Today we were able to spend the day at the grand chateau Versailles. Versailles was the winter chateau to kings Louis the fourteenth, fifteenth, and finally, sixteenth. Versailles is a chateau rather than a palace due to the fact that it is situated outside of the city of Paris, as a palace is a royal residence within a city. The royals spent their winters at Versailles because winter was the peak time of the court, and the splendiferous chateau was the perfect place to live.
Thanks to Madamoiselle Selim, we were able to tag along on a tour being given by the nation's premier historian on Marie Antoinette. The tour focused on Louis XV and the opera. During the tour, we learned many facts, one being that at age seven, boys of the French nobility were considered eligible to marry. The tour allowed us to view parts of the chateau that would otherwise have been closed off to the public, such as the opera house and the formal dining room.
The entire chateau was magnificent, every square centimeter dripping with opulence. When the tour ended, we took our lunch in the cafeteria of Versailles. When we had finished lunch, we were able to explore the chateau on our own in groups of three. My group headed towards the bedrooms of the king and queen, but we were sidetracked by the Laduree stand and masses of people. Although we did get to see the king's room and the hall of mirrors, both of which were absolutely breath-ta kingly beautiful, we were unable to view Marie Antoinette's bedroom due to the amount of fellow tourists.
After the group reconvened, we went to the gardens. The gardens of Versailles are them most beautiful that I have ever seen, fountains and sculptures scattered throughout the well-groomed greenery. We made our way to a balcony that overlooked yet another part of the garden, with miniature mazes made of grass and yet another fountain. The view was spectacular. We would've liked to stay longerbut due to time constraints, we were forced to make our way back to the cars and head back to Danielou.
It was an amazing day that we had at Versailles, one of the most beautiful places in all the world.
-Kat Kirkpatrick
No comments:
Post a Comment