"Write injuries in sand, kindness in marble..." - French Proverb
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| (King Louis XIV statue outside the Chateau de Versailles) |
Date: 20 – 22 May 2017
Route: Paris City Tour
Hotel: St Christopher’s Hotel, Paris
In Paris we arranged for a half-day tour to Versailles to visit the Chateau de Versailles. The tour cost us €33/pax. With a few other tenants of St Christopher Hotel, we booked the hotel van to Versailles, 20 km from Paris city centre.
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| (Our small tour group) |
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| (A large crowd early in the morning) |
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| (Visitors queue to buy tickets) |
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| (Our pre-booked tickets) |
The Château de Versailles is a royal château in Versailles in the Île-de-France region of France. It is now open as a museum, and a very popular tourist attraction.
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| (Bright blue sky to visit a palace) |
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| (Ornate gold decorations and trimmings) |
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| (The start of the tour of the palace) |
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| (A beautiful elegant hall) |
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| (A typical corridor in the palace) |
When the château was built, Versailles was a small village dating from the 11th century. Today, however, it is a wealthy suburb of Paris. Versailles was the seat of political power in the Kingdom of France from 1682, when King Louis XIV moved the royal court from Paris, until the royal family was forced to return to the capital in October 1789, within three months after the beginning of the French Revolution. Versailles is therefore famous not only as a building, but as a symbol of the system of absolute monarchy of the Ancient Régime.
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| (The Chapel in the palace) |
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| (Paintings on the ceiling) |
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| (Finest example of French baroque) |
The Palace of Versailles or Château de Versailles has been on UNESCO’s World Heritage List for 30 years, is one of the most beautiful achievements of 18th-century French art. One of the best known tourist attractions in France, few places better showcase the opulence and grandeur of the French monarchy better than the Palace of Versailles.
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| (The Queen's bed chamber) |
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| (Another bed chamber) |
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| (The crowd in the Hall of Mirrors) |
The site began as Louis XIII’s hunting lodge before his son Louis XIV transformed and expanded it, moving the court and government of France to Versailles in 1682. Each of the three French kings who lived there until the French Revolution added improvements to make it more beautiful.
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| (Gardens of Versailles) |
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| (Jardine a'la francaise) |
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| (A classic French garden) |
We completed the tour of Paris and Versailles early and took the train from Trocadero Station direct to Gare Du Nord Train Station to board the 4:00 pm Euro train to London. After collecting our luggage at St Pancras Locker Room, we took the train to Wembley where we stayed for two nights at Travelodge London Wembley.
We were dead tired when we checked-in the hotel and slept like a log. And we missed watching the news on Manchester bombing that happened earlier of the night.
Note from the Wiki:
On 22 May 2017, 22-year-old British Muslim Salman Ramadan Abedi detonated a shrapnel-laden homemade bomb at the exit of Manchester Arena in Manchester, England, following a concert by American singer Ariana Grande. Twenty-three adults and children were killed, including Abedi, and 250 were injured.
After initial suspicions of a terrorist network, police later said they believe Abedi had largely acted alone, but that others had been aware of Abedi's plans.
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