We are off to Versailles today. Versailles is a HUGE estate. It includes the palace itself, as well as stables and gardens. In fact, Versailles could be considered a small town designed specifically for the use of the King Louis the XIV. It major work of the building of the Castle started in 1661 when Louis the XIV took the throne. The lavishness of the structure is beyond comprehension. Huge paintings were commissioned for the walls. Crystal chandlers hang from the ceilings. Gold trim is evywhere. In addition to the castle, the gardens are equally exquisite. The entire estate is one of those "you have to see it to believe it" kind of places.
After lunch in Versailles, we took the train back to Paris and stopped at the Palais Garnier. The Palais Garnier, is a 1,600-seat opera house that was built on the request of Napoleon III.Co obstruction started in 1861 and was completed in 1875. It is regarded as one of the architectural masterpieces of the time. During 1896, one of the counterweights for the grand chandelier fell and resulted in the death of one person. Supposedly this incident, as well as the underground lake, cellars, along with the other elements of the Opera House even the building itself were the inspirations of Gaston Leroux for his classic 1910 Gothic novel, The Phantom of the Opera.
The building was not open for visiting, and since it was Sunday, most of the stores for shopping in the downtown area were closed. We decided to walk about 15 minutes to the Champ de Eslyie.
The famous boulevard is about two miles long. We spent almost two hours there and walked the entire length of it. The temperatures were in the high 60's and the sun was shinning. A perfect day for strolling, shopping, and cafe sitting.
Dinner was served at the hotel, and then we caught the metro to the Eiffel Tower. It is absolutely beautiful in the evening, and on top of that, the sky was warm and clear, and the moon was full.
Of course a trip to the top was in order. In spite of the warm weather, it was cool and windy at the top. But the views of night time Paris was absolutely worth it. The tower is 1,053 feet tall. In the "it's a small world department" we met a group of English speaking students on the tower. Low and behold, they were from Watertown High School, which is about 70 miles from Potsdam. Here we were almost 4,000 miles from home and we run into a group of students who live 70 miles from us. We made it back to the hotel about midnight, and then of course some of the kids wanted pizza. We finally made it to bed by 1:00 AM.
The morning alarms are set for 4:30 with a 5:00 AM departure for the airport. April in Paris is just about over for us.
PS: These students were a great bunch of kids. They were wonderful to work with and they enjoyed France to the fullest. It is so much fun to watch students learn new things.
Au revoir!!
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