30 June - flying home

Woke at 7, had a shower finished packing, had toast and did the dishes.
Went for a walk down to the river and the tip of the island. it was sunny and warm and we were back at 945 to wait for Paul. At 10 maureen went to the post office and at 1015 she was back with a box to ship things home in and a story of how she met the driver outside our door and told him to come in but he said he was early so would go and get a coffee. He called and said that he could not get a taxi for Maureen ? and he would be right there.  Then Maureen told us of how she asked him to arrange that for her?  We said our goodbyes and Margie and I went outside and waited for him. About 10 minutes later Maureen came out and said that he had called again and 5 minutes later Omar showed up.

The drive to the airport was nice with Omar being very chatty and informative and telling us his side of this mornings story. he said he showed up and Maureen told him he was early and to go and get a coffee as we were not ready yet ??? and that she wanted him to arrange to get a taxi for her to the train station later that morning. That was not his job. If she had wanted to get it arranged she should have gotten ahold of the office like Margie and I did with lots of notice and they would arrange it. Two very different stories....Very Odd.
 the Airport was very odd too. with stairs going up across cafes only  to go down to hallways to get to your gate. but we made it and were comfortable enough to watch Warriors, Crazy stupid love, Albert Knobs and to eat three times. Pretzels, pasta and pizza pockets. Margie had a bathroom episode where the tissue got stuck to her foot in the washroom. they are very small washrooms. I laughed.

the montreal airport was kind of weird. did the customs thing and then went  and got our luggage and went back through a security check and dropped off our luggage and then had to across the airport to catch our plane at gate 9. bought a juice and some halls and Margie had a diet coke. 4 pm montreal time (11 o'clock Paris time) found Margie and sitting at a coffee shop in the airport in Montreal. Margie reading me writing. the flight to Edmonton seemed very long. tried to sleep but only managed a few hours. Margie's son Dennis met us at the airport and the ride home was scary. He is a terrible driver. It was good to be home Asleep by one am but did not sleep well.

29 June - Versailles

Up at 6  and went in search of batteries for Margies camera.

It was a cool grey morning, the clouds holding the promise of rain. I considered taking my umbrella and thought I would be brave. After searching on our island I went across the Ile de la Cite to the right bank? to see if I could find a shop open. There were quite streets and parks and lots of closed shops.

As I wandered the streets of Paris I came upon St Germain church. It was open so I went in and after quietly checking the place out, lit a candle and said a prayer.

I left the church and almost right across the street was an open shop and I found battieries for Margie's camera. So much for the power of prayer.

By 8 am I was back at apartment and Margie and Maureen were both up and getting ready. A quick preakfast and we were on our way to Versailles!

We got to the RER stop by 830 and waited but there did not seem to be very many people around. Maureen checked out the area and discovered that there was another RER stop. We were at the wrong RER stop. So much for research. I think they need more signage.

The proper stop was busy with an attendant to keep people organized. I asked him in terrible french, which train to catch to Versailles. He was very nice and said to wait and at 930  we were on the RERC on our way to Versailles. We left paris and went through lots of little towns, or suburbs, occasionally stopping and letting people on and off. We even had musicians come on and play  for us for a small donation of course but why not, it was fun.

We arrived at 1015 in the town of Versailles and after consulting a map at the station found our way to the Palace of Versailles. about a twenty minute walk from the station.
By 1030 we were in the long line in the courtyard to the chateau. When the tourist books tell you to get there early. get there early. Also we found out later that it was one of the busiest days of the year for the chateau as it was a special day for schools to come. that explained all the young people that were there.

By 1130  we were in the Chateaux. Wiki says "The earliest mention of the name of Versailles is in a document dated 1038, relating to the village of Versailles. In 1575, the seigneury of Versailles was bought by Albert de Gondi, a naturalized Florentine, who invited Louis XIII on several hunting trips in the forests surrounding Versailles. Pleased with the location, Louis ordered the construction of a hunting lodge in 1624. 

Eight years later, Louis obtained the seigneury of Versailles from the Gondi family and began to make enlargements to the château. This structure would become the core of the new palace. Louis XIII's successor, Louis XIV, had it expanded into one of the largest palaces in the world. Following the Treaties of Nijimegen  in 1678, he began to gradually move the court to Versailles. The court was officially established there on 6 May 1682.

After the disgrace of  Nicolas Fouquet in 1661, Louis confiscated Fouquet’s estate and employed the talents of Le Vau, Le Nôtre, and Le Brun, who all had worked on Fouquet’s grand château Vaux-le-Vicomte, for his building campaigns at Versailles and elsewhere. For Versailles, there were four distinct building campaigns.

The first building campaign (1664–1668) commenced with the Plaisirs de I''Ile enchantee  (Pleasures of the Enchanted Island) of 1664, a Fete that was held between 7 and 13 May 1664. The first building campaign (1664–1668) involved alterations in the château and gardens to accommodate the 600 guests invited to the party. (Nolhac, 1899, 1901; Marie, 1968; Verlet, 1985)

The second building campaign (1669–1672) was inaugurated with the signing of the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, which ended the War of Devolution. During this campaign, the château began to assume some of the appearance that it has today. The most important modification of the château was Le Vau’s envelope of Louis XIII’s hunting lodge. 

(Nolhac, 1901; Marie, 1972; Verlet, 1985) Significant to the design and construction of the grands appartementsis that the rooms of both apartments are of the same configuration and dimensions – a hitherto unprecedented feature in French palace design. 

Both the grand appartement du roi and the grand appartement de la reine formed a suite of seven enfilade rooms. The decoration of the rooms, which was conducted under Le Brun's direction, depicted the "heroic actions of the king" and were represented in allegorical form by the actions of historical figures from the antique past (Alexander the Great, Augustus, Cyrus, etc.). (Berger, 1986; Félibien, 1674; Verlet, 1985) ( As in Napoleons Apartments at the Louvre, there was an Art show with different odd pieces in different spots throughout the chateau these 6 foot high heels were made out of pots and pans)

With the signing of the Treaty of Nijmegen  in 1678, which ended the Dutch War, the third building campaign at Versailles began (1678–1684). Under the direction of the architect, Jules Hardouin-Mansart, the Palace of Versailles acquired much of the look that it has today. 

In addition to the Hall of Mirrors, Hardouin-Mansart designed the north and south wings and the Orangerie. Le Brun was occupied not only with the interior decoration of the new additions of the palace, but also collaborated with Le Nôtre's in landscaping the palace gardens (Berger, 1985; Thompson, 2006; Verlet, 1985). (Another of the odd Art pieces, a crochetted hanging balloon thingy)

Soon after the defeat of the War of the League of Augsburg (1688–1697), Louis XIV undertook his last building campaign at Versailles. The fourth building campaign (1699–1710) concentrated almost exclusively on construction of the royal chapel designed by Hardouin-Mansart and finished by Robert de Cotte. 

There were also some modifications in the Appartement du roi, namely the construction of the Salon de l'OEil de Boeuf and the King's Bedchamber. With the completion of the chapel in 1710, virtually all construction at Versailles ceased; building would not be resumed at Versailles until some twenty one years later during the reign of Louis XV (Nolhac, 1911; Marie, 1976, 1984; Verlet, 1985).

During the reign of Louis XV, Versailles underwent transformation, but not on the scale that had been seen during the reign of Louis XIV. The first project in 1722 was the completion of the Salon d'Hercule. Significant among Louis XV’s contributions to Versailles were the petit appartement du roi; 

the appartements de Mesdames, the appartement du dauphin, and the appartement de la dauphine on the ground floor; and the two private apartments of Louis XV – petit appartement du roi au deuxième étage (later transformed into the appartement de Madame du Barry) and the petit appartement du roi au troisième étage – on the second and third floors of the palace.

 At 130 we had lunch in the chateau and then went to the gift shop spent way to much money on souvenirs. we then went to catch the little train to Marie Antoinette's farm. We thought it would give us a tour of the gardens but it did not. it also only stopped at two other locations. the Petit Trianon and Marie Antoinette's farm. if we had had the time we could have seen more but c'est la vie!

The crowning achievements of Louis XV’s reign were the construction of the Opera and the Petit Trianon  (Verlet, 1985). Equally significant was the destruction of the Escalier des Ambassadeurs (Ambassadors' Stair), the only fitting approach to the State Apartments, which Louis XV undertook to make way for apartments for his daughters.

The fountains were not turned on on fridays and we did not get to see them all, but what we saw was splendid. 
The Gardens  remained largely unchanged from the time of Louis XIV; the completion of the Bassin de Neptune between 1738 and 1741 was the only important legacy Louis XV made to the gardens (Marie 1984; Thompson, 2006; Verlet 1985). 

Towards the end of his reign, Louis XV, under the advice of Ange-Jacques Gabriel, began to remodel the courtyard facades of the palace. With the objective revetting the entrance of the palace with classical facades, Louis XV began a project that was continued during the reign of Louis XVI, but which did not see completion until the 20th century (Verlet, 1985).
Versailles is so worth seeing but again go and spend the night at Versailles and get the whole day in to see everything.

We caught the 430 RER back to paris with no problem. There was a group of Korean students from the States sitting by us and we traded money. It was fun.

At 515 we were at the Eiffel Tower and we sat at the garden under the tower for a bit. I sprinkled Mom and Dad's ashes by the koi pond at the base of the tower, out of the wind and sun and with a nice view of the park.

6:00  Parisienne Boat for dinner, which was excellent. I must applaud them on their vegetarian menu. A selection of one item, boiled vegetables in butter with some cheese sprinkled on it. but we did get wine included with the meal. the next time I go to Paris I am going to go to a real restaurant and see if they cook more than boiled vegetables for vegetarians. On the whole the cruise was very nice and we did have a Dali moment from the curved windows of the boat reflecting the trees in a very odd way. Dali's inspiration?

By 830 we were at the Apartment organizing Margie had brought the expandable suitcase which was a good thing so we packed and tidied and got ready for our departure the next day. while Maureen went to a concert at Saint Chapelle, we went shopping one more time. I found my little Ballerina at the puppet shop. I love it. 

packed up and rechecked drawers and things

asleep at 1130ish.

28 Jun - the Louvre and More

Margie and I took the Batobus to the louvre stop. On the way we passed the "underpass/tunnel" that we tried to use earlier in the week and it brought back such memories. We exited the batobus safely and headed up towards the Louvre.

We had just enough time to grab a quick lunch, for me a very tasty eggplant and tomato torte from the Paul's kiosk in Toulliers park on the way to the Louvre. For Margie I don't remember, same kiosk. It was a ham and cheese of some sort.

We met Maureen at noon right on time in the covered entry. We zipped inside  and after getting our bearings we headed up 

inside to of the  Richelieu wing of the museum to the section called "Napoleon's Apartments".   which are amazingly over the top.

I loved these chairs. Margie really did too but where would you put them?
Wiki says "The Musée du Louvre —in English, the Louvre Museum or simply The Louvre—is one of the world's largest museums, and a historic monument. A central landmark of Paris, France, it is located on the right bank of the Seine river in the 1st arrondissement(district).   





                                                                            

Nearly 35,000 objects from prehistory to the 19th century are exhibited over an area of 60,600 square metres (652,300 square feet). With more than 8 million visitors each year, the Louvre is the world's most visited museum. (and we knew it to be true by the number of people that were there when we were there.)

The museum is housed in the Louvre Palace (Palais du Louvre) which began as a fortress built in the late 12th century under Philip II. Remnants of the fortress are visible in the basement of the museum. 

The building was extended many times to form the present Louvre Palace. In 1682, Louis XIV chose the Palace of Versailles for his household, leaving the Louvre primarily as a place to display the royal collection, including, from 1692, a collection of antique sculpture. 

( we noticed some paisley pigs in some of the rooms and discovered that there was an art show in some of the apartments that had nothing to do with Napoleon but was just there. There was odd art which seemed completely out of place and there was art which we were not sure if it was part of the show ar part of the apartments.)

In 1692, the building was occupied by the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles Lettres and the Académie Royale de Peinture et de Sculpture, which in 1699 held the first of a series of salons. The Académie remained at the Louvre for 100 years. During the French Revolution, the National Assembly  decreed that the Louvre should be used as a museum, to display the nation's masterpieces. 

The museum opened on 10 August 1793 with an exhibition of 537 paintings, the majority of the works being royal and confiscated church property. Because of structural problems with the building, the museum was closed in 1796 until 1801.

 The size of the collection increased under Napoleon and the museum was renamed the Musée Napoléon. After the defeat of Napoleon at Waterloo, many works seized by his armies were returned to their original owners. 
The collection was further increased during the reigns of Louis XVII and Charles X, and during the Second French Empire the museum gained 20,000 pieces. Holdings have grown steadily through donations and gifts since the Third Republic.  

As of 2008, the collection is divided among eight curatorial departments: Egyptian Antiquities; Near Eastern Antiquities; Greek, Etruscan, and Roman Antiquities; Islamic Art; Sculpture; Decorative Arts; Paintings; Prints and Drawings." 

Found the impressionists at the other end of the Louvre and my favorite painting. There was a large bench in front of it full of people. It was larger than I thought it would be and I loved it.  Renoir. Did not take a photo as there were so many people.

Went back through the tapestry rooms again and Margie did not touch them. wandered through the sections that we had not seen yet. There were many.
we saw a great statue of three lovley nude ladies and I said that was us. and it was I am sure just not at the age that we were at , at that moment, but in our youth.

We stayed at the louvre till 4 and our brains were definitely mush by the time we left. 

It was very hot out. the louvre had been air-conditioned and so we did not realize how hot it was. We wandered through the touliers, in the shadse as much as possible, to the batobus stop, past the arc de triumphe stop and got off at the Eiffle Tower. Checked out the dinner cruises for that night but they were booked and we did not have the right dress anyway. Dress code? Basically no runners.

We decided to get Dinner boat tickets for friday night at 630, they said they had a vegetarian menu. We had to pay to hold our reservations so there would be no missing it and we might have to leave Versailles a little early.

We caught the Batobus to the Notre Dame stop.

It was 32 degrees, and with 87 percent humidity it should have been raining but it was sunny and clear.

I tried to Check out the RER schedule for Versaille on friday but could not figure it out.

We grabbed a bite to eat  just off the square in front of Notre Dame. after that refreshing pause we went to St Chapelle for a Bach concert. The last concert we went to there was so good, we were looking forward to it very much. 

We got in and took off our shoes and the cool tile floor felt so good.

 Now you have to understand that I loved Bach, but I had known many people, including musicians, who did not like Bach and I could not figure out why. Now I know. 

This concert was bad Bach, probably executed brilliantly and right on key and probably perfect, but it was terrible for the lay person like myself and Margie and Maureen to listen to. One fellow (from the previous night's ensemble ) playing his violin. This concert was very different from the one the last time we were here. The Brandenburg concerto is my favorite Bach, but I have to admit that, after this concert,  I am not  the fan of Bach that I used to be. Now I am not so sure I want to take up the violin after all!

After the concert Margie and I Checked out another RER station and could not figure out that schedule either. Maybe the bad Bach or too much art had befuddled our brains. We would try again tomorrow morning. 
On the way back home we saw more musicians and people on the bridge. It was a very busy pedestrian night since the temperatures were now very pleasant. 

 we stopped for an ice cream, vanilla for me, choc 2 flavours for Maureen, mint choc-chip for Margie. we browsed and shopped our way home. there were still quite a few shops open 

Margie needed batteries so the next morning I would endeavor to find some early and we were asleep by 1030.