Day 23 - Classes and Versailles

French 102 was the same as usual. After getting some lunch (and after everyone getting out of French 362), we all headed to Versailles for our art class. It was amazing, though it was very, very cold!The golden gates

A fact of life in big cities.




The Chapel. It was closed to the general public. But since we were with our teacher (who is a curator at Versailles), we got to go inside! It was amazing.




The organ
The fleur des lis were scratched off during the Revolution because it was the symbol of the monarch.






One of the many views from inside.
Louis XIV by Bernini. After 5, Versailles closed to the public, but not for us. After that point, we had it to ourselves! Such an amazing opportunity. She even allowed us to go behind roped off areas. It was pretty awesome.


Door to the bathroom area.
I am so unhappy that I was not able to get a very good picture of this. The room was so dark and we were not allowed to use flash. I had no idea that this was in Versailles! It makes sense. It is of Marie Antoinette and her children. The older boy is lifting up the cover of the crib, showing that Marie had just lost a child. She had this painted of her because she was doing very poorly, popularity wise, and she wanted to improve her image by making her seem more ordinary. Well, it didn't work and she lost her head...
The Hall of Mirrors! There is no way I could have gotten a picture like this if we didn't have it to ourselves. It was amazing (I don't think I can say that enough).


You may or may not recall, but this same painting is in the Louvre. They are both originals by David with only minor differences. Shaina was nice enough to stand by it so you can all see how huge it is!
I would not mind seeing that view every night!

Then we all headed back to our respective places. It was an amazing day! :) And tomorrow is London!

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