Happy Father's Day, Dad!

Dad, you're the best! We miss you! Be safe & come home soon!

(forgot my fill flash, sorry!)

Marie Antoinette

Half of my lifetime ago I was fortunate enough to go on a 16-day trip all around France to practice speaking the language I had studied, and to and learn about the culture. I was inundated with art & history; I was overwhelmed by the experience. I quite frankly don't remember much of it but what I do remember is that I loved Marie Antoinette's Estate at Versaille. It is magical. It is like stepping into a fairy tale. A brief history lesson is that this place was created for the Queen so that she could have an escape from the rigidity of royalty. It was a place for resting and having fun. (I'm sure there's much more to it than that, but we'll stick with the basics.)



Just as magical as the first time I experienced it. I literally took hundreds of pictures and couldn't even select 5 (the max it will allow me per post,) so I just picked a handful of different ones to give you a sample of the fairy tale.

Versailles, ridiculously opulent and excessive; but beautiful.

Here we are at the gold gates to Versailles. Seriously, it is hard to imagine anyone even wanting to live this extravegantly, but it is a sight to behold! It even has it's own breathtaking chapel inside with a gorgeous organ, amazing artwork, and gold leafing everywhere, and well, see it for yourself:
This is rounding the corner to head into the famous "Hall of Mirrors." I got a decent shot of the hall itself, but there are literally hundreds of people in it, which kind of takes away from the grandeur. I loved this shot because you can get a good idea of the dozens of matching chandeliers that hang from the hall's ceilings, and you can even see one mirror directly below the chandelier. Just imagine hundreds of those lining the wall opposite of the arched windows you see. It is brilliant with light!
Check out Louis XIV's bedchamber. The top of the bed with its plumes you can see, what I really wanted to capture was the art above the bed. I really cannot even imagine having this stuff over me while I was sleeping. Not to mention a gigantic crystal chandelier with candles.
Directly across from the kings bed, the windows opened up to this view of the gardens. Now this I could so live with. The grounds at Versailles are truly like a slice of heaven. Here you can't even see the fountains and flowers!

Paris Miscellaneousness

The carousel at the Tuileries. They were also giving pony rides through the gardens...I know 3 small children that would have really enjoyed this park! This made me miss my kids!
I actually think the picture was taken at St. Pancras in London. We took it for Will because he is so interested in trains these days. As a side note, I was terrified to take the Chunnel from London to Paris. But it was really cool. As you are leaving London you go through so many smaller tunnels that when you actually go under the water, it just seems like it's another tunnel. Then it dawns on you that this must be the tunnel and before you can get too stressed you're in the sun again. Very fast; very cool.
Place de la Concorde at night. You can see Cleopatra's needle in the foreground and the Eiffel Tower in the background.
And what would a trip to Paris be without a visit to the "Tour Eiffel?" Well, the first time I went to Paris we skipped it altogether, if that says anything. However we decided we wanted to see it, and it was pretty neat.
After we left the Eiffel Tower we were walking near the Seine and I had a wonderful opportunity to practice my French and asked a nice couple to take a picture of us. They pretended to understand me and smiled politely, and the man held out his hand for the camera...and voila! Not bad.

British Museum & Museum of Natural History in London

The British Museum houses some of most famous pieces of World History, including the Rosetta Stone and pieces of the Pantheon. Like the art-counterparts in Paris, it is overwhelming. One of my favorite discoveries on this day was this gorgeous gold clock which was once housed in Martin Luther's church. It's old and it still works. Really, I heard it chime with my own ears.

One of the things I found most fascinating is that for such a liberal country, they proudly displayed many beautiful pieces with biblical meaning, and described them in detail on the cards next to each exhibit. It truly moved me.
Not so far away is the Museum of Natural History. Every child's dream come true with the life-sized, reconstructed, animatronic dinosaurs. Perhaps the greatest dinosaur exhibit(s) in the world.
There are several rooms and floors with a variety of exhibits, but honestly the dinos steal the show!

Sainte Chapelle et Notre Dame

Sainte Chapelle is often overlooked, as it stands less than one hundred yards away from the magnificent Notre Dame. In my opinion, it is equally as magnificent. There are over 1000 stained glass windows that depict stories from the Bible. They are beautiful. The windows seen above are contained in the upper chapel, where only the king and his guests were allowed to worship. The lower chapel, as seen below, had beautiful gold-guilded arches and statues of Christ's disciples.

A stone's throw away is Notre Dame. Here is a rare shot of me in front of the camera. We had just climbed about thousand steps to get to the top to view exterior aerial views of Notre Dame, as well as the city below.
Of course Notre Dame has many well-noted features, including it's own stained glass windows. I personally enjoyed looking at the stone depictions of the many saints and biblical persons that are placed throughout the church.

Le Louvre et Musee d'Orsay

It is truly impossible to describe the feeling(s) one experiences when you come so close to the famous masterpieces housed in these two museums. It is simply overwhelming. Equally as fascinating to me is the opportunity to "people watch," and listen to words of others as equally overwhelmed as myself, in other languages!
I took countless pictures of the actual artwork, but the buildings themselves are works of art, which is why I'm posting these pictures here. Want to see artwork? Go to the library and check out a book. :)
I did thoroughly enjoy the Napoleon exhibits at the Louvre, I don't recall seeing this part of the museum the last time I was there. Here is a picture of his crown, well, one of them at least.

The grand hall at the Orsay.

Poor, poor Lance. We did both of these museums in the same day and it was a bit exhausting. But even he admitted gladness at seeing all of the things we did...