21.07.2007

We caught the train to Versailles. Here is the Chateau de Versaille, the French royal residence up until the end of the monarchy. You can see where so much of Frances money went back then. The word is opulence. The Chateau itself screams of pure luxury. Every ceiling is a work of art and there are paintings and sculptures adorning every wall. Louis XIV, who built the Chateau dominates, with numerous paintings and sculptures of himself. Of course Marie Antoinette’s rooms and paintings attract a lot of interest. The gardens were definitely the highlight of the visit to the Chateau, beginning with the immaculately groomed and planned gardens and fountains, and the canal, all of which stretch beyond sight behind the Chateau. Neda used the words ‘obscene beauty’ which worked pretty well for me. We both found Marie Antoinette’s estate to be the most charming and interesting part of the day. Particularly the ‘Petite Trianon’ and it’s lush English gardens and little farm and village, all ordered to be built by Marie Antoinette for her own use and pleasure. Ewen accurately described it as an 18^th century theme park.

We had a gloriously sunny day to enjoy the beautiful nature in Versaille. Our feet were very sore and quite filthy by the time we made the train for Paris by about 8pm.

We caught the Metro in Paris to Montmartre, the hill where a lot of the artistic population live, more famous for the Moulin Rouge and the spectacular white church, the ‘Sacre-Ceur’. This is quite high up and this is another great vantage point to take in the views of most of Paris. We walked for a long time, trying to locate the Moulin Rouge, working up an appetite on the very hilly streets. We eventually found it, it wasn’t that spectacular. Might have been more interesting if we were willing to fork out 160 Euro each to see a show, no thank you.

Seeing as it was 10pm, we decided to find a place nearby that was still serving dinner. We found an Italian place, memorable because Neda found a great meal of a Schnitzel with a side of spaghetti. This is significant because we haven’t come across anyone on the trip yet who has been familiar with schnitzels. In Ireland, my relatives had not heard of them.

Now I am writing this blog in the Hotel room at midnight while Neda is scrubbing the dirt from her feet and legs (Versailles’ paths are all gravel, great with thongs (flip-flops)). We will now try to get some sleep before the long long drive to Barcelona tomorrow.

Paris has been great. Very busy (as our feet keep reminding us) but no rest now, there are many countries and cities yet to tire us :-)