Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Palace of Versailles


What can I show or tell you about the Palace of Versailles?
On Day Two of my official "Eruption Disruption" tour we decided to tackle this huge tour.
I have been several times so I opted to focus my little camera on things I missed on previous visits. Half the palace is under renovation scaffolding. The other half looks spectacular. I am so glad they are doing one side at a time!

The Rules As Posted. No cameras or No flash? Who knows? The rest of the no nos are no tripods, no cellphones and no touching. Hmmmm. I can comply with 2 of the four. Well, 1 of the four for sure.

Marie sure is a hot ticket. She has turned this palace into a "must see" destination. Some of her best paintings (portraits) are in the three buildings on the palace grounds. It was great to see this painting back on the wall here. It was in a special exhibition in Paris two years ago and you couldn't get close to it at all because of the crowds.

The fencing is fantastic. I like to look through pretending I am a pre-revolution Frenchman wondering where all my money has gone.....

The money went here.
No hand held digital camera of mine could capture this room. But it gives you a sense of the extravagance.

Some of the doors were open today. We needed the cooler air. It was very warm in the palace. But the dust was flying. The whole place could use a thorough dusting. I am a bit worried about all the velvet wallpapers.

I am also somewhat relieved to know that even the gardeners at Versailles can't get rid of the dandelions. They were mowing the lawn today.

If I am alone in a whole room with a mirror I try and take a picture of myself. I thought I looked quite serious in this one.

Don't bother trying to do a self portrait in the hall of mirrors though. The mirror isn't as reflective as you might think...hence 12 fuzzy images of myself.

I guess you can see that the day was pretty beautiful. Blue sky and the lovely streaks caused by planes flying overhead. Ahhhh. Going home is a possibility now!

My last photo of the day from the HAPPY florist up the street. I am seeing the world through pink tinted sunglasses. Counting my lucky stars.

4 comments:

  1. It's amazing that you also thought the palace was a bit dusty. I was really shocked. I think the opposite side was open when we were there. Did you get all the way down to the Petite Trianon? Love that place. Perhaps we could get dusting jobs there! Ask :) Looks like an idyllic day for this wonderful palace.

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  2. You better watch out they don't throw you in jail, haha. You'll never get home...

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  3. Nancy and I have selected several jobs we could do if we were staying. Dusting and cleaning Versailles is on the list!

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  4. I think I like the fence photo the best, but they're all cool. Hope you get home soon.

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