Paris 2002 Page 3
Our anniversary trip to the City of Light, continued even more.
Versailles La chapelle de Versailles
Saturday we slept in, as we'd gotten up at 3:30 am to catch our train the day before.  So that afternoon we decided to head over to le Chateau de Versailles, palace of Louis XIV, XV, and XVI, as well as Napoleon, and probably without question the most extravagant building in the entire cosmos.  A walk through a few gilded, painted, carpeted, velveted rooms clears up any mystery as to why the French populace felt the need to chop off heads in abundance back in 1792.
The chapel in Versailles.  Actually, this is probably one of the more tastefully decorated rooms, which gives you some idea.  I know English has more words than French, but surely the word "restraint" has some translation?
Ann & Diana
It's Dave! :) :)
A familiar face in the Hall of Mirrors in front of a statue of Diana the Huntress from Greek Mythology (well, ok, Diana is her Roman name...Artemis was her Greek name.  But I digress.)  I was all about the girl power until I remembered that there were lots of references to Diana in French court art because Diane de Poitiers was one of the king's, er, lady friends.  Whoops.  Oh who cares.  Girl power!
Dave in the famous Hall of Mirrors in Versailles.  A very shiny room, if I may say so myself.  Oooh, shiny things!  It has a nice view out into the gardens, which are lovely.
Napoleon's Column Thingy (gak! double chin! noooo!)
Dave au Palais de Versailles
Me again, this time in front of a decorative column celebrating one of Napoleon's victories, or his general imperial glory, or something.  I forget.  The ceiling and colossal painting in the background should give you a good idea of the extent of the decoration in the house.  Can we say "overkill" boys and girls?
The front of the center part of the palace, featuring Dave. :)  I actually kind of like this, although the sculptures by the roof (I'm not sure it can technically be considered a plinth) are a bit much.  It isn't centered because I'm still learning how to use my new camera. (Thanks Mary!) *hugs*
Zooooooooooooom!
Les jardins de Versailles
More or less the same view, but using my snazzy zoom lens to focus in on the gold railings and sculptural busts.
The gardens behind Versailles.  The French like to carefully sculpt their bushes and trees into orderly shapes for some reason.  We didn't get to go close up because they charge extra to see the gardens and we weren't sure if it was going to rain.