Day Three
My intention for my third day in Paris was to bike to the Palace of Versailles, but it turned out Versailles was closed that day. I still signed up to use the bike-sharing in Paris, but I biked back to the Louvre instead of to Versailles. It was not a trip without issues, though, because while riding my a pedal fell off and a tire became flat. I was lucky to find that a very nice Parisian who said that I could use the bike he just dropped off because he no longer needed it, and it was working fine.
Back to the Louvre
I toured some around the paintings area and even saw the Mona Lisa. The painting that was across from the Mona Lisa was more impressive, at least to me. Below are the photos I took of that room.
Look at all the people!
A closer image
And the photo that was across from it
There was also some very impressive artwork on the ceiling of which I included some pictures below:
The more exciting stuff again came from the historical part of the museum. There was a Sphinx in the Ancient Egypt part of the museum. After looking around, I discovered that the Sphinx I saw would have been The Great Sphinx of Tanis. According to the Wikipedia page, it has been dated back to the 26th century BC, which is about 4000 years ago, so it is very old. I have included a picture of it below.
Another fascinating thing was the exhibit talking about the Louvre's history and showcasing the old walls of the Palace. I have displayed some pictures of those old walls below.
I also toured the Ancient Greek exhibits. There were many toys, bowls and glass. Below I have included a few photos of them.
Here are some glass bowls that were in Greek and Roman Exhibits
Below are some of the toys
Arc de Triomphe
After the Louvre, I visited the Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel and the Arc de Triomphe. The Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel was built before Arc de Triomphe, and it is smaller. There are many interesting features on the Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel, and a good blog post was written by someone else detailing many of them. An excellent resource to learn more about the Arc de Triomphe can be found here: https://www.britannica.com/topic/Arc-de-Triomphe. The photos that I took are included below.
Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel
Arc de Triomphe
After seeing both Arc de Triomphe and eating some food from the Christmas Market I made my way back to the hostel so that I could rest up for my day at the Palace of Versailles.
Day Four: Versailles
The size and grandeur of the palace are ridiculous. It is enormous, and the gardens around it are also massive. While the building and gardens by themselves are great attractions, there are also historical exhibits and a self-guided tour that is handed out at the start. The self-guided tour consisted of a headset which explained some of the interesting stuff in the palace.
One of the more interesting things is that the lives of the royals were bizarre. It was common for people to wait outside the king's bedroom door waiting for him to wake up. Some people watched the royals eat, and there are even benches where people sit while watching the Royals eat. I have shown them below.
A full overview of the weird ceremonies and such that took place through the day are listed at the following link: http://en.chateauversailles.fr/discover/history/key-dates/day-life-louis-xiv#evenings.
The most impressive room in the palace was probably the Hall of Mirrors. The Hall of Mirrors was built to impress visitors and show off the French Economy. Mirrors at the time were expensive, and the mirrors are placed so that the gardens, which are opposite to them, can be seen. I have included a few of my photos below (they do not do the room justice).
The gardens of the palace are also huge and fantastic. There were many fountains and sculptures scattered throughout the gardens. Below I have included some photos from the gardens.
I also saw another interesting sculpture of a monkey riding a goat. A short description of that sculpture can be found here: https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/699661. Below I have included a photo of it.
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