We did not have film class this morning, but we did have our final Survival French class. I'm very happy to be done with it. This morning the teacher asked us our plans for the rest of the time we're here, and I mentioned a possible trip to Disneyland and she flipped out at me, saying it was "too touristy." (Apparently it receives more visitors than does the Eiffel Tower each year.) And anyone I've talked to knows my thoughts on that class.
Anyway, we didn't have other class today because the weekend was to be reserved for travel. Everyone was going to go to Italy, but we quickly changed our minds after looking at the final price. Instead we chose to visit Versailles.
We learned the hard way that we did not in fact have to buy supplementary train tickets; our metro passes would have worked just fine. It was about a 40 minute train ride.
I remember the Summer Palace in St. Petersburg, Russia, where we went freshman year of high school. The gardens had all these "trick fountains" - buttons planted like land mines would trigger secret fountains in trees, benches, anywhere, and would surprise its unknowing visitor with a water attack. We were told that the gardens/fountains there were based off that of Versailles, but I didn't recognize a resemblance.
The palace
The Hall of Mirrors
I was a little sad to not have this be an official visit through ACCENT (read: we didn't have an official tour). When we do have tours they can be exhausting from standing around a lot, but we learn so much about the most intricate things. I suppose it was good for us all to explore on our own though.
It was amazing to see Marie Antoinette's bedroom and think about the history that surrounds the palace.
La chambre de la Reine
The secret door she escaped through when the angry mobs stormed the palace
After the tour of the Palace, we walked through the gardens and went to Marie Antoinette's estate. There were clusters of cottages through a tranquil pond and surrounding gardens. The whole place was quite peaceful, a perfect place for an afternoon nap.
(I tried posting more pictures / a shot of the swan that came right up to us at the pond, but the Internet isn't cooperating.)
After the estate, we headed to a nearby restaurant for dinner. The waiter was très charmant, and the food was actually pretty delicious. We decided to get dessert, and he showed us the menu.
"Qu'est-ce que c'est q'un 'diplomate maison?'"
"C'est une surprise! C'est magnifique..."
So we got it, and he didn't lie; c'était magnifique.
Walking total for the day: 8.5 miles.
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