Exploring Versailles and Paris with the Godfreys

Versailles was near the top of my cousin Todd's list and I had not been in at least 6 years.  Last Tuesday had some rain in the forecast but we decided it looked like the best day of the next few days to go out there.  It is a bit more complicated to get to Versailles since the Seine is flooded.  The RER C line, which goes to the Versailles Rive Gauche train station about a 10 minute walk from Versailles, has been closed in the city of Paris between Gare Austerlitz on the east side and Javel on the west side.  We decided to take the métro to Javel and hoped the RER C would run from there.  Luckily it worked out as planned and we were off to see Louis XIV's château. 

Louis XIV
Le Roi du Soleil

Todd and Shauna in
front of the Palace



Gate to Versailles

Note Shauna has a Diet Coke from McDonald's in the picture.  When she bought a Diet Coke in Paris, and asked for ice, they told her they had none (even though we could see an ice machine).  But her Diet Coke from McDonald's in Versailles actually had a little ice in without Shauna having to ask.  The French don't usually put ice in their drinks-that's just how France rolls.
Louis XIV moved his residence from various châteaux in and around Paris out to Versailles in order to keep a close eye on the nobility and extend his absolute monarchy.  He chose the sun as his personal emblem, thus the Sun King, the center of the universe.  He kept his nobles busy with the routine of the court.  A select few would watch him rise in the morning and go to bed, just like the sun.  He was an absolute monarch who only answered to God.

Louis XIV

Louis XIV's Bedroom

The Hall of Mirrors was stunning.  It is where the Treaty of Versailles was signed officially ending World War I.  Louis XIV reigned for 72 years.  He outlived his son and grandson and after his death, his great-grandson, who was only five, inherited the throne.

Shauna in the Hall of Mirrors

Near the end of our tour of the château, we spotted this guy who was strutting and twirling around in the courtyard.  He wanted to be seen and photographed.  He was soaking up all the attention.  The next day in the Louvre we ran into him again.  Shauna didn't think his Louvre outfit (on the right) was as good as the one he wore to Versailles.  He was definitely looking for attention both days.

After we finished touring the château, we went to the gardens to catch the little train out to the Trianon Palaces and Marie Antoinette's Hamlet.  It saved us from a long walk in the rain.  The Grand Trianon was built by Louis XIV as a retreat where he could meet his mistress.  It was also a place where he and invited guests could have a light meal away from the strict etiquette of the court.  Napoleon also made it one of his residences.  It is still used to host foreign officials,

Gaming Room

Curtain Detail

Hallway between the Wings of
the Grand Trianon

Yellow Room with Empire Furniture

The Petit Trianon nearby was built during the reign of Louis XV, the great grandson of the Sun King.  It was built for his mistress, Madame de Pompadour.  She died before it was finished but no worries, Louis XV had another mistress to replace her, Madame du Barry, who lived there.  Louis XVI gave the Petit Trianon to his wife, Marie Antoinette.  She would come to escape the formality and pressures of the court.

Marie Antoinette's Bedroom at the
Petit Trianon

There was a small Angelina café at the Petit Trianon and we stopped for a baguette sandwich and later from some of the famous rich, thick Angelina hot cocoa.

Angelina

Warming up with Hot Cocoa

Marie Antoinette had a hamlet designed and built near the Petit Trianon.  She could meet privately here with her closest friends.  It contained meadowland, lakes and streams.  There were also rustic style buildings around the pond including a farmhouse (to produce milk and eggs for the queen), a dairy, a dovecote, a boudoir, a barn, a mill and a lighthouse tower.  The largest building was the Queen's House and Billiard Room that was rustic on the outside but very comfortable inside.

The Queen's House

 

Farmhouse

Cottage and Garden

There are farm animals at the hamlet and workers to take care of them.  We met the cow, Bravo, and two sheep, I think they were named Belle and Bouchon. 

Bravo

We were happy the rain had stopped for our walk around the hamlet.  We returned to the Versailles château on the little train.  It is all uphill to the château and by the end of the day we were happy for the ride.  The gardens at Versailles are huge and we didn't try to explore those with all the rain.
That evening back in Paris we went for a walk to buy crêpes for dinner (Todd's favorite was the jambon-fromage) and then over to Nôtre Dame to see it lit up.  It was quiet and peaceful by the cathedral without all the tourists around.

Crêpes

Meringues at the Boulangerie 



Kelly and Todd on the Bridge by Nôtre Dame

Façade of Nôtre Dame

Préfecture de Police Across from Nôtre Dame

The next day, Wednesday, we went to the marché at Place Monge in the morning for our produce.  We loved this display of different varieties of lettuce and all the shades of green.

Lettuce at the Monge Marché

Then we decided to tackle the Louvre for the rest of the day.  We went armed with baguette sandwiches for lunch and a pain au chocolat for each of us for a snack.  We were able to see just about everything on our list.  There was another Rembrandt painting of the Supper at Emmaus but we agreed we liked the one at the Jacquemart-André museum we had seen on Monday better.  We have loved how at every museum we have visited there are school groups learning about art or sketching the masters.  These students are so lucky to have these museums in their city.


Rembrandt's Supper at Emmaus

Students sketching at the Louvre

It was pouring rain the whole day while we were in the Louvre.  And the Seine was still rising.  We were glad to be inside, dry and warm, all day.

Crisscrossing Paris



Monday was going to be our last day without rain for a while so Shauna, Todd and I decided to make the most of it by going to outdoor monuments and more.  We took the métro to the École Militaire stop right outside the BYU apartment and walked up the Champ de Mars to the Eiffel Tower. 

When we were ready to walk under it to view it from the right bank, we ran into a jumble of fences and gates.  I was so confused but we soon discovered it was another security check.  No more peaceful strolls up the Champ de Mars to walk under the Tour Eiffel.  Instead you now encounter lines to get through security.  Can't imagine how crazy the lines will get come spring.

Shauna and Todd

View of Li'l Eiffie while crossing the Seine

As we crossed the Seine to get a view from the Palais de Chaillot we checked out the level of the river.  Unfortunately it was still rising.  The ramps from the boats go in the water rather than onto the quais.  So crazy how high it is.  You can see buildings submerged.

Seine Flooding

View from Trocadéro

Our next stop was the Arc de Triomphe at the top of the Champs-Élysée.  We climbed the 284 stairs to the top.  I prefer gazing out at Paris from the Arc rather than the Eiffel Tower.  We love this time of year without the crowds and the wait.

View towards La Défense and the Modern Arc

View of the Eiffel Tower



Under the Arc is the tomb of the unknown soldier.  The flame is lit every evening. 

Flame at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

From here we walked down one of the 12 boulevards emanating from L'Étoile to the Jacquemart-André Museum.  This is one of my favorite museums in Paris that many overlook.

Musée Jacquemart-André

The museum is in a mansion built in the late 1800's along boulevard Hausmann where Edouard André and his wife, Nélie Jacquemart, could entertain and display their art collection.  For six months every year they traveled and collected artwork.  They had a large ballroom with walls that could be lowered into the basement using state of the art hydraulics to make a huge room that could accommodate 1,000 guests. 
My favorite painting in the museum is one of several Rembrandts hanging in the library-Supper at Emmaus.  The backlighting and the glow around Christ is so beautiful.

Supper at Emmaus 1628

This was the first time Rembrandt painted this subject and is considered his best. 
The couple loved traveling to Italy and brought back entire frescoes and installed them in their mansion on walls and ceilings.  A Tiepolo fresco from an Italian villa is installed above the magnificent and unusual double helix staircase.

Shauna on the Staircase

Tiepolo Fresco with Cut Out

We loved how there was a cut out in the molding to accommodate the feet of the man in the foreground of the fresco.
Upstairs were rooms devoted entirely to their Italian collection, which they called their Italian Museum.  It was breathtaking.  The room was originally built as a studio for Nélie.  She was an artist and first met Edouard when she painted his portrait.  But soon after they were married she stopped painting and devoted her time to collecting art with her husband.

A Corner of the Italian Museum

Botticelli Madonna and Child



Guests could see all their magnificent art on the main floor of the home.  But the rooms upstairs were like a "secret garden" and only their closest friends were invited to their Italian Museum.

Nélie's Bedroom

Edouard's Bedroom

After a lunch break at a nearby café, our next destination was Montmartre and Sacré Coeur.  We rode the funicular up the hill since our feet were getting pretty tired by now.  It was too cold and there were not enough tourists for the street performers to really be out.  Although we did enjoy listening to a man playing La Vie en Rose on his accordion.

Sacré Coeur

We walked over to the Place du Tertre to see the artists and wandered around the charming square and streets frequented by artists such as Toulouse-Lautrec, Van Gogh and Picasso.  My favorite house made gelato spot is up there and despite the cold, I couldn't resist a little cone of lemon gelato.

Artist at Work

Artists Playing Chess while
Business is Slow

We still had daylight left so we went next to the Madeleine church that looks like a greek temple and to Ladurée nearby.  We paced ourselves and only bought two macarons each.  Rose is my favorite-it tastes like a rose smells.  But there are so many good flavors to sample.  I really need to go there more often.

Macarons at Ladurée

Trying to Choose our Flavors

We finished up the day seeing the Paris Opera House and the stained glass dome of the Printemps department store.  When we returned to the apartment we discovered we had walked about 9 miles and climbed 41 flights of stairs.  No wonder we were exhausted and our feet hurt.  We covered a lot of ground before the rainy days began again.

Paris with the Godfreys

My cousin Shauna and her husband Todd arrived last Saturday morning at our Paris apartment and we hit the ground running.  No time for naps.  We had places to go and if you keep moving, you don't fall asleep and theoretically get over the jet lag quicker.  Kelly was still on his Saturday run so we first walked over without him to Île de la Cité and Sainte-Chapelle.

We loved the gargoyles on the side of the chapel.  Sainte-Chapelle is one of my favorite churches because it is small and light and airy with all the windows.

Sainte-Chapelle was built by Saint Louis (Louis IX) in the 13th century to house the Holy Crown, a fragment of the True Cross, and other relics he bought from Baldwin II of Constantinople.  Don't ask me how Baldwin II came up with all these supposed relics of Christ and Mary to sell to Saint Louis.


Saint Louis in the Lower Chapel

We entered in the lower chapel, where the servants worshiped.  Upstairs, Saint Louis could enter the stunning chapel surrounded with stained glass windows directly from his palace.

Sainte-Chapelle
Large Reliquary above the Altar

Shauna and Todd in front of Rose Window
Below the Window is the King's Entrance

The stained glass windows are amazing and fill the chapel with light, especially on a sunny day.  Later during Shauna and Todd's visit we saw some original stained glass fragments from Sainte-Chapelle at the Musée Cluny. Notice the wavy lines to show that Christ is standing in water to be baptized.  It was cool to be able to see these fragments up close at the Cluny.

The Blinding of Samson

Baptism of Christ

Resurrection of the Dead

This time I noticed a crown of thorns in the stone work in the arch above the altar.  So cool.  The large reliquary is above it.

Angels Holding the Crown of Thorns
in the Arch Stonework

After Sainte-Chapelle we walked across the island to Nôtre Dame.  There is security to get inside everything now-churches, department stores, museums, under the Eiffel Tower, etc.  It is so annoying because of the long lines it causes, besides the hassle of being checked.  But we lucked out and there was no line at Nôtre Dame.

Nôtre Dame

I've been in here many times and love the choir carvings of the story of Christ. This time I noticed a chapel dedicated to Saint Joseph, the father of Jesus.  There was a sweet statue of Joseph, the carpenter, and Christ.  He has an awl hanging from his robe and Christ is standing on a block of wood.

Joseph and Jesus

Sunday we walked to church, in the rain as usual, past Hôtel de Ville to the Paris Ward on rue Saint Merri.

Todd and Shauna at Hôtel de Ville

The Gang at the Paris Ward

Crêpes

After church we walked over to the crêpe stand by the Pompidou Museum for a little snack.  We were not disappointed.  Now that we had some sustenance, we headed for the Orangerie in the Jardin de Tuileries overlooking Place de la Concorde.

Overlooking Place de la Concorde

Jardin de Tuileries

The Orangerie was built to keep the citrus trees that lined the garden for the former Tuileries Palace alive during the winter.  Monet painted huge panels of water lilies specifically to be displayed in the Orangerie.  They were originally installed in the 1920s.  They are amazing.

Kelly at the Orangerie

Downstairs is a collection of impressionist and post impressionist art of Paul Guillaume, a Paris art dealer who collected from 1914-1934.  He was the primary art dealer used by Albert Barnes, who had the wonderful art collection in his mansion in Philadelphia.  This still life by Cezanne was one of my favorites.  I love the background in the painting.

Cezanne Still Life

We walked back along the quai by the Louvre to find the art seller Kelly has talked to on his Saturday runs.  His name is Nicolas Dahlas and he and Kelly are now buddies.  His prices are half what he charges during tourist season-another advantage of being in Paris in the winter.  We loved his paintings and bought three for us and one for Kate.  Shauna and Todd found paintings for them, too.  It was hard to choose.




Nicolas Dahlas
Tour St. Jacques, Nôtre Dame
and Hôtel de Ville

Kate's Pont Alexandre III and Tour Eiffel



We walked home along the Seine and couldn't believe the water was still rising.  No hope for a boat ride on the Seine for Shauna and Todd this trip.


Shauna and Todd with
Musée d'Orsay across
the Seine

Firefighter Boat

We love all the walking in Paris.  We live close to the Seine, Nôtre Dame, the Latin Quarter and Île Saint-Louis and more.  So much is within walking distance of our apartment.  We come home tired and happy in the evening.