Monday, August 13, 2012

French Holiday Part III: Versailles


Hello everyone.
I'm just wondering if anybody had  seen last night's Olympic's Closing Ceremony? Spectacular isn't it?
Were you also excited to see the Spice Girls just like me? And did you find them good or in fact better than their younger days?
I have to comment on the supermodels - Naomi Campbell and Kate Moss participation though. Their reputation don't seem fitting in the Olympic spirit.

As much as I still want to go on with my thoughts on the splendid show last night, I'm afraid I have to carry on with the subject  of this post, our French Holiday of course.
Part of our itinerary is visiting the Palace of Versailles. It is situated outside Central Paris.
History says it was the centre of political power during Louis IV reign  until he was forced back to return to Paris during the French Revolution.
When you set foot in this grand place, you could not help but to think, people before had all the right to revolt. What with all the grandeur and the blatant excessiveness, a very sharp contrast to the real plight of the masses. Isn't it  just such an insult?

Here are our pictures I would like to share:

Front view of Chateau de Versailles. It is so massive the whole view won't fit in my camera, lol! Kidding aside, people were already flocking in as early as 10am.



The Chateau on a closer look from the garden



The 800 hectare garden of Versailles.
Because the queue to the Chateau was so long we decided to check the garden first.
We were not prepared for this breath taking sight.


At the bottom of the garden is a big canal. People can rent a boat and have fun under the sun.


One of the many water sculptures in this magnificent garden



Row, row, row  your boat gently down the stream. Merrily, merrily, merrily life is but a dream. Oh what a dream indeed!



Little Girl enjoying the very well manicured lawn although it's off limits - of which a few minutes after we were asked to step out.



Just simply impressive, isn't it?


So impressive Mummy and Little Girl could not resist having a picture together!



The garden is said to have about 200,000 number of trees!


Just one of the many parterres of flowers the garden has


We were so exhausted afterwards. 800 hectares of exploring under the 26C of sunshine.
 But still, we decided to check on the queue. No chance. It was still very long and we were just so tired. Although I really wanted to go inside and see the famous Hall of Mirrors.
I believe it's  been featured  in several films or as an inspiration I think.
 I was also intrigued in the flamboyant lifestyle of Louis IV  and it would have been a good opportunity to see this and most of all I just want to see  those antique furnitures. Well, there is always a next time.

So what better way channelling this frustration than go shopping?
The very good thing about my husband is he knows me very well.
Every new place we go, he would always set aside a shopping day for me - whether I would actually shop or just window shop, it doesn't matter really.
So the day before this Versailles trip,  was my shopping day in Val d' Europe.
Since we were  in France, I told myself I would only be shopping for French brands so here goes my very few shopping finds:

A dress from Promod I bought the day before which I wore to our Versailles visit.


Another dress from Promod


And the sole reason why I insisted on going back to Val d' Europe (after the Versailles visit).
This handbag gave me the sleepless night. 
And I finally gave in to the Longchamp craze. Although not the Pliage one.
This is Longchamp Planettes tote in sable colour.
A very good alternate with my Michael Kors tote for everyday use. Easy clean as well.


I also fancied a denim jacket from Naf Naf but not so convincing enough to give me a sleepless night.
 I also wanted to buy something for Little Girl but just could not find any.
So in the end, I bought her 3 pairs of Hello Kitty shoes in bigger sizes at Auchan because they were just 10 euros/pair.

It is now about 1 am and have to call it a night now. I will try my very best to finish this French Holiday chronicles tomorrow.
Merci.

2 comments:

  1. Hi, I love that red dress, although is it more like a tunic? it seem a bit short for a dress. Anyway, I did see the closing ceremony for the Olympics. I found it too...pop-culture-ish. When the Spice girls came out, I was like...really? really? lol. But on the side note, it seemed like everyone had a concert fun night. I must be getting too old for those kind of stuff...or maybe I was a bit disappointed because I expected too much.

    The Chateau looks fabulous.

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  2. Hi Bing, yes it is dress although it does look a bit short in the picture but actually it is just the same length with the other one. Yes the Olympics Ceremony was really a showcase of the Great British Culture and its contribution in the music industry.

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