Started proceedings from the Cityrama terminus. Boarded the bus to Versailles which is about 18 km to the West of the city of Paris. Took about an hour to reach the place. It took a further half hour to get inside the palace.
An American co-passenger was getting vexed with the wait and made it quite evident. "I want my money back! This is just a glorified bus ride!" he protested.The guide tried to calm him down but it was tough. "What are you grinning at?" he snapped at a completely unknown gentleman who had possibly bared his teeth just to take in some fresh air and breath through his mouth!
The sun's rays were sharp and it was tough waiting, with a crowd milling at the entrance. Sanity returned and we were soon inside the palace.
Versailles (pronounced "Versai") was constructed as a brand new palace by Louis IV. Till then, the French kings used to reside at the Louvre. The Versailles palace has 2000 rooms. It took 35,000 workmen 50 years to complete it. The palace at Mysore was possibly modeled on the Versailles palace. The facade is imposing. The palace opens out to well spread out gardens which are neatly laid out. There are a few small, water bodies surrounded by bushes and flowers. All these ponds are man-made, the guide informs us. The main water body has the prominent sculpture of the sun with 7 horses.
The tour through the palace with the guide (and the ear contraption to hear the commentary) was informative.
The guides are French and speak English with a very thick accent. The tour takes us through a labyrinth of rooms. Each room serves some special purpose: This was the old chapel, this was the chapel
where Louis the VI got married to Marie Antoinette (An-tua-net), this was where people waited to see the king, this was where the king slept, where the queen slept, this was the music room, this was the dining room. After a point, the details didn't matter.
There is a theme to the decoration in each room: some method to the madness. It's dedicated to a particular planet: to Mars, the God of war, to Mercury, the God of medicine, to Venus, the God of Love and so on. The king of course was glorified as the sun. Difficult to recall all the details beyond a point: The ceilings are covered with ornate paintings of gods, devils, kings, men and women in various degrees of clothing.
Watching these paintings is the surest way to get a neck sprain. We wish they had placed these works where it would be easier on the eye (and the neck). The guide points out that the artist committed suicide after completing the work on the ceiling because of the extreme physical pain he had to put up with.
The style is entire "gothic" explains the guide: high ceilings and detailed, gilded works. We briefly pause at the "Hall of mirrors". There's glass all around, looking glass, chandeliers (which are not original by the way) and huge windows. A lot of marble sculpture also fills the hall. The unfriendly American, with his passport sticking out from his back-pocket, and his black cap makes it a point to announce that this was the place where the treaty was signed for the First World War and has a little laugh. The others don't see any humour in the statement. Thankfully, they don't respond "What are you laughing about!?"
Once out of the hall of mirrors, we are back to rooms with huge paintings. One of the them is the coronation of Napoleon. It's the same one which we saw at the Louvre. We learn that the artist David painted it twice. That would be some feat since both are massive works covering the entire wall with several prominent people featured.
Soon, we've explored all the rooms and the gardens. It's time to get into the bus and return to Paris. Our man is still fixated on "Can I have my money back!?"
The afternoon was one long walk. We made the mistake of asking the guide on how to get to the Notre Dame. She replied that it was just walking distance. Perhaps, she was Gandhiji's comrade at the Dandi march! Notre Dame was really far away. We walked by the Seine and passed by several bridges including the famous one: The Pont Neuf.
There are Indians at the entrance to each bridge. They squat with a bucket filled with ice and water bottles and a small cardboard sign reading 1 euro each. Even hob-nobbed with one of them for directions to Notre Dame in Hindi.
After a brief halt at a post-office to get a couple of stamps for the kids, we were finally at the Notre Dame.
Notre Dame is on the "Island of the City" (Isle de la cite). The Seine forks off briefly to form the island. It's one of the earliest inhabited spots in Paris. The Notre Dame was built around the 12th century. The exteriors are imposing and feature a number of sculptures based on Christian themes. I recognized one of them to be the "day of judgement". We can see Jesus and a balance on which people's punya-papa are measured.
Based on the result, they are either blessed with eternal paradise or an eternal hell. The figures to the right are gloomy and should be the ones subjected to eternal condemnation. The figures to the left look up to Jesus and should be the saved subjects.
The interiors of the cathedral are impressive. The side walls have massive glass windows in various colors and look like the patterns in a kaleidoscope. The famous rose window is also huge and colorful. We were in time for the afternoon mass. A group of priests in traditional attire formed a trail. They were led by a man who was moving what looked like a bell tied to a string from side to side. I believe it contains incense. Soon, this group was on stage and took their positions. The audience stood up. The mass should have been conducted in catholic style going by the picture of St John Paul II which is hung prominently in front of the main shrine. A lady sang a piece in a resounding voice. Some in the audience seemed to join her in the chorus portions. We decided to move on when the sermon started. It was in French, but we could catch some phrases that we are familiar with like "pere" (In the name of the father) and the french version of what sounded like Halleluyah.
Samyukta needed to use the rest room urgently and invited our collective anger for not letting us know "in advance!" We decided to go back to our hotel. An hour later, we were back at the "bateaux mouche" (baato-moosh) on the banks of the Seine. It was around 7 pm in the evening. The sun was still up since
it sets around 8:30 pm at this time of the year. The boat ride was quite relaxing. Bateaux mouche is close to the Eiffel Tower. From here, the boat with some 200 people on the top floor, travels right up to the Notre Dame via one of the forks on the Seine. It then takes an about turn, and comes back via the other fork of the Seine. There is a background drone in English, French and to complicate it in Japanese as well. The commentary is about the famous buildings on either side of the Seine. Everything sounds Greek and Latin. Firstly, we are too far away from the speaker. Secondly, as in railway stations in India, it is muffled so that all the three languages sound quite the same. But we are aware of most of the important landmarks:
- Musee d'orsay: an old station which has now been converted to an art museum and
which primarily displays the works of the artist Van Gogh.
- The golden dome of the Invalides (on-va-leeds) which houses Napoleon's tomb,
- The obelisk which forms the centre of the Place de la concorde (plaas-the-laa-concord)
- The Louvre of course,
- Notre Dame,
- Pont Neuf bridge.
We've seen and heard about these so many times over, that we could well be a tour guide ourselves!
That wound up our stay in Paris. Tomorrow, we are off to the Swiss Alps aboard the TGV.
An American co-passenger was getting vexed with the wait and made it quite evident. "I want my money back! This is just a glorified bus ride!" he protested.The guide tried to calm him down but it was tough. "What are you grinning at?" he snapped at a completely unknown gentleman who had possibly bared his teeth just to take in some fresh air and breath through his mouth!
The sun's rays were sharp and it was tough waiting, with a crowd milling at the entrance. Sanity returned and we were soon inside the palace.
Versailles (pronounced "Versai") was constructed as a brand new palace by Louis IV. Till then, the French kings used to reside at the Louvre. The Versailles palace has 2000 rooms. It took 35,000 workmen 50 years to complete it. The palace at Mysore was possibly modeled on the Versailles palace. The facade is imposing. The palace opens out to well spread out gardens which are neatly laid out. There are a few small, water bodies surrounded by bushes and flowers. All these ponds are man-made, the guide informs us. The main water body has the prominent sculpture of the sun with 7 horses.
The tour through the palace with the guide (and the ear contraption to hear the commentary) was informative.
The guides are French and speak English with a very thick accent. The tour takes us through a labyrinth of rooms. Each room serves some special purpose: This was the old chapel, this was the chapel
where Louis the VI got married to Marie Antoinette (An-tua-net), this was where people waited to see the king, this was where the king slept, where the queen slept, this was the music room, this was the dining room. After a point, the details didn't matter.
There is a theme to the decoration in each room: some method to the madness. It's dedicated to a particular planet: to Mars, the God of war, to Mercury, the God of medicine, to Venus, the God of Love and so on. The king of course was glorified as the sun. Difficult to recall all the details beyond a point: The ceilings are covered with ornate paintings of gods, devils, kings, men and women in various degrees of clothing.
Watching these paintings is the surest way to get a neck sprain. We wish they had placed these works where it would be easier on the eye (and the neck). The guide points out that the artist committed suicide after completing the work on the ceiling because of the extreme physical pain he had to put up with.
The style is entire "gothic" explains the guide: high ceilings and detailed, gilded works. We briefly pause at the "Hall of mirrors". There's glass all around, looking glass, chandeliers (which are not original by the way) and huge windows. A lot of marble sculpture also fills the hall. The unfriendly American, with his passport sticking out from his back-pocket, and his black cap makes it a point to announce that this was the place where the treaty was signed for the First World War and has a little laugh. The others don't see any humour in the statement. Thankfully, they don't respond "What are you laughing about!?"
Once out of the hall of mirrors, we are back to rooms with huge paintings. One of the them is the coronation of Napoleon. It's the same one which we saw at the Louvre. We learn that the artist David painted it twice. That would be some feat since both are massive works covering the entire wall with several prominent people featured.
Soon, we've explored all the rooms and the gardens. It's time to get into the bus and return to Paris. Our man is still fixated on "Can I have my money back!?"
The afternoon was one long walk. We made the mistake of asking the guide on how to get to the Notre Dame. She replied that it was just walking distance. Perhaps, she was Gandhiji's comrade at the Dandi march! Notre Dame was really far away. We walked by the Seine and passed by several bridges including the famous one: The Pont Neuf.
There are Indians at the entrance to each bridge. They squat with a bucket filled with ice and water bottles and a small cardboard sign reading 1 euro each. Even hob-nobbed with one of them for directions to Notre Dame in Hindi.
After a brief halt at a post-office to get a couple of stamps for the kids, we were finally at the Notre Dame.
Notre Dame is on the "Island of the City" (Isle de la cite). The Seine forks off briefly to form the island. It's one of the earliest inhabited spots in Paris. The Notre Dame was built around the 12th century. The exteriors are imposing and feature a number of sculptures based on Christian themes. I recognized one of them to be the "day of judgement". We can see Jesus and a balance on which people's punya-papa are measured.
Based on the result, they are either blessed with eternal paradise or an eternal hell. The figures to the right are gloomy and should be the ones subjected to eternal condemnation. The figures to the left look up to Jesus and should be the saved subjects.
The interiors of the cathedral are impressive. The side walls have massive glass windows in various colors and look like the patterns in a kaleidoscope. The famous rose window is also huge and colorful. We were in time for the afternoon mass. A group of priests in traditional attire formed a trail. They were led by a man who was moving what looked like a bell tied to a string from side to side. I believe it contains incense. Soon, this group was on stage and took their positions. The audience stood up. The mass should have been conducted in catholic style going by the picture of St John Paul II which is hung prominently in front of the main shrine. A lady sang a piece in a resounding voice. Some in the audience seemed to join her in the chorus portions. We decided to move on when the sermon started. It was in French, but we could catch some phrases that we are familiar with like "pere" (In the name of the father) and the french version of what sounded like Halleluyah.
Samyukta needed to use the rest room urgently and invited our collective anger for not letting us know "in advance!" We decided to go back to our hotel. An hour later, we were back at the "bateaux mouche" (baato-moosh) on the banks of the Seine. It was around 7 pm in the evening. The sun was still up since
it sets around 8:30 pm at this time of the year. The boat ride was quite relaxing. Bateaux mouche is close to the Eiffel Tower. From here, the boat with some 200 people on the top floor, travels right up to the Notre Dame via one of the forks on the Seine. It then takes an about turn, and comes back via the other fork of the Seine. There is a background drone in English, French and to complicate it in Japanese as well. The commentary is about the famous buildings on either side of the Seine. Everything sounds Greek and Latin. Firstly, we are too far away from the speaker. Secondly, as in railway stations in India, it is muffled so that all the three languages sound quite the same. But we are aware of most of the important landmarks:
- Musee d'orsay: an old station which has now been converted to an art museum and
which primarily displays the works of the artist Van Gogh.
- The golden dome of the Invalides (on-va-leeds) which houses Napoleon's tomb,
- The obelisk which forms the centre of the Place de la concorde (plaas-the-laa-concord)
- The Louvre of course,
- Notre Dame,
- Pont Neuf bridge.
We've seen and heard about these so many times over, that we could well be a tour guide ourselves!
That wound up our stay in Paris. Tomorrow, we are off to the Swiss Alps aboard the TGV.
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