Versailles!

I woke up this morning with the intention of going to the pool and doing a nice little workout -- I accomplished one of those goals! The going to the pool part. The latter was a bit more difficult to achieve...Sunday morning at the pool seems to be a popular thing! So, I unfortunately, had to share a lane with about 12 other people -- and I probably brought the average down to about 68 -- maybe. I struggled to make it to 2800 meters (much of it kicking), and got the sense that people were getting annoyed with me trying to go around them, so I just decided to get out, and had a nice walk home.

I arrived to Marilu and Alain sitting down to breakfast -- they informed me that they had gotten in at 3:30 in the morning from their night of theater and dinner with friends -- they're more social than I am! After eating some breakfast, I got ready for the day and then headed to the RER station up the street. The RER, for those who don't know, is kind of like the metro, but goes out into the suburbs, and looks and feels much more like a real train. Today was my first time taking it....

I luckily caught up with Jennifer, Harry, and Luke who were waiting for the same RER, and we rode to the Versailles Rive Gauche station (where we were about 10 minutes late...). We caught up with the rest of the group and then walked to the chateau. After a bit of back and forth about where we were supposed to check in, we finally found the correct entrance and got ready for our private group tour! Originally, we were going to tour the Grands Apartements, but since they're normally open to the public, we switched and toured the Petits Apartements, which aren't open to the general public. Our guide, who's native language was actually Spanish, was quite interesting, and we learned a lot about the styles of the different "rois" who lived there. For example, Louis XV had a very flamboyant style and everything that he commissioned was extremely elaborate and decorated, where Louis XVI was much more understated and everything that he commissioned was much simpler (which apparently was also because they were having financial difficulties which ultimately, for Louis and Marie-Antoinette, ended with a trip to the guillotine!).

After we finished the tour of the Petits Apartements and the Chapelle (also closed to the general public) -- we were free to roam as we pleased. We walked through the Grands Apartements to see the infamous Hallway of Mirrors -- but it was so crowded that it was difficult to really enjoy it. Lots of tour groups (predominently Asian...).

After that, we headed out into the Jardins, which were absolutely spectacular. Beautiful gardens, fountains, trees, ponds, a Harry-Potter-esque maze of neatly trimmed bushes. All very cool. Katie and I sat down for a bit in the middle of one of the green spaces -- I didn't realize how much I really missed greenery until today! It was so nice to get out of the city for a while.

At 5:30, we made our way to the largest fountain on the property for the "show" which consisted of them turning on all of the fountains and playing a piece of classical music -- impressive, but a bit anticlimatic. At 6, we were to meet at the restaurant "La Flotille" which was just beyond the grand canals on the chateau's property. It was a lovely setting! I don't think I ordered the right thing (the pizzas looked delicious) -- but I got the "plat du jour" which was a roasted chicken quarter (yummy crispy skin, a bit dry on the inside), frites (which were delicious) and a salad on the side. We all ended our meals with a crepe -- mine was au chocolat. Yum!

After dinner, we walked back to the RER station to catch the train back into the city. I'm currently procrastinationg studying for my architecture quiz, which I suppose I should start to do now...And with classes really getting going, I imagine my posts might become a little less frequent -- but I'll write when I can!

Photos of the day: From Versailles (duh)

A bientot!