We started bright and early in a van heading off to the outskirts of Paris to visit the Palace of Versailles. Our guide's name was Kevin Gary (he said his mom was a big fan of US soap operas and she named him after two characters who she liked back in the early 1980's). Kevin was smart and articulate and knew his way around Versailles. He did a great job, sharing information about the history and the culture of the times when the castle was used, and moving us through the crowds. It was quite a remarkable place and story.
Again--don't get the whole king thing--and King Louis the 14th and those who followed him took spending and opulence to a whole new level for me. I know that there are similar places in other parts of the world, but it was "over the top" for me.
These were not built with wheelchairs in mind--
Kevin told us that on most summer days this entire area would be packed with a line of people waiting to get in.
Yep--that is gold plating on all of that stuff--well, variety of types of processes were used throughout the palace to use gold, gold plating, gold flecks, and etc.
Unusual details everywhere--
Paintings covered the walls and many of the ceilings-
Kevin told us stories about the castle and its history and the weird customs of the time (and also knew how to move us through the crowds inside the rooms.) It was a big honor to be invited to watch the king wake up in the morning, so the king had a public bedroom and a private one. He would move to the public bedroom to "wake" up in front of his invited guests. Apparently even more special was to escort the king to the bathroom--no thanks!
Statues of all kinds were throughout the rooms we saw-
The kings were doing all of this crazy building while the French people were starving to death because of high taxes and poor working conditions--and everything else that led to revolution. Gold and precious metals, art work, gems, in every corner and every surface.
Hall of Mirrors--It is lined with windows on one side and mirrors on the other.
Views of the gardens from the castle window
The Gardens of Versailles--
We took two golf carts and made the journey around the Gardens. It was beautiful.
They built the gardens with these tall hedges. The goal is that there would always be sun or shade along each pathway--at least the major pathways through the garden, so no matter the weather you could walk in comfort.
A border of Aspens at the edge of the garden--
I had Gary stand by the hedge to give you an idea of the height of them--
The musical foundations in this pond were amazing. I could have listened and watched for a long time. The best I have ever since--
Last view down from the castle through the main part of the gardens.....
Lunch in the village by Versailles---
When we were planning the trip, I discovered that the Palace of Versailles passed very close to the LDS Paris Temple. We arranged with our guide to spend a few minutes less at the gardens so we could have some time to walk around the grounds of the Paris Temple. It was a very sweet stop and a beautiful contrast to the opulence that we had just observed. Beauty comes in many fashions.
This is the walk-way from the street into the gardens behind the temple. On either side of this walkway are two rooms that serve as a visitor's center for the temple and the grounds.
View of the temple from the grounds
Statue of Christ
Gary invited Kevin to come and walk around the gardens which he did.
A moment of peace for Mom Hall--
Inside the waiting room, they have a replica model of the temple and the rooms inside. There are only five such models of temples in the world (Rome has one as well.) Because Kevin loved buildings so much, I went out to get him to come and see the model. We had explained that the temple was for worthy members of the Church only, but when I saw the model, I thought he might enjoy that.
He was excited and followed me back into the small visitor's center. I immediately began talking (no surprise) about the temple and that we believe that families can be together forever. I started to talk about the baptistery and baptism for the dead when I stopped and asked him if he was Christian and knew about baptism. He indicated that he was Catholic and knew about baptism. Then I began to explain about baptism for the death, etc...probably talking a mile a minute. He was listening intently and asking a few questions. Then I noticed the six or seven missionaries standing around. I turned to one of the senior missionaries and asked him if he spoke French. He said yes. (We had met him and his wife a bit earlier. They are from St. George.) So I introduced him to Kevin and indicated that the missionary would explain it in French. Immediately the conversation began and the spirit became so strong. Kevin spoke very good English, but the gospel is often best understood in your own language and I saw that happen right in front of me as they spoke together and walked around the model. I was so overcome that tears began falling from my eyes and I had to step a way for a minute to compose myself. It was one of the best moments of a very amazing trip. I will treasure it forever.
The missionaries gave Kevin a book about temples in French which he was happy to receive. Maybe someday, he will have other opportunities to learn about the Church and remember this day as well. (And we told him if people come from Utah and go with him to the Palace of Versailles, they would probably want to come here, too, so keep it in his GPS.)
The sign in front of the temple
The front doors. The Paris Temple does not have a spire of any kind. Nothing can be built higher than the king's bed in the Palace of Versailles in this area and the temple fell under those rules. It is a beautiful place and I was glad that we had some time to visit it.
We are driving back into town on Friday afternoon and this was the view from our van as we were driving along the Seine River. Doesn't get better than that!
Notice the statue in the middle of the river--right behind the boat.
This was one of the things that Gary K. was hoping to see and we accidentally found it! It is a replica of the Statue of Liberty which was made to show the connection between the countries.
Friday night we had a special treat as we spent about an hour with Gary's cousin, Diana and her husband, Tom. Diana is the daughter of Mom Hall's sister, Glenna, who past away a number of years ago. Diana has kept in contact with Mom Hall and during a visit in the summer, they discovered that we would overlap in Paris--by accident--two days. We made arrangements to get together on Friday evening. They came to our hotel and we visited for about an hour in a lobby sitting area. It was so fun as we talked about our travels and the fun we had been having. Diana and Tom travel in Europe very often and had just completed a river cruise in southern France.
 |
| Diana and Mom Hall |
 |
| Gary, Gary K, Vonette, Diana, Mom Hall, Tom, Charon |
Tom and Diana took a group shot of us in the view area down to the small entry way of the hotel. They got some cute pictures but not on my phone. Diana sent Mom Hall a collection of photos from their camera which were so great along with a sweet note on a card she bought in Paris--just for this purpose. How sweet was that! Diana and all of her family are very thoughtful and kind people!
They live in Bountiful, Utah, but we rarely see each other, so it was another perfect moment in Paris! (Did I mention that I loved Paris?)
No comments:
Post a Comment