7/28/09

From Kat:

Today we went to Versailles, and after, we perused the Champs-Elyssées. I'll let the pictures do most of the blogging tonight. Note: Mom took some of these pictures, too! The first 10 or something.

Monoprix!

Lunch (dessert?) today.

TGV to Versailles

Pigeon missing toes...

Versailles gardens

One of the...paintings in one of the...rooms at Versailles

Sneak picture

Uh-oh, Hall of Mirrors...

Hall of Mirrors = Mom's worst nightmare

So, after about 2 minutes at Versailles, I got really overwhelmed with the crowd. I've been wanting to see the castle for a while, but ideally, I'd want to explore it with no one else there. Or, you know, go back in time to see how it actually functioned. Unfortunately, neither of those is possible. On top of that, it was a huge bummer that the event of going to Versailles now seems to be about saying you've been there rather than actually witnessing any history. I get kind of a kick out of (but am sometimes annoyed by) people who only take pictures because they feel like they have to. (If they don't, it never happened!) And that's almost all that seemed to be going on there today. But after some thought, I decided I could either spend a few hours there grumbling about being pushed around by mobs of (fellow) sweaty tourists, or I could use the opportunity to find another, potentially more interesting side of the frantic picture-taking. I spent the rest of the time there taking photos of the people I saw, rather than the things in the castle. And I ended up having a really great time. Don't get me wrong, Versailles is a very cool place to explore, but I just took more interest in the people doing the exploring today. Guess I'll just have to sneak into the castle some night in order to experience it the way I want to. Just kidding. ....

Here are some of the photos:

(I spy a Giants hat...)

(Yessss.)