Our family is blessed to attend the most amazing family camp in the world each summer! Here is our "family portrait," taken on "medieval night." Some lovely ladies in waiting and a knight in shining armor!
Syd not only got to ride a horse, she got to paint one with paints and markers. Patient horse, bewildered children!
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.
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!
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.
