Paris - Part One

One of the biggest perks about living in Germany is that I live so close to the French border, and to Paris in particular. My wonderful husband decided that he should take a day of vacation and we'd make it a three-day weekend and do a Paris trip. It was absolutely amazing. We had so much fun and saw so much history and iconography that my head is still reeling.

We decided to head straight to the palace at Versailles. I've been in love with this city and the sun king since I first heard about it when I was in the eighth grade. The palace lived up to and exceeded my hopes, even though I had such high expectations. There wasn't a ton of things to see in the castle, since most of the areas are cordoned off to visitors, but the most important parts are open.

This is the personal church of the King at Versailles. It's absolutely amazing. It's just too bad that I wasn't holding the camera in an orthogonal position. My favorite part of the castle, though, was the famed Hall of Mirrors. It's absolutely breathtaking, and I can only imagine how resplendent it must have been back when the court held royal balls there.

As you can see, Link and Drake were really impressed to have been sitting on floors that queens and kings once walked upon. Actually, I'm pretty sure Drake just enjoyed the sound his shoes made as he stomped about on the hardwood floors and Lincoln just liked all the shinies.


The grounds were just as, if not more, impressive than the chateau itself. The grounds are absolutely breathtaking in their scope, from the reflecting pools to the fountains, to the immaculately trimmed hedges and the beautiful surrounding structures. Marie Antoinette's estate, especially her Hameau, was like something out of a fairy tale. It's hard to choose just one photo to elicit the general feeling of the place, but I think this is a good synopsis of her Hameau.

Stay tuned for part two (and more, if I'm feeling ambitious) of our Paris trip. This was only the first day (and few hours) of our trip, and we saw so much. I highly recommend going to Paris, if you're ever in the need of a vacation suggestion. After all, there's a reason there's a saying that you can "see Paris, and die."