viernes, 8 de enero de 2016

The Paris Diaries: This is Versailles!





Last night I was checking my blog archives when I suddenly realized there were two Paris posts left on my drafts file! For some reason (and most likely due to the big agitation my life was wrap on last Autumn) I totally forgot to hit the publish button at some point. So for today I thought it could be nice to share those with you, as I suppose nobody gets too annoyed about a travel review full of beautiful pictures. 

To sum up, the next chapter of my Paris diaries was written during our third day in France, back in the end of  September. We wouldn´t spend it in the city, but we traveled to Versailles instead. It was a memorable day for us both, as this had been one of our dream destinations for... well, FOREVER. We´re both truly interested on history since our high school days: The Gentle One is specifically fascinated about the Golden Age period all over Europe (this is his PHD topic, actually), so he craved for visiting the place where Louis XIV started the French empire. As for me, I am very fond of the French monarchy decadence and the country revolutionary process all through the XVIII and XIX centuries.
We´re such a couple of boring and pedant people, right?
I know, sorry about that.

Whatever, this is the little tale we wrote about our trip.
I hope you like it!

The Paris Diaries, day 3.










Paris, September, Satuday the 26th 


We woke up early his morning in order to make it to Versailles as quick as possible.
That wasn´t completely a brilliant idea, as we rested very little last night and we ended up transfiguring ourselves in some sort of zombie creatures. We stopped to have breakfast, but somehow I ended carrying mine on a paper bag (why I cannot explain...) and drinking my lukewarm capuccino on the train while trying not to fall asleep. Anyway, we arrived to the little town before noon, but Saturday is such a busy day we had to wait on the admission line for around forty minutes. Finally, we entered in the palace and we started our exploration shortly.




A good part of our excitement was softened by the tourist crowd filling the place, but as they were little or no interested on painting, we took our time to appreciate the amazing seventeen century pictures while everybody blocked the history projection areas.





A bit afterwards, we visited the royal apartments. Everybody looked quite impressed about the queen´s room, but as we had already seen some of the original surviving furniture at the Paris history museum, we moved to the next level to see Mes Madames apartments.
And then, I pretty much found my favourite venue in the palace.





The daughters of Louis XV were fond of music and literature, so they held the major library in the place, as well as a good instrumental collection. I always wonder, if they would notice if you hide in a corner and you just pretend you´re ghost
Not like they can notice, right?




Next thing was moving out to visit the Trianon.
But we had to walk around the external walls because the gardens were engaged with a private event, so it took us a good half an hour to get there. At that point we were feeling exhausted, as well as quite sceptic about the place, but it happened to be the most exciting one, kind of isolated and relaxing. You could breath fresh air and the general feeling was you had traveled back in time. Plus, the queen dominion was full of cute farm animals pacing around the fairy tale style little houses. You could actually understand why the last queen chose the spot to forget about her royal duties. We paced around the Trianon itself, and took a look at the private theatre and the French pavillion, where Marie Antoinette used to organize her own private parties, concerts and dinners for her best friends, which was a great experience by itself. Later, we stopped to see dusk in the surrounding garden, and eventually left Versailles palace to take our train back to Paris. 



 

 

12 comentarios:

  1. Beautiful photos! I really need to visit Paris again!

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    1. Thank you, Claire! ♥ I don´t know if you have visited Versailles before, but if not, you definitely should. It is such a lovely place! Only bad part is the crowd filling the location, but if you can make it during the non-peak season, it is totally worth it.

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  2. It is an amazing palace! You fit rigjt in with your lovely style! It is an exhausting walk!

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    1. Aw, that´s very sweet, Laura! And yes, it was completely exhausting. I wore flats the whole day, and even so I got very sore feet. I think next time I will try some kind of special sport shoes. Thankfully, there were benches and spots to sit down all around the place.

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  3. Can't believe I'm French and never went to Versailles. Actually I tried - using the wrong tube ticket and getting a fine on arrival. Then had to buy the proper ticket and go back to where I came from.

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    1. That´s funny! The same thing happened to us (we got the wrong tickets to get to Versailles), but we could totally access the destination and only realized because same type didn´t work to go back to the city. I think the problem is some underground zones are not properly marked, and it can be quite difficult to figure out what type of travel ticket you need.
      But anyway, I hope you give it another chance. The place is totally breathtaking. Just try to avoid it during peak season!

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  4. Sweetie, these are amazing! I am in awe just looking at these pictures; can't imagine how it would be seeing everything up close! I love your outfit! It looks so comfy and elegant! <3 This type of skirt suits you so well! <3

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    1. Ah, thanks sugar! ♥ Midi skirts are a favourite of mine, I barely buy minis anymore.

      In relation to the place, it was absolutely fabulous. I am sure you would enjoy it a lot. Nevertheless, as most of the original furniture is at the Louvre as well as at the history museum, it is a bit difficult to imagine the rooms as a cozy place to live in. They are majestic, but a bit too big and empty. I spent the whole day trying to picture how they looked with candle light, fire on the chimneys, and lots of flowers everywhere. It must have been amazing to live there before the revolution.

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  5. Wow, this looks absolutely magical. Thanks for the travel tips! ^^

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  6. Wow, that bedroom! So many flowers ... I love it! :D

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    1. Yes, Marie Antoinette chamber is certainly beautiful, although a bit impersonal. I liked her room at the Trianon better. I think you can see her true personality around there far clearer, but it is just my opinion. :)

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