, we all had become quite attached him. We think he liked us, too.  He had been our driver in 2009 for our Loire trip.  He said he didn't drive much anymore, and won't drive French students.  But when he saw the address of the BYU apartment as the pick up spot for our Loire trip earlier this month, he knew it would be a good group and decided to do it.  We were so glad he did and requested him for the rest of our trips.
Laon was one of the first Gothic cathedrals to be built.  It was started in the 1100s soon after St. Denis (where the kings of France are buried).  The Laon cathedral has the oxen carved on the top.  Our guide took us up into the gallery (about 50 steps up a circular staircase).  Here is where some of the original statues and gargoyles that are beyond repair are kept.

View from the Gallery

Gargoyle Head

Audrey, Mary Claire and Madeleine Make Gargoyle Faces

After seeing the statues and gargoyles, our guide took us up an even narrower spiral staircase of about 170 steps into one of the towers of the cathedral.
Even Mom and Dad made it up all those stairs into the tower.  We could see the oxen up close from the tower.

Arriving at the Top

The Oxen

It was very windy up there but we had a great view of the town and a new perspective on the cathedral.

Sydney and McCall

Mary Claire and Madeleine

Hillary, Phoebe and Christina

Rebecca with the Town of Laon Below

Madeleine, Kate and Mary Claire

We were all pretty dizzy by the time we walked down the 219 stairs to the main floor of the cathedral.  We had a few minutes to look at the old town of Laon and then returned to Paris that evening with more great memories of France.

Opera Garnier

While James was here we went with my parents to take a tour of the Opera House.  It was built from 1860 to 1875 during the time of Haussmann and Napoleon III when Paris was transformed into the City of Light with wide boulevards.

Le Palais Garnier

 The lamp posts around the Opera House had an interesting boat motif.

Boat Motif on Lamp Posts

Close up of a Boat

The marble grand staircase is the most famous feature of the Opera House.

Mom on the Grand Staircase

Mom and Dad overlooking the Grand Staircase

The other famous feature of the Palais Garnier is the ceiling in the auditorium that was painted by Marc Chagall.  It was hard for us to see the ceiling because they were lighting the stage to get ready for a performance and the auditorium was dark.  But I did my best to get a picture.

Chagall Ceiling

The foyers were opulent and amazing.  Everything was over the top.  The Grand Foyer was made to look like the gallery of a classical chateau.

The Grand Foyer

Across the street from the Opera House is the Café de la Paix.  In 2009 I bought some small fruit bowls at the flea market that had been used at the Café de la Paix and had their logo on them.  The café is beyond our budget but we could afford the bowls!

Café de la Paix

Café de la Paix Logo

I hadn't been inside the Opera House since 1980 when Kelly and I were on Study Abroad.  We saw the Marriage of Figaro there and the two things I remember were the Chagall ceiling and how the opera went on and on forever and I was falling asleep.  It was fun to go back and see that over-the-top opulence again.

Did you ever wonder how they do that?

While Kelly and I have been out and about in Paris, we have solved a few mysteries.  Kelly solved the first mystery when he was taking Kate to get a new computer battery at the Apple Store in the underground mall by the Louvre.
Mystery No. 1:  How do they clean those glass pyramids at the Louvre?
Answer to Mystery No. 1:  They hang from ropes inside the pyramid.

Louvre Pyramid Washers

Doesn't it look like fun inside those pyramids?
Kelly solved the second mystery when he was out running past the Eiffel Tower.
Mystery No. 2:  How do they trim those plane trees along the Champ de Mars in that straight box shape?
Answer to Mystery No. 2:  There's an attachment that turns the tractor into a giant hedge trimmer.

Trimming the Plane Trees on Champ de Mars

There's an Attachment for That

Kelly by the Trimmed Plane Trees in the Spring

I solved the final mystery when we took a walk to Notre Dame on Sunday to read the portals and then strolled across the bridge of locks over to the Latin Quarter.

Dad and Jeanene at Notre Dame

Mom on the Bridge of Locks

Locks and Ribbons on the Bridg

Mystery No. 3:  Where do you buy the locks so you can express your undying love for someone, attach the lock to the bridge, and throw the key into the Seine?
Answer to Mystery No. 3:  There is a Souvenir Shop for that at the end of the bridge.  Just in case you can't read English, there is a little drawing of a lock on the sign.  And don't forget the cold drink to go along with it.

Locks + Cold Drinks

Any more mysteries you need solved in Paris, just let us know.