Paris - Day 2

Well, we're up to Day 2, and this means the Palace of Versailles! We chose to do the Palace on Saturday because Jess had not done it yet, and we planned an entire day for it because Jess had heard that doing the Palace and the grounds would take nearly all day. We found ourselves on an RER train, which took about an hour to get there, so Jess helped us entertain Carsten :)

Jess with Carsten on the train!

Once we got to Versailles, we walked from the train station to the Palace, which was about a 3 block walk. Once we got a view of the palace, we were amazed at the sheer size and at all the golden accents. It even had a golden gate. Simply amazing.

Initial view of the Palace.

The part that I had been looking forward to most, which I think came from learning about it in my high school European history class, was the Hall of Mirrors. And my anticipation couldn't even begin to describe the beautiful hall. As promised, there were many mirrors with lovely chandeliers, granite and golden accents galore, and a beautiful painted ceiling. The room also looked out on the length of the gardens, which were also quite beautiful. The king's bedroom and apartment were just behind the mirrors, which I had noticed that most, if not all, the mirrors were actually doors as well. So beautiful. Seriously! I should also mention that most of the rooms had beautifully painted and gilded ceilings as well, so this room was not at all unusual except for the mirrors, chandeliers, and sheer size. :)

Hall of Mirrors. Stunning.

Our Huisman family in the Hall of Mirrors. Carsten was sleeping through the Hall of Mirrors, but he was there! 

The only picture of all 4 of us was in one of the mirrors in the Hall of Mirrors. Beautiful :).

As you can see by the many people in this photo, we were not the only tourists to want to see the Palace in March. In fact, in the rooms just after the Hall of Mirrors, the walkway narrowed significantly such that it was difficult to move and even see things due to the crowds. Carsten was sleeping and we were getting a bit peopled out, so instead of seeing the next section of the palace immediately, we decided to walk the grounds instead.

Jess, Carsten, and I in front of the palace.

The grounds included massive, grand gardens where nearly everything was molded into perfection. There wasn't a whole lot in bloom yet, but we did get to see some lovely daffodils and tulips. This picture shows just a very small section of the gardens. There were many lakes and fountains but unfortunately, the fountains were not on yet.

After walking the gardens for a while, we went in search of some food for lunch and found a sandwich shop. So, we elected to have a picnic right on the large pool since it was such a nice day. This was Carsten's first official picnic! Which means that if he wasn't a baby, he'd have high expectations of picnics in the future. Fortunately for us, he is a baby and will be happy pretty much wherever he is :). We ate our sandwiches in the sunshine while Carsten played on our coats that we had laid out for him. Then we even fed Carsten some carrots and potato baby food, which was pretty messy. 

Carsten playing on the lawn of the Palace of Versailles.

Carrots and potatos, the lunch of champions :).

So beautiful.

Next we decided to see some of the other buildings on the Palace grounds, which included the Grand Trianon where the royal family stayed for less formal functions. Think 'cottage'. You can still see the gorgeous pink marble and for being a 'cottage', it was still quite beautiful. The gardens at the Grand Tianon were pretty, but compared to the Palace grounds, they were tiny and a lot less grand...

Apparently this was partially enclosed in glass at one point. I love the tile :).

These were the gardens at the Grand Trianon. And let me tell you, square trees are all the rage. :)

We kept walking around the grounds and found this colonnade in the gardens of the 'petite' Trianon (yes, yet another 'cottage'). We attempted to go into the petite Trianon, but there was a large line and Carsten was fussy, so we opted for the gardens instead.

Carsten and I with the statue in the colonnade. 

Much to our dismay, we started hearing some thunder and the sky was looking quite ominous, so we made our way back to the palace so we could stay dry and see the last section of the palace that we had skipped earlier. This picture shows the foreboding sky and the beautiful palace, which is actually a very pretty combination.

On our way back, we found that a Charlie Brown tree does indeed exist in the gardens. Honestly, it was pretty much the only 'natural' tree in the gardens, such that it actually looked out of place... :)

Charlie Brown tree.

You'll be happy to know that we went through the rest of the palace, which was a much smaller, less opulent part of the palace and retrieved our stroller just in time (you weren't allowed to have a stroller in the palace) before it started raining lightly. We then headed back to the train after a very full and satisfying day at the Palace of Versailles. Carsten was a great baby and really seemed to take it all in when he was awake :).

Ok, next installment for Day 3 will be downtown Paris, which will include the Eiffel Tower and the Cathedral of Notre Dame. :)