Paris Day Two and we decided to take a day trip out to Versailles (Ver-sa-igh). To go see King Louis XIV's impressive palace he spent his lifetime building, and you could say it was only quite complete by the reign of King Louis XVI.
Guidebook recommended we be there around 10am and experience a shorter queue. Oh...we stuck to the time of 10am of course...we WOKE UP at 10am!!! HAHAHA...aiyah...holiday lah...impt rule to remember in order to enjoy your travels.
Ge's never been here before so it was pretty exciting. LOL...highly recommended by my friend Duck and I couldn't agree more just barely an hour into stepping into it's grounds.
We had to take the RER train out of the city (about 30mins)..RER trains have double decks (see below) unlike the Metros, but both serve the Paris area. Ge's two best friends who happened to be meeting up back in SG decided to call and bug her...hahaha...so sweet of them...anyway, while she focusses on their antics, I was charged with the photo taking...hee..=)
Act cool lah...talk on phone also must have one hand in jacket..haha =P
Now Versailles just seems like one of those places alot of people go to just to visit the palace. (aka, Chateau de Versailles)...so they include the name on the train stop name. No brainer when it came to knowing where to get off..hehehe...and just follow the signs!
Somehow we were still just too sleepy and needed a kopi pick me up. But the queue in the starbucks just opposite the station was loooong...=(
Halfway in the Q, ge suggested we take care of our tummys too!...great! and we quit coffee and trundled off to the Macs just next door for brunch...
Even the 'M' is so so classy in Paris lor..macham like everythg needs to be so arty..hehe...I decided to try something you can't find in SG...but really, doesn't taste that diff from your SG burger..haha... only the bun is unique.
If i'm not wrong, ge had fish fillet burger. =)
In Paris, just like in Frankfurt, you can opt to choose wedges, or coleslaw other than your regular french fries. No prizes for guessing what we like...=P
It was drizzly and quite dark that day, so the pics aren't as bright and using the flash was pointless. Hahaha...I'm suddenly reminded why I thank God I dont' wear specs...coz when it drizzles, i'm not affected..like ge, who was making a face about leaving the cap behind in the hotel..LOL...=P
About a 400m stroll away was the chateau. I was just imagining horse drawn carriages took the same huge cobblestone pathway we were tripping over, as we walked up to the front gate, 300 years ago...
So here's the front of the Palace. Really, this is the main building, but this possibly constitutes only 10% of the entire palace area. You can see at the back there's restoration works going on...
On the right of the pic above, this part of the palace houses the Royal Chapel, which later you'll see how elaborate the interior is...
Even in the gloomy weather, the gates still stand out in a strong gold colour..
Now this huge golden thing was splat right in the middle of the front square!...hahaha...doens't it look familiar?...it's a BALLOON FLOWER!....a giant one!Initially i just thought it was so weird. But after passing it several times, it kinda just grows on you coz it's so tongue-in-cheek. It's as though a giant came by and left behind a huge toy.
We later found out there was a sculpture art exhibtion by Jeff Koonz, which meant that his works was peppered throughout the palace. ie. the balloon flower being the first you will encounter. =)
I think ge's pic nicely captured the contrasts of historical architecture, the industrial modern day scaffolding and 'what-were-they-thinking' work of art...haha...
Meet the boy, crowned King just before his 5th Birthday - King Louis XIV who called himself the Sun King, because of the idea that, just as the planets revolve around the Sun, so too should France and the court revolve around him. As a result, he was commonly associated with Apollo, the Greek god of the Sun.And truly in most of his reign, France was a leading power in Europe.
We bought tickets for a guided tour (on top of the standard entry ticket), and we had to report back to the ticketing area in 45mins at 1.30pm. So we killed time by visiting the nearest 'can-see' area - the Apartments of the Dauphin.Now ge and I wondered, why these french royalties called themselves literally Dolphins lor..with some research i learned that Dauphin is the royal title given to the apparent heir to the throne...ORRHHH...*nods head*...=)
Don't you think the bed is very short?! They are all like that leh...i wonder how they sleep! haha...If I'm not worng, the Dauphin was born here and the chairs on both sides were for the courtesans on 'standby mode' to serve any need.The entrance ticket includes the audio guide (ie. earphones and a mobile phone looking device) that tells you about each room you are in...
I'm sure it was informative...in fact, abit too informative...they introduced so many royal names and titles, after a while, you get kinda lost, --- " Who stayed what room...the picture on your right was painted in #### and was done during so-and-so's ____(add significant event) to commemrate....and in this other room so-and-so met with so-and-so regulary and they spent their free time doing yee-dee-ya-dah with this OTHER so-and-so...." ...hahahaha...
It all sounded the same after awhile..haha...so..hmm..I gave up at some point, and just left the commentary running in the background, and enjoyed the artifacts ..=)
... Which probably led to this pic..(reminds me of ge's blog)...hahaha...that's me waving to the mirror on the right side...Sorry the photos are so dark...they don't turn on much lights there (I guess to preserve the things) at the same time, the natural light was not helpful on the drizzly day...
Each room is unique and decored with theme and purpose according to the occupants fancy and interests... 
See....the bed is so short!!! haahha...can't get over it..hahaha...ge said...maybe last time they are short?!?...hmmm...she has a point..=S the girl has brains! =P
I was time for us to head back and gather with the group for the guided tour. We passed a corridor in the Apartments (see above)...and again...nice photo --> points for ge's photography!
Because the Royal Opera was under restoration (and I heard is one of the nice places to see), they substituted it with an upclose tour of the Royal Chapel. -- usually all you can see it is from the door at the far end.It was completed not as originally planned, with cheaper plainer marble floors and less 'gold' intricacies than desired. This of course upset the King...and I'm sure the guys kenna-ed...but $$ was running out due to his huge expenses on the palace...
While you look at photos, i can share some history with you...=)Versailles was originally not the place for the palace of the King. But King Louis XIII, the Sun King's dad had a small chateau there, where he hunted in the Versailles forest.
The Sun King, whom you probably by now guesssed is one who likes control and power, in a strategic move, in 1682, decided to relocate his residence out to Versailles (from central paris to the outer suburbs) and built a New Chateau arouind his dad's former one. - and of course, expanded the grounds extensively.
By his relocation, his monarchs had no choice but to move their families into the palace and live in the palace itself...(Versailles area back then not very developed.) Thus, being able to keep an eye on them....and make sure that they dun try anything farnee lor...
Thus explaining why the palace was not located in the heart of the country, as would usually be the case...
Top view in the Chapel...it is very nice when you see it for yourself!The monarchs and the Royal family will come to mass here every morning DAILY as their duty. Imagine the King never missed a day of mass from the time he was crowned king, as back then, it was believed that Kings were appointed by God and had the responsibility to act as such. (the Divine Right of Kings)...thus crucial for the King to be at mass daily.
But this mass is only about 10mins long...*whew*...The King was one who liked music....and imagine going to mass daily you'd want new music and songs almost every other day!!! Thus, the life as a court musician was a stressful one!!
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