Fr 4/25 Notre Dame and Versailles

We both got a good night sleep last night.  We went to bed around 10 pm (1 pm Oregon time) and got up to the alarm at 7 am.  We compared notes and we were both awake from 1 to 2 am, but other than that we both received about 7 hours of sleep.  I think we are now fully on European time.

We went down to the restaurant for breakfast where they have a huge buffet.  We tried to stay as Parisian as possible having fresh squeezed orange juice, croissants (crispy and good), scrambled oeufs, bacon, and yogurt along with a latte.  We were then off on our tour of Paris.

Valerie was our tour guide.  We took the scenic route in going to Notre Dame Cathedral.  Mandatory of any tour of Paris is a trip up the Champs Elysees and driving around the Arc de Triomphe, Napoleon's monument to himself and France's military triumphs..

We had been reading online how reservations to visit Notre Dame Cathedral had been suspended and the church was being reserved for those wishing to pray for the pontiff.  We didn't know if there would be restrictions on visiting and touring or not.  When we got there the only difference was that the central seating area in the sanctuary was reserved for those wanting to pray.  Other than that, all was as we experienced in 2016.  We only had to stand in line for about 15 minutes to get in.

So, how has the cathedral changed since our last visit and its reconstruction?  It was much the same just with everything being lighter. brighter and like new.

Valerie explained to us some of the methods they had used to clean the soot and decades of dirt off the stonework.  They used a latex based coating that they applied to the stone and then peeled it off to remove all the contaminants (much like a facial).  New gold chandeliers  had been created that were beautiful and gave off much light.  Indirect lighting on the walls and ceiling lit up the whole space, a big change from the dark and shadows before the restoration.  The stain glass was all new and yet it had the same look and feel as the scenes that had been replaced.

The small chapels around the perimeter I remembered as being very eclectic dedicated to different people over the centuries.   Now they are all more uniform with a modest altar on one side, a statue on the other, and one large piece of artwork on each of the two side walls.  One thing I remembered from our prior visit was the wood carvings of the last supper that form the back wall of the choir loft at the front of the church.  They were there fully restored and looking beautiful.

In front of the alter they had one large picture of the Pope with rows of candles people had purchased placed on the steps below it.

The front of the church was as good as new.  You had to look closely to see where they had made repairs.

While the interior looked finished, they are still working hard on reconstructing the spier atop the church over the altar.

Atop the old spier was a metal rooster, a symbol of France.  While it has been replaced by a new one, the old one was found in the debris and was placed on display.

As we were walking back toward our bus and crossing the bridge over the river, suddenly we witnessed two men in wet suits jump off the bridge and into the water.  Apparently they were police doing some sort of training exercise as the police boat was there to pick them up.

We then continued our tour of the left bank and the right bank areas of Paris, with all their historic buildings and winding streets.

In the afternoon we boarded another bus for a 30 minute drive to the Palace of Versailles.  This massive castle was most infamously associated with King Henry the 14th and his heirs during the 17th century.   The palace includes over 2,000 acres of wooden land, and more than 700,000 square feet of structures.  (Hopefully you can click out this panoramic photo below to see this massive facility in greater detail).

We were led by Laura (the one in the red hat below).  She did an amazing job of sharing much of the background and history with us of the facility and the people involved.  She made a game out of our visit by having us find and discuss unifying elements located in the ceiling paintings in each of the many huge rooms we visited.  She was a French history major in college.  Three rooms were arranged in order: the war room, the hall of mirrors, and the peace room.  The King would bring people into the war room where the ceiling told the story of France crushing its foes and neighbors at will.  It was his way of beginning negotiations with some not so subtle intimidation.  Then in the peace room he would discuss arrangements between countries that were favorable to his country.  They would then meet in the middle, in the hall of mirrors, to negotiate whether they wanted peace or war and what the consequences of each would be.

One thing I thought was a good idea is that King Henry had paintings done of each of his grandsons as a way of showing them respect and their roles in the royal household.  The picture below includes portraits of two of his grandsons.  I wonder what it would take to commission portraits of each of our five grandsons, complete with satin clothes and wigs, to honor them in our family gallery???  (Fortunately, AI may make this an easy task to accomplish in the not too distant future 😏.

As impressive as the rooms in the Palace were, perhaps even more impressive were the "gardens" behind the palace.  This huge area goes on as far as the eye can see and includes over 50 major fountains and water features, one of which being the huge rowing pond in the distant center.  Creating the view out the windows of the Hall of Mirrors, these manicured gardens go on and on, and have classical music piped in as you stroll along the pathways.  King Henry would have huge numbers of flowers planted throughout so that their aroma would permeate the palace through the open windows.  He would routinely have thousands of flowers rotated out to generate new scents.  (I didn't include more pictures of the palace as everywhere was very crowded with people constantly bumping into each other.  Better pictures are available from Google.  The palace reminded me in function and design to the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg and to Buckingham Palace in London).

Returning from or excursion around 6:30 we made our way up the street to our second French cuisine experience, The Villa Verdi Ristorante.  

Continuing with our goal to sample French fare we ordered a Regina pizza with San Marzano DOP, champignons, huile d'olive, and basilic Tomato sauce.  (A less sophisticated gourmet might confuse this with a ham, mushroom, and cheese pizza.)  We accompanied this with a French pilsner.

In the interests of science we wanted to do a comparison with our dessert last night by again ordering a Nutella crepe with strawberries.  The strawberries in France have much more flavor than the ones we often get in Oregon.  Once again our waiter was fantastic, complementing our choices.

Final fun fact for tonight When they bring your bill to the table and you pay by credit card, they ask you how much if any you would like to add as a tip. THEY then enter it on the portable machine, tap your card, and have you sign.  We have been told that tipping in France is totally optional, and usually is just a small amount to show appreciation for pleasant service.  Last night we tipped 2 euros and tonight 3 euros.   Both nights each waiter has said something to the effect of "thank you for your kindness."  Waiters in the states could learn a lot from these professionals about providing quality service.

Daily Step Count:  10,898 steps including walking to and around Notre Dame, hiking all over the Palace of Versailles, and walking to and from dinner from our hotel.