The second part of my trip was just as fun!! After about a 45 minute drive we arrived at The Palace of Versailles! What is truly incredible about this palace is that the entire palace is constructed from French materials: the marble, gold, silver, crystal, tapestries, everything! Nothing was imported into the palace, so it is a true and magnificent display of France's treasures and splendor. The former royal palace, the Louvre, is actually in Paris and is the biggest art museum in the entire world. However, the King felt that it was "too small" so the one in Versailles was built and it is absolutely stunning!
There is no way a single picture frame could encompass the entirety of the palace, so here is an aerial view that I took from the internet.
The palace was built also built so that the King could have a tighter control over his noblemen. In order to gain more control, he thought he would have everyone living with him so that he could keep a watchful eye over everyone. The King wore red high heeled shoes so that he would be taller than everyone, and so that the people could see him at all times and never having to question his wereabouts. There were about 6,000 people who permanently lived in the palace and thousands more came to visit everyday.
It's such a beautiful building!!
The Golden Gates and entryway into the Palace!
This is the incredible ceiling that I first saw when we walked into the palace! The huge expanse of the paintings and the detail of them was truly unbelievable!
Sculpture of the King
Pictures cannot even begin to capture the level of grandeur of the rooms!
This was the King's bedroom!
This was the Queen's bedroom! Apparently kings and queens never had the same bedroom because that was far too common; in order to further display wealth and status each had their own room. In my opinion, the Queen's room was even more extravagant that the King's room!
One thing I learned that day which absolutely blew my mind is that the Queen gave birth to all of her children on this bed in front of a lot of people! The room was always packed when it was time for her to give birth. This tradition was established in order to solidify the validity of the future heirs were actually birthed by the Queen instead of being swapped for another baby, which might have been tempting to swap a boy for a girl if there was not yet a heir. I was quite shocked by the lack of privacy for the Queen, and could not imagine giving birth in front of all those people!!
The top of her bed adorned with ostrich feathers and complete with a very ornate ceiling!
Apparently ostrich feathers are reserved solely for royalty and only the
King and Queen's beds have them!
However, my absolute favorite room was the Hall of Mirrors!!!
This incredible room is comprised of 17 huge arched mirrors with 17 matching arched windows directly in front of each mirror. The windows looked out over the Palace gardens with incredible views. Dances used to be held here and I would have absolutely LOVED to attend one back then!!!! The entire room was adorned with gold as well as magnificently painted ceilings. It's was truly spectacular!!!
This picture was also taken from the internet because my camera was not capable of capturing the breadth and splendor of this room!!!
Every few feet there were these golden women holding up huge crystal candle holders!
The chandeliers were without a doubt one of my favorite parts of the room. They were absolutely huge!! When the King lived there each chandelier held beeswax candles that exuded a sweet honey aroma throughout the room. The candles were extremely expensive and elaborate display of wealth.
My favorite painting in the Hall of Mirrors of Venus & Zeus!
After the tour of the Palace, we got to enjoy about an hour in the Palace Gardens!! The flowers were so beautiful, a perfect combination of daffodils and tulips amidst swirling bushes!
This shot was taken from inside the palace, I love how you can see the misty mountains!!
Sweet little bird on a statue in the gardens : )
I just can't get enough of the flowers! Everything in Ecija is still pretty brown, so I was completely in heaven here!!! The flowers that are in bloom now just happen to be some of my all time favorites, Daffodiles & Tulips!! However the tulips that I have seen today in both Monet's gardens & the Palace are the most beautiful ones that I have ever seen in my entire life. They are just spectacularly beautiful!!!
I can honestly say that this day was a truly perfect one and something I will vividly remember for the rest of my life. It really was a dream fulfilled.
That night Camille took me for a special treat... The Eiffel Tower at night!! It was definitely my favorite night there, I loved EVERY minute of it and could barely be torn away from the beauty of the building. I was completely taken aback at how beautiful the tower is at night, I have never seen an building more beautiful than the Eiffel Tower at night, it truly is amazing!!! I was just as drawn to it as a moth is to a lamp!!
The tower radiates this golden hue though the night and every hour on the hour there are twinkly silver lights that sparkle all over the building. Everyone stands around in awe and amazement with huge smiles on their faces while they rapidly try to take pictures. At the end of the 10 minute light twinkling all the spectators clapped. It was so fun and the excitement of the other spectators added to my own!
Here you can see the twinkling silver lights
The difference in color is with the flash of my camera turned off or on. With the flash on, the tower appears almost amber in color.
I was pretty happy when this picture was taken!
After the twinkling light show, Camille and I walked up to the top of a hill to the science museum where there were a couple of vendor stands selling crepes and other goodies. I had a chocolate Nutella crepe with an entire banana inside. There was SO much warm gooey Nutella inside, it was absolute HEAVEN!!! I could have easily eaten 2 more!! I also had a hot chocolate to warm me up. Camille got a waffle, which really cracked me up because apparently waffles are only eaten for dessert here! We sat on a bench sheltered from the wind and enjoyed our delicious treats while watching the glow of the tower. It was truly a perfect night and a perfect way to conclude my trip to Paris!!!
Wow, that family you stayed with sounds so generous! Your pictures are amazing! What a wonderful trip!
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