Paris, Le Deuxieme Jour
Wednesday May 3, 2017
I tried really hard to get to the Palace of Versailles at 9am, opening time. I was quite tired from the day before and only made it out the door at 8.30am. I got to the metro station and with my amazing command of the French language I managed to ask the attendant for tickets to Chateau Versailles. Somehow I managed to take the wrong train so two hours later, I finally made it to the palace entrance and I got stuck in line to get in. I did cut the queue by smoothly joining a random Asian tour group though, and I'm more pleased about my ability to do that than I should be.
Versailles is massive. It's all about opulence; the lavish and extravagant lifestyles of the French royalty that ended abruptly with their overthrowing in the French Revolution. Though the Queen's Quarters are under renovation, I found the rest of the palace quite interesting. I followed Rick Steve's audio guide for the most part, but it didn't cover some of the rooms off the main tourist path. I also went on a private guided tour of the King's Apartments, which was pretty cool too.
Not only is the palace massive, but the surrounding garden is as well. I spent a few hours walking around the suggested path. The musical fountains at the Mirror Pool were operational today, and reminded me very much of the Bellagio Fountains in Las Vegas. Unfortunately the Theatre Grove had broken, so I had to skip that.
It was close to 5.30pm so I decided to see if I could get to the Catacombs before they closed. I missed the Catacombs and Versailles when I was last in Paris, so both of these were must-visits this time round. I made it in with plenty of time to spare and I explored the 800m of underground cavern. It's astounding how it feels. At a constant 14C, the Catacombs were originally quarries that provided the stone for many Gallo-Roman buildings. After collapsing, Louis XVI ordered them to be strengthened and then to combat the problem of expanding cemeteries, it was converted into an ossuary.
There are so many bones. I was quite shocked, to be honest. I didn't realise how many there would be. There's also many French and Latin inscriptions on plaques around the gallery, and I almost wished I had paid more attention in Latin class in third form. My favourite is at the entrance to the ossuary: "Arrete! C'est ici l'empire de la mort", "Stop! Here is the empire of the dead"
After a lovely slow paced dinner where I once again showed off my command of the French language successfully, I wandered back to the hotel, 14 hours after I left. Another day seized!
Posted by Jeremy at 8:16am on Wednesday May 3, 2017 :: 0 comments :: 