Day 7   Versailles - Paris

After breakfast on the boat, we boarded buses for Versailles.  It took about an hour to get there.  We parked at Versailles Palace, where we had a guide for a tour.  Versailles Palace was  built in the early 1700's and was the home of the French kings until 1804.  The French Revolution ended the monarchy, and most of the royal family.  Many other noble families were beheaded by the revolutionaries.

Versailles Gate

We began our tour with some of the more public rooms of the palace. These rooms were decorated with gilded columns and painted (artwork) ceilings. These rooms were showing the effects of time and the wear of thousands of tourists going through them. Eventually, we came to the throne room (which did not have a throne --we were shown the spot where the throne stood. This room was decorated with red silk wall covering and gold trim. The ceiling was painted with hunting scenes. Next we saw the Hall of Mirrors. This was a large room on the west side of the palace. The inner walls were covered with mirrors opposite a wall of windows. This meant the setting sun would reflect off water pools on the west side of the palace into the room and be reflected by the mirrors making this a light-filled room. There were large cut-glass chandeliers. These were not original; the original had been cut clear quartz stone. This hall was the place of many government activities and was the site of the signing of the Treaty of Versailles, which ended World War I. From the Hall of Mirrors, we entered the King's personal chambers -- his bedroom was highly decorated and had a tall four-postered bed with drapes that could be closed around it. This room had the only original quartz chandelier that remains. Next we saw the Queen's chambers. These were just as large and just as ornate has the King's. We saw the bed where the Queens had their children and where Marie Antoinette had been captured by the revolutionaries to be beheaded. Places were pointed out where revolutionaries had fought with the King's forces, but apparently little damage was done to the palace. The opulence of the palace and the arrogance of the royalty were among the factors that precipitated the revolution.

Versailles Hall of Mirrors

Versailles King's Bed

Versailles Chapel (Larger than most churches)

Next, we saw the outside fountains and gardens.  These gardens are immense and elaborate, with each separate garden covering a different theme.  They usually had a central plaza with statues and arches and were surrouinded by plantings of trees and shrubs.  The only flowers surrounded the main fountain.  The fountains were coordinated with music that was played throughout the gardens.  We walked through several of the gardens; looking at all them would have taken days.

Versailles Gardens and Fouintains

 We returned to our boat in time for a late lunch and an afternoon of sights along the river as we progressed toward Paris.  On this leg of the trip, we saw the outskirts of Paris as we moved toward the central city where we would dock for the night.  We saw some factories along the river; none of them seemed to be spewing smoke or air pollution.  We didn't see evidence of drainage from these plants causing water pollution.  We also saw homes along the river, some of which were large elaborate chateaus.  Others were very small cabins that might have been vacation homes.  We saw skyscrapers at several locations along the river; places where Paris is growing into the modern world.  The central city's historic structures are protected so that new modern buildings cannot be built there.  We saw some familiar names on the buildings, such as Microsoft and Renault, but most had names that we did not know.  My conclusion was that much of French business was aimed at France rather than a global market.  Another interesting observation was that the many bridges across the Seine River were just utilitarian with no interesting architectural features.  Some of the bridges in the central city were highly decorated, but not that many.

Seine Waterfront near Paris

Seine Lock and Dam

Seine Lock opening

Seine Water Skier

Seine River Sail Boats

Seine River Skyline in West Paris

Seine River Near West Paris, Statue of Liberty, Eiffel Tower

We docked at the same port that we had left a few days earlier.   At this port, we were in view of the Statue of Liberty, which is a copy of the statue given to the U.S. by France and sits in New York Harbor.  This one was a gift from the U.S. to France.  We were also in view of the Eiffel Tower, which is lighted at night and sparkles every hour for about 5 minutes.  It was a fairly grand place to be.