July
12, 2014
Last day in Paris. The weather can’t
be better. Warm and sunny.
Today I went to the Palace of
Versailles. There’re so many people there.
I guess maybe because it is Saturday. We stayed in the line for an hour.
But when we get inside. It is so amazing. It made me feel that all the time we
wait was worth. The court of Versailles was the center of political power in
France from 1682, when Louis XIV moved from Paris, until the royal family was
forced to return to the capital in October 1789 after the beginning of the
French Revolution. Versailles is therefore famous not only as a building, but
as a symbol of the system of absolute monarchy of the Former Regime.
In the 19th century the
Museum of the History of France was founded in Versailles, at the behest of
Louis-Philippe I, who ascended to the throne in 1830. The collections display
painted, sculpted, drawn and engraved images illustrating events or
personalities of the history of France since its inception. The museum occupies
the lateral wings of the Palace. Most of the paintings date back to the 19th
century and have been created specially for the museum by major painters of the
time but there are also much older artworks, which retrace French History.
The Gardens of Versailles
occupy part of what was once the Domain
royal de Versailles, the royal demesne of the castle of Versailles. Situated
to the west of the palace, the gardens cover some 800 hectares of land. Beyond
the surrounding belt of woodland, the gardens are bordered by the urban areas
of Versailles to the east and Le Chesney to the northeast, the Versailles plain
to the west, and by the Satory Forest to the south.
We will head to Amsterdam
tomorrow. I am really looking forward to see if it is better than Paris.
