On my second day in Paris, I joined Filipa's group again for a half day tour of the gardens at Versailles. They fountains were going to be running and certain gardens usually closed to the public would be open, so what fortuitous luck!
We met together near Notre Dame station and then rode a double decker train all the way out to the palace at Versailles.
The palace is beautiful, no doubt, and some day I'll see the interior, but for the day we would be walking through the gardens.
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| Gardens. Meh. |
We admired the beautifully and unnaturally pruned and sheared gardens, trees and lanes. The fountains were gorgeous both when they were running and when they were not. They are, after all, magnificently sculpted, and you get a much better view of them without the water.
It's not OCD: it's the power of France!
King Louis XIV, aka Apollo the Sun God, was so obsessed with fireworks that he wanted them day and night. What makes a better daytime firework than a fountain? But he wasn't satisfied to just have them on while he was in the gardens or just at Versailles. Oh, no. Even when he was gone, even when he was in Paris, the fountains
had to be running! We discovered the musical fountain in one of the gardens, with the water shooting into the sky in arcs set to music. If Louis had known this was possible, I would pity the poor musicians who would be hired to play day and night every day all year for his pleasure.
Of course, if I lived in such a gorgeous palace, I think a little vanity would go to my head as well.
When I returned to Paris, I just kept walking around again. It's easy to do in a city like Paris. You find an alley that opens on a new street. That street has a series of tiny second hand shops. At the end of the lane are street performers. And you just keep going and going.
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| Latin Corner, suspiciously chock full o' kebab |
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