We woke up early with hopes of good weather as we would be spending a great deal of time outside. We left the apartment at 7am and took a train to Versailles. We ate breakfast at the Ibis Hotel before heading toward the palace. It didn't open until 9am and arriving at 8:40 was perfect timing. The people who arrived at 9am as it opened had to wait for at least an hour to get in because the line was so long.
The palace, or Chateau de Versailles, was built by King Louis XIV in 1664. It began as his hunting retreat and quickly became a huge palace. It was his retreat from the hustle and bustle of Paris. Over five thousand nobles and their entourages shared the space at any given time. They partied, played games, and Louis used it as a way to keep his nobles busy so they couldn't gain any more power.
We began our tour in the Chateau, which is huge! We were allowed to tour only a small portion, but we saw the King's wing, the Queen's wing, and the famous Hall of Mirrors. When the palace was built, mirrors were a new luxury, so the King had the fill an entire ballroom to show his power.
The Chateau was crowded with people, so it was a relief when we made it out to the gardens. They stretched for miles and miles with fountains, statues, and benches throughout. We walked around for about an hour and then prepared for the fountain show. To conserve resources, they only run the fountains for a few hours twice a week. The irony is that King Louis had a river re-routed to provide the fountains with water in the first place. He spared no expense! With the fountains turned on and music flowing through the air, the gardens took on a more lively appearance. You could imagine the nobles walking around with their makeup, wigs, and best clothing. King Louis XIV actually started the wig fad that eventually spread to America during the Revolution. He was losing his hair, so he bought 300 white wigs and changed them throughout the day. The other nobles saw this and had to have at least one wig, starting a terrible fad that extended to even young men with lots of hair.
We had a picnic on by the water and watched the swans and ducks fight for our leftover bread. Then, we headed to the second chateau, Grand Trianon. Louis XIV built this as a "retreat from the retreat" when the original Versailles Chateau got too crowded with people. Napolean used it as a retreat when we wasn't out on the battle fields, and Marie Antoinette also used it. It is where the angry crowds captured her and took her to the guillotene during the French Revolution. The Grand Trianon was still massive and luxurious, but on a smaller scale than the original Chateau. The gardens stretched for miles and there were a few small buildings on the property that were used for entertaining.
The walk to the train station took us almost an hour (even though it was just ten minutes in the morning) because the Grand Trianon is toward the back end of the massive gardens. We boarded the train back to Paris and headed straight to the Notre Dame that we had missed out on the previous day.
We walked the 400 steps to the top and got some more great views of the city. Unfortunatley, we didn't get to meet Quasimodo, but we had a great view of the gargoyles!
We headed back down the spiral staircase and waited in line again to get into the interior of the cathedral. It was much darker than some of the other churches we've been in, but it was big with more beautiful stained glass. It is still used for services today, and we saw a group of French children saying the Rosary.
We decided to do another Rick Steve's guided walk with our tour book. This one started at the Notre Dame and headed through the Latin Quarter. We each stood on the point in Paris where all distances to other cities in France are measured from. Then, we stopped at the famous Shakespeare Bookstore, but didn't buy anything. We meandered through the busy Latin Quarter and found a restaurant for supper. It was much cheaper than other districts, but not nearly as tasty as our lunch from the previous day. The highlights were the French onion soup, creme brulee, and chardonnay.
On our walk, we saw several large rats running around in the bushes. We hadn't noticed them before, but once we saw one, we started seeing them everywhere! Jeremy thought he saw Remy (the popular rat from Ratatoulie), but I'm not so sure.
We have just two more days left in Paris and they should be a bit more relaxed. We'll do a boat tour down the Seine River, head back to the Montemarte district, and hopefully find some reasonably priced artwork to bring home!
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