versailles & chambord!

Yesterday was Versailles. Versailles is very big. Pascale lives in the suburbs outside Paris, so it was only a 20 minute drive. There are a lot of things there.

(Ceilings like this, for example).

It wasn't very crowded when we got there at 9AM, but there was definitely still a line. When we left at 2 something, the line was ridiculous, and it wasnt even summer, AND that wasn't even going to give those people enough time to explore. So the place is popular, I guess.

It's cool because they shot the film Marie Antoinette (which I love) AT Versailles, so it was fun being at all of the places in the movie.

(Hall of Mirrors!)

(Cool Gardens!)

(Me, with big windows).

We also went to the Petit Trianon, which is actually HUGE, and also the Grand Trianon, which is interesting because it's currently furnished with stuff that's more Napoleonic than Marie Antoinette-ish. Both are very nice. They were a REALLy far walk from the main palace, though, so Marie Antoinette obviously lived here when she was REALLY tired of Versailles. Then we walked over to her farm, which was super picturesque, like something one would find in Disneyland. Again, this section was HUGE, but still very cute.

The whole day was really great, but my legs have never hurt so much. On the way back, we stopped at the train station for a second so Pascale could show me what to do when I take the TGV to Bordeaux on Tuesday, and when we stepped out of the car, neither of us could walk. So we know we got some exercise!

Today was reserved for Chambord, which is about an hour away.

The photo doesn't really do it justice, because in person it's obviously more detailed than this. The top remind me of It's a Small World After All at Disneyland, which all of the stuff at the top. It belonged to Henri IV, and then primarily to Francis I. It was really cold. I think I felt colder today than I have ever felt in my entire life, even colder than in Yosemite with actual snow. But Chambord was really cool. There are salamanders everrrrywhere, because there were Francis I's bizarre emblem (something about being able to protect themselves well).

(I think....this is the updated version used to guide visitors, not Francis I's original salamander. I think).

So, yesterday and today were very eventful! Last night we watched Marie Antoinette (in French), and it was REALLY cool seeing the places that I had just been.

I'm adjusting really well to the nine-hour time difference, except that I keep waking up in the middle of the night for a while.

The city tomorrow!