I can cross the Hall of Mirrors off of my Bucket List. Clay arranged a 4 hour tour (1 hour to get there and back) with 4 other people and it was spectacular!
Turns out today was some sort of holiday so people weren't commuting to work which meant good traffic out of the city, but did mean kind of large crowds at the Palace. I don't really know if the crowd was bigger because of the holiday or if it was smaller or maybe even larger at this time of the year but let's just say it was elbow-to-elbow in the Palace itself.
Seeing the statues, rooms and artwork in pictures just doesn't do these kinds of places justice. Everything was breathtaking even if you don't like the style personally. Knowing that many things we saw were authentic back to the period of Louis XIV was really something including statues and vases outside in the magnificent garden areas. And the hedges - so tall yet expertly trimmed! Note in the picture below that the humongous garden area looks strikingly similar to the Washington Mall (where Martin Luther King delivered his "I Have a Dream" speech). The same architect, Lafayette, who designed Paris and Versailles, designed Washington, D.C.
I have many pictures and videos that I will post at some point but have to get ready for dinner now. Yes, I feel well enough to go out to dinner tonight! I must've had a 24 hr. bug coupled with a very sore throat but am feeling almost 100% again (except for the throat). Another couple said they, too, had a bug and sore throat so it must've been passed around while we were still aboard the Avalon Scenery boat.
Turns out today was some sort of holiday so people weren't commuting to work which meant good traffic out of the city, but did mean kind of large crowds at the Palace. I don't really know if the crowd was bigger because of the holiday or if it was smaller or maybe even larger at this time of the year but let's just say it was elbow-to-elbow in the Palace itself.
Seeing the statues, rooms and artwork in pictures just doesn't do these kinds of places justice. Everything was breathtaking even if you don't like the style personally. Knowing that many things we saw were authentic back to the period of Louis XIV was really something including statues and vases outside in the magnificent garden areas. And the hedges - so tall yet expertly trimmed! Note in the picture below that the humongous garden area looks strikingly similar to the Washington Mall (where Martin Luther King delivered his "I Have a Dream" speech). The same architect, Lafayette, who designed Paris and Versailles, designed Washington, D.C.
I have many pictures and videos that I will post at some point but have to get ready for dinner now. Yes, I feel well enough to go out to dinner tonight! I must've had a 24 hr. bug coupled with a very sore throat but am feeling almost 100% again (except for the throat). Another couple said they, too, had a bug and sore throat so it must've been passed around while we were still aboard the Avalon Scenery boat.
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