THURSDAY, AUGUST 14, 2008

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Today, we’re off on an adventure with 6 other folks, a guided tour of Versailles. It’s a short ride from Paris, and we were lucky to have a great guide, a fellow named Pierre Jean. He was very knowledgeable about France, French history, and especially Versailles.








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The Palace of Versailles started in 1623 as a ‘little hunting lodge’ built by King Louis XIII. He so enjoyed it that he had it enlarged over the next 40 years, and his son, Louis XIV (known as the Sun King) continued to embellish and expand it.




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By 1682, Versailles was a magnificent palace, which became the official residence of the court of France. It remained the residence of the royal family until the French Revolution.





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The Chappelle Royale was a work of art itself, impressive from outside and inside.










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Its Grand Apartments are richly decorated in marble, bronze, gold leaf, rococo woodwork and Italian-style painted ceilings.
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The Hall of Mirrors is more than 200 feet long. Huge windows overlooking the palace gardens on one side are matched with large arcaded mirrors on the other. The finest of Louis XIV’s collection of ancient statues are showcased here.





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The gardens around the palace are extensive, mostly landscaped in the formal French style. The gardens contain over 200,000 trees; 210,000 annual flowers; and 50 fountains.





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After our tour, we stopped in the town of Bougival, about halfway between Versailles and Paris, for lunch at Chez Clement. Chez Clement is a chain of restaurants, and this one is housed in an old country manor right on the River Seine. Lunch was simple but delicious: salad, roast chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy, and wine. For dessert, we were served strawberry mouse and coffee/tea.


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Margaret learned right away that French coffee is strong stuff – you get an espresso unless you specifically ask for café au lait (coffee with milk) or “American coffee” (weaker version that the locals won’t touch).



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After lunch, we walked around the gardens behind the restaurant. Nothing fancy, but it did look like they were Gamecock fans.










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As we drove back into town, we went very near the Eiffel Tower, so our driver stopped for a few pictures. It’s quite impressive against the blue sky and white clouds on a beautiful sunny day.









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When we got back to our hotel, we checked out the “local” view of the Eiffel Tower – just at the end of our block, we’re on a hilltop that allows a nice view.










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We wandered around the neighborhood, through a nice park, past some shops and cafés along the way. Everywhere there are motorcycles parked. Also everywhere are dogs – people take them into just about any shop or café.












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For dinner tonight, we’re off on another adventure with a large group from our tour. We went to the cabaret Nouvelle Eve, a few steps down from the more famous (and much more expensive) Moulin Rouge.





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We were treated to a fine meal, with plenty of wine, followed by a fantastic show known as “Paris je t’aime” (Paris, I love you). The main feature of the show was singing and dancing, including a rousing rendition of the can-can (which was invented here) and, of course, the topless girls. There also were acrobats, jugglers, and a good bit of audience participation.




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It was great fun – and after the show, we went by the Moulin Rouge, which was made famous by the cancan, immortalized by the French painter Toulouse-Lautrec. When we compared notes with some folks who went to the show there, we decided we had made the better choice.