OK - Backtrack a little to Paris. Sorry for the run-around, but we had fun our last 2 days in Paris. On day 3, we went to Versailles. It was a short train ride and a quick walk through the surrounding town.
When I say this place is huge - that is an understatement. Take a look at this place!
When I say this place is huge - that is an understatement. Take a look at this place!
There are 2 places to go: the gardens and the palace. We decided to go to the gardens first. I have never seen anything so big and so manicured! The gardens are 247 acres, most of which is open to the public. They have bikes or gold carts you can rent, but we tackled it on foot. Here are some of the sights:
We got some great landscaping ideas. Mom - I think you should try this when you are finished with your sun garden....
Here is the back of the palace:
I took a ton more pictures, but it takes so long to upload, especially here in London, that I have to curtail them.
I will post my favorite pics from the inside of Versailles. We took an audio guided tour with headsets, which was a nice way to get the history and details, but if it was boring, you could shut it off and go on the the next room. That is hard to do with a person as your tour guide - you have to listen to their who spiel.
Talk about opulence! Versailles can sleep 20,000 people! Some walls were covered in velvet and there were the most unbelievable paintings - on the walls AND ceilings!
Wallpaper:
Insanely gorgeous paintings...
Kings bedroom - I wonder if he had a hard time finding his bed if he ever had a little too much to drink!
OK - I posted the rest of Versailles pictures here:
Later that night, we were determined to make it to the top tier of le Tour Eiffel. We had gone to the tower every day to check the line. If it was long, we did not go. But this night, we were definitely going. We decided to do it at night since we had done other day trips to high lookouts. So we went at 10:00 pm. The long was short, but the third tier was closed! Drat! But we went anyway.
It is pretty cool how they lug you up there. It is s 2 story elevator (of sorts) and it goes diagonally from one of the legs. Then it stops and heads straight up. We get to the 2nd tier (pretty high up for me) and get blasted with gale force winds! I thought I would be blown off the structure! It was absolutely gorgeous! This night pics did not do so well. All of the pics are blurry, but we did get some good ones. I will try to post some later..
Interesting fact (you may already know it, but I had no clue). The Eiffel Tower lights up every night about 9:00. Starting at 10:00, the blinking lights come on, making it look like it is sparkling. This goes on for only 10 minutes, then it is back to just still lighting. At 11:00, the sparkling comes on again for 10 minutes, the off for the rest of the hour. At midnight, the sparkling comes on again for the last time, then stays lit for the rest of the night.
When it is “sparkling”, it is amazing. Still pictures do not do it justice, but we tried.
It is pretty cool how they lug you up there. It is s 2 story elevator (of sorts) and it goes diagonally from one of the legs. Then it stops and heads straight up. We get to the 2nd tier (pretty high up for me) and get blasted with gale force winds! I thought I would be blown off the structure! It was absolutely gorgeous! This night pics did not do so well. All of the pics are blurry, but we did get some good ones. I will try to post some later..
Interesting fact (you may already know it, but I had no clue). The Eiffel Tower lights up every night about 9:00. Starting at 10:00, the blinking lights come on, making it look like it is sparkling. This goes on for only 10 minutes, then it is back to just still lighting. At 11:00, the sparkling comes on again for 10 minutes, the off for the rest of the hour. At midnight, the sparkling comes on again for the last time, then stays lit for the rest of the night.
When it is “sparkling”, it is amazing. Still pictures do not do it justice, but we tried.
What a way to end the night!
Bon soir!
Bon soir!
