Honeymoon 2006

A beautiful morning greets us.	From Gare St Lazare in Paris it's a half-hour by train to Versailles
From the train station take a left on Rue du Marechal Foch, hang a right on Avenue de St-Cloud, and 10 minutes later you are at the Palace Gates. The town has grown up all around the palace, but what do expect - it's been there over 300 years!	The French certainly believed in painting their ceilings. Amazing art, documenting everyday life as well as gods and goddesses that were revered in the 17th century
The Hall of Mirrors is 240 feet long, built by King Louis XIV in the late 1600s. The ceiling is 40 feet high and covered with paintings depicting events in the life of the King.	The Hall of Battles - opened in 1837 by King Louis-Philippe, contains 33 paintings depicting battles in which the French armies distinguished themselves (from Tolbiac in 496 to Wagram in 1809)
The gardens are truly amazing	Whether viewed from up close...
...or across the vast expanse of the Palace grounds. Looking across Le Petit Parc, In the distance is Le Grand Parc and the Grand Canal, where you could have a friendly rowing competition on a Sunday afternoon	Wide walkways of fine gravel where we expected beautiful expanses of grass. But remember - the Snapper rider wasn't invented in 1670!
AHA!!! So that's how they come up with those precisely trimmed shrubs - plywood templates!	This one if for Mark and Kim. They had such fun taking care of the flower vase after the wedding reception - suppose we had used this one?
We aren't sure who is grabbing who. Guess we just don't understand enough about French art.	After touring a 300 year old Palace, Wendy opted for more modern fare for lunch. Ordering in French was getting easier.
Took the train back to Paris to discover that, yes, the City of Light does have shopping! The Galeries Lafayette has seven levels of specialty departments.	The eternal flame underneath the Arc de Triomphe, looking down the Champs Elysées
The Arc de Triomphe, in the center of a kamikaze roundabout where 12 avenues converge. Pure entertainment just watching the cars circle.	Each night, just after dark, the Tour Eiffel is lit. Then about once per hour it comes alive with lights blinking and twinkling.
Each drop of rain is another backlit diamond	Surreal beauty on a misty moisty night