NOTE: This one is a bit late, but we've been pretty busy!
Saturday morning we woke up and went to check out Notre Dame. It was raining
and we needed a way in to escape the long, wet line. I’m glad we put our confidence in a tour guide named Marianne. Aside from getting us through the line, she was deeply knowledgeable in the cathedral’s almost 1000-year history. She informed us that the carvings in front of the main entrance depict the final judgement, and as the sun sets on the entryway, those being taken to Hell are thrown into shadow.
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| Mary & Marianne |
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| The Judgement |
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| The back of Notre Dame |
In the afternoon we wandered up to Montmartre where we were able to visit Le Sacre Coeur. This area of Paris is built on a large hill that overlooks the city. It was my favorite area of Paris.
Paris is a very expensive city, and it all makes sense immediately after laying eyes on Versailles. Clearly, this palace is worth more than the total sum of the world’s wealth, so my conclusion is that all the Parisians are still paying for it. I can post photos of the outside of Versailles, but once we stepped inside, I knew I had to stop. The interior rooms of the palace are so saturated with Splendor, Glory, and Grandeur that even viewing photography of said halls would most definitely cause the Soul to weep and forfeit.
Also, the camera ran out of batteries. In the King’s apartments, there is a salon dedicated to each of the important Roman gods. Most of these rooms have completed ceiling murals and full wall-size paintings depicting Louis XIV receiving gifts from these gods; Apollo would ride into battle alongside him, Dianna would aid in French hunts, etc. My personal favorite painted a scene involving one of the Napoleons offering an olive branch as a gesture of peace to a beautiful woman (we were told she was symbolic of the whole of Europe). At the same time, the emperor is accepting his two newborn children from two other women, Fertility and Piety; the whole scene is set in the heavens. I suppose these are the normal daily goings-on for an emperor of France.
Before exiting the palace, after hours of touring room upon room through what seemed like Mt. Olympus, we stopped at the café for mediocre sandwiches and a very yummy (the French pronounce it miam-miam!) chocolate tart. Upon leaving, we wandered into what is, if possible, the more impressive section of Versailles, the gardens. Aside from miles and miles of tall, squarely pruned trees, there are (at least) three large fountains which were synchronized to classical French court music. Travelling further still, there is an enormous pond in the shape of a cross. We rented bicycles and worked are way around it, a breath-taking journey that took no less than an hour at a moderate cycling pace. Eventually, we had to leave, but we picked up some delicious fresh-squeezed orange juice on the way out.
A few things really stuck out to me about the restaurants in Paris. First, everywhere you go you get plain bread- there is no butter or dipping oil in sight, and, more often than not, the crust was quite hard. No one will ever serve you water; when you ask for it, they will ask you whether or not you would like it to have gas or sparkle. Just water, thank you, monsieur. On the other hand, aperatifs, or pre-dinner alcoholic drinks, are always encouraged. Often this is a kir, some sort of mixed-wine native to France. We went out Sunday evening after Versailles to have a nice French meal. We discovered that most restaurants close on Sundays. We eventually found an old restaurant where we had a five-course meal. It was yummy, but they were playing the strangest reggae-christian-french-jazz-fusion music. After dinner we climbed the nearby Arc de Triomphe- all 284 steps of it! We were able to watch the sun setting in the city of lights from on top of it, which made for a delightful and romantic view. J
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