I Conquer the Versailles Gardens Single-Handedly
Thursday, May 23rd
Another free day with no school! Some of the girls had made a plan for the weekend and today's schedule included visiting the town of Giverny, which was the home of Monet and about 20 min outside of Paris. There you can visit Monet's home and especially his gardens, which provided him inspiration for his beautiful paintings. I planned to accompany them until I realized that the cost would be a little bit more than I thought, since you have to take a train and bus. After a small internal debate I figured that I could save up my money and possibly put it to use on a plane ticket - like my plans to visit Italy after the program ended. That meant I was all on my own in Paris for the day because all the other girls had left! I was a little bummed out by the prospect of flying solo but tried to summon up a spirit of adventure - on the plus side I definitely enjoyed the increased mobility that came with a one person party versus eight! Deciding that maybe a trip out of Paris would be a nice change of scenery, I chose to head up to Versailles and enjoy the gardens that I had missed out on during our first trip. The gardens at Versailles were incredibly pretty and did not disappoint all the expectations people had created for me. They are pretty huge so some people opt to rent bikes but instead I decided to really take the time to enjoy and see everything by walking. The gardens themselves really are a work of art and are made up of so many pieces.
It's not just like the backyard of some châteaux, there are various little gardens - and even minor estates - that are a part of the Versailles gardens. The three other buildings include the Trianon, the Petit Trianon, and the Queen's Hameau - all of which have their own "gardens" that are a part of Versailles. Perhaps infamous of all was the Queen's little "village" that Marie Antoinette had built for her. She would go there with close friend's sometimes to escape the palace life and essentially "play peasant". Other people criticize her pretty hard for some of the things she did but ultimately she ended up dead, with most of her family being split apart or also similarly dead, so I think she paid a pretty high price for whatever she did.
The weather was almost perfect, sunny with a light breeze. And walking around was quite peaceful. My favorite spot might have been a field outside the little village looking over it. But I also enjoyed sitting on the bank of the large lake that Louis XIV had built. It's completely man-made but it's huge and in a shape of a cross. In fact it's so large that courtiers used to ride gondola boats (that they imported from Italy, along with the gondoliers) up and down the lake on their picnic outings. Today you can still rent a boat, although it's a rowboat and you have to row yourself.
After a time well spent in Versailles, my legs were feeling a little tired and I was ready to catch the train back in to Paris. I had a couple of things I still wanted to do that day including picking up some postcards. I headed to the familiar métro of Hôtel de Ville and around the Pompidou before spotting a good deal. As I was perusing the post card selections, the man I was standing next to asked me if I was French - a misconception I had probably given him since I was counting the number of postcards I already had chosen in French. After I replied no, a conversation struck up about why I was there and then continued on to other topics. We decided to continue our conversation over un café (chocolat chaud for me). I made my first French friend! And a real Parisien! Plus it was so great for me to have an actual conversation in French that went beyond merely ordering a sandwhich or crêpe! We talked about French society, French politics, American politics, the new gay marriage law passed in France, travel in general and differences in culture. It was such a good opportunity for me to practice my french and make a friend! After that I went home to have dinner with my family and my roommate and I swapped stories about our day. I thought my day alone in Paris had been a success!
Another free day with no school! Some of the girls had made a plan for the weekend and today's schedule included visiting the town of Giverny, which was the home of Monet and about 20 min outside of Paris. There you can visit Monet's home and especially his gardens, which provided him inspiration for his beautiful paintings. I planned to accompany them until I realized that the cost would be a little bit more than I thought, since you have to take a train and bus. After a small internal debate I figured that I could save up my money and possibly put it to use on a plane ticket - like my plans to visit Italy after the program ended. That meant I was all on my own in Paris for the day because all the other girls had left! I was a little bummed out by the prospect of flying solo but tried to summon up a spirit of adventure - on the plus side I definitely enjoyed the increased mobility that came with a one person party versus eight! Deciding that maybe a trip out of Paris would be a nice change of scenery, I chose to head up to Versailles and enjoy the gardens that I had missed out on during our first trip. The gardens at Versailles were incredibly pretty and did not disappoint all the expectations people had created for me. They are pretty huge so some people opt to rent bikes but instead I decided to really take the time to enjoy and see everything by walking. The gardens themselves really are a work of art and are made up of so many pieces. 
It's not just like the backyard of some châteaux, there are various little gardens - and even minor estates - that are a part of the Versailles gardens. The three other buildings include the Trianon, the Petit Trianon, and the Queen's Hameau - all of which have their own "gardens" that are a part of Versailles. Perhaps infamous of all was the Queen's little "village" that Marie Antoinette had built for her. She would go there with close friend's sometimes to escape the palace life and essentially "play peasant". Other people criticize her pretty hard for some of the things she did but ultimately she ended up dead, with most of her family being split apart or also similarly dead, so I think she paid a pretty high price for whatever she did. 
The weather was almost perfect, sunny with a light breeze. And walking around was quite peaceful. My favorite spot might have been a field outside the little village looking over it. But I also enjoyed sitting on the bank of the large lake that Louis XIV had built. It's completely man-made but it's huge and in a shape of a cross. In fact it's so large that courtiers used to ride gondola boats (that they imported from Italy, along with the gondoliers) up and down the lake on their picnic outings. Today you can still rent a boat, although it's a rowboat and you have to row yourself. 
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