Versailles, Chartres, and the Tour Eiffel, oh my! Day deux in France!

May 31st, 2012
(I realize this was a month ago, so I am referring to my handy dandy journal I kept up the whole trip to relate my experiences to you as if I blogged while it was happening).

I wake up every day so exhausted. A part of me just wants the trip to end so I can start sleeping regularly again. A sign of age, I'm sure.

Had my typical breakfast in the hotel, then we had to load the bus up to go to Versailles. I've been so excited for this day, I can hardly hold it in. We got to see the Palace of Versailles, which was built by King Louis the VIX, or Louis the Great or the Sun King. Whichever you prefer, I'm not picky! Pictures cannot do the place justice; it is huge, and this was a progressive time when artists and architects used a lot of optical illusions to make things appear bigger than they really are.

I wish it weren't so cloudy today...

Vanna White

There's no way to describe each room other than they each had a theme either specific to a king/queen, their guards, or the roman gods. Louis actually had a lot of paintings made portraying him as a roman god, to show off his achievements in battle or otherwise.

Just to give you an idea of how huge these rooms are...

Ceilings painted after influence of Michaelangelo and the Sistene Chapel

Epic Hall of Mirrors

The chandeliers were removed every day and rehung every night.

Marie Antoinette and her children before the Revolution.

Did I mention that the garden is also amazing? Because it is. You should see this, too.

I love the view!

We had lunch about a block away from the palace at a little restaurant called Pizza Cesar Restaurant, but sadly we did not get any pizza. We did get some delicious chicken, and I loved that the decorations on the higher walls were expired license plates from all over the States. 

I have no idea whose face I blurred out.

Authentic 'French' fries! aha!

What is this???

So the glasses they served us coca cola in had a Gilbert signature (the exact way my dad and I sign!) with a crown above, as well as the serving trays. I inquired Noha to ask the servers about where they bought them, since that is my last name and I would love to buy a case or set and take them home to my dad and brother, but found out that they order through a company that only services hotels and restaurants, so they GAVE me one of the glasses to take home! I was so touched by their generosity! (Now, I need to open a restaurant to buy a set! Or find a friend that owns one, so I can ask them to order a case and I'll buy it from them.)

I am truly curious now as to whether or not their is French in my descendants. My father has us traced back to England, but hey, what is we come from a royal line in France? Not complaining!

I catnapped on the bus ride to Chartres, which sounds like you're coughing up a hairball when spoken correctly. It was like another dream come true. Truly. I cannot get over all the beautiful architecture here. 

Can't you just die?

This is so beautiful

They literally can't make colors like this anymore. There were no recipes, people just added whatever they had available. Like urine. True story.

These are the paths of the maze on the floor that members would follow on their knees, signifying their spiritual pilgrimage, especially if they were not in a financial position to take the physical pilgrimage to Jerusalem.

I was so sad that the restorations going on in the chapel did not cease at 5 pm like they were supposed to. There was so much banging and clanging that it was distracting to both us and the audience. The reverberation was overwhelming, though, as was obviously the venue. Some really sweet ladies, Annie, Kate, and Marie all approached me to buy CDs and talked with me for over 20 minutes. We left as kindred spirits. They even asked for pictures with me, which I haven't received yet but will hopefully soon. It was so nice to meet them. 

After we got changed, we had about a half hour ride back to Paris, and we took a group picture in front of the Eiffel Tower in normal clothes. 

(photo by Bekah Bliss)

I ended up going back to the hotel, which was obviously a mistake on my part because I didn't realize the people I had been regularly hanging out with had stayed behind at the Eiffel Tower, and then couldn't find anyone to go out with once we got back. As the French say, C'est la vie. Tomorrow will be better. I was able to get some updates on my blog, so that's at least a small consolation.

Hope you are all enjoying these!

Day HUIT of Chorale tour, day UN of Paris!

May 30th, 2012:

So I can't start today's post without relating what had happened the night before:

We are in a big city. Big cities have crime. I think people forget that. A group that went out last night witnessed a chasing which had resulted into a stabbing, and saw a man staggering in public holding his bowels in hands, bleeding all over. So happy I missed that incident. Also, if you ever go to Paris and ride the Metro, make sure you hold onto your ticket, because they sometimes randomly check for valid tickets, and someone else had to pay an extra 25 euro fine after their ticket (somehow) proved invalid.

Back to happier things, I was able to connect to internet here (which is where most of my Germany posts have come from), and reconnect with family so I didn't rack up cell phone texting charges. So wonderful, feeling connected again.

I had a good breakfast at the hotel, which is from 6-10 am, and during that time 4 large jars of Nutella are consumed by all the guests. It's insane. I admit I contributed, but who can say no to free Nutella????

After breakfast, Kevin walked/showed me where our sister bank to Bank of America, PNB Paribas, had an ATM located, for which I was very thankful because no one is going to think about robbing me with this guy around.

Our first road trip is to see Ile de la Cite, which Noha explained means the city on the island, or island city, and is on the Seine river. We drove around an Arc de Triomphe (there's more than one), and passed the Louvre, the largest museum in the world, covering 66,000 square meters. I can't wait to go there when I get a chance!

I obviously need to come back to this restaurant

First glimpses of the Paris Opera House

The Louvre

At the Ile de la Cite, we had an open tour of the Ste. Chapelle, which I fell in love with all the stained glass windows, royal decorations, and stone sculptures. I took a series of pictures that told the creation story, and loved my life doing it.

Jimmy-boo

Me and Mallory (and Tyler, the creeper!)

Ste. Chapelle

About to enter the King's private chapel

I'm dying.

The vaulted ceilings! Gah!

Here's the beginning of the stone story of the creation I love so much.

It is so beautiful I cannot handle it.

Next on the docket was to walk to the Notre Dame Cathedral (and I died for a moment or two). Noha gave me a personal tour guide version of the history of the cathedral, since everyone else was more interested in just going inside and taking pictures. I learned so much! Like for instance, the row of men you see? Those are kings, but not French Kings, but Kings of the Bible. During the French Revolution, the people didn't know they were supposed to be kings of the Bible, and had all their heads cut off! The originals were kept by a French schoolteacher in his well, who then died, and the heads were not rediscovered until 1977, by which point new heads had already been replaced on the cathedral. So, the originals are now in the Museum Cluny a few blocks away.

The Kings of Judah (with 2nd set of heads)

Jesus on Judgement Day

A glimpse of the flying buttresses (dies)

Cannot deal

All too soon, it's time to grab a quick bite (crepes, of course!), do a bit of shopping, then run to the bus because we have a concert to get ready for! We are singing at Eglise de la Madeleine, which looks nothing like how I would expect a church to look from the outside.

Eglise de la Madeleine

Love the roman columns!

The gorgeous altar

Being silly while waiting in line for the toilette!

We actually had a lot of compliments from the French audience, despite our obvious butchering of their language, but it was overwhelming to get to sing in such a beautiful venue. I could never replicate that feeling. We didn't change after the concert because Noha then took us to the front of the Paris Opera House for a picture in our formal wear, which will likely be part of the insert for next year's CD.

Dinner was not too far from the hotel; at Pari's cafe. Since I didn't want to sit outside where it was especially smokey, I sat with Dennis, the coordinator from Concept Tours, and we had a good time talking about the tour so far and other tours he has went on with other groups. Since my camera was charging, I didn't get any pictures of this meal, but it was a salad, chicken and pasta with a mushroom cream sauce, and a home-made chocolate mousse dessert with tiny pie shell. 

After dinner, I went to go shop with friends, but we soon discovered that like Germany, stores close by 8 in Paris, although cafes and restaurants are open til the wee hours of the morning. Disappointed, but we had a good time figuring out the metro systems!

A compilation of beautiful faces!

An art museum (I think!), full of risque sculptures!

Bikes you can 'rent' to ride all over the city! Crazy!

Escargot! (Insert cliche nasally French laugh)

Well that's all for this day. I went back to the hotel and tried to catch up and blog more about my happenings in Germany. I've gotten so busy after returning to the States that I am again so thankful that I kept a journal, otherwise all my memories could have been lost forever!

Until next time, folks!