Le Chalet Chez France La Plagne

The Palace at Versailles was simply overwhelming. Any royal palace, garden or retreat I had visited or read about previously seemed like peasants' squalor compared to the cavernous interior, ostentatious exterior and sprawling gardens of King Luis XIV's hunting lodge turned seat of government. Walking from our favorable parking stall in the bus lot to the main entrance took us no less than 10 minutes, passing through ...

So we finally made it to Versailles and a big part of the palace was under construction. So the front of it looked ugly, covered in a big cheesy scaffolding. I liked the audio tour that they include with the price of the ticket, it makes walking from big, gilded room to another seem more interesting. Some of the rooms are very impressive with fresco painted ceilings, huge fireplaces and artwork on every wall ...

... private chapel and the Hall of Mirrors. The chapel is two stories of gilt and painting. Royalty stayed in the second floor area so that they didn't have to mix with the hoi polloi. The Hall of Mirrors was the main receiving area. Given the number of mirrors and the chandeliers these people really liked looking at themselves. Leaving the main palace, the vista is primarily par terre with lots ...

Bonjour friends and family! So, at some point during the last two days, I've managed to acquire a Rodin foot. I noticed my left foot is swollen and sore, like the feet Rodin made on his sculptures. I must have turned it at some point, but one would think I would have noticed! I guess we're having such a great time, it hasn't bothered me too much. We're getting along so well ... laughing at each other and ourselves. So, anyway, after another day of continuous walking, all I ...

This morning I got up pretty early again to catch the bus that we took for Versailles. We got there in the morning and walked around the palace itself. After we went through the palace we went out into the gardens. We had brought lunch with us so it was nice to sit in the gardens and eat what we had brought. The weather was very pleasant today. I wore jeans and got chilly a couple times when the ...

We traveled the RER to the outskirts of the city to visit the grand palace, Versailles, which we saw only months before in the wonderful film, Antoinette. The queue lines for entry were long and winding, finding their course along the cobblestone walkway leading to the estate. We grabbed a quick baguette and then we found ourselves comforted by the regal energy wafting through the palatial estate. My ...

... over to Belle Plagne where we spent most of the day. I managed to dislocate my shoulder, though as before it managed to jump right back into it's socket moments later. Still not a very fun sensation. As this was our last night at the Les Menezes chalet together, this called for a proper fines meeting from Rhett who managed to force copious amounts of alcohol down everyone's throats. Rhett brought out his "Right Said Fred, I get knocked down" drinking game in ...

Another nice day, so the girls decided to hit the shops. I escaped from the menswear section of Printemps minus 100 euros and plus some shirts. I left the girls to their shopping & headed back to the hotel to chill for a while. In the evening we celebrated Jen's actual 30th with a bottle of nice bubbly on a Seine cruise. (photos to be added, once I get some off Jen - didn't take any myself).

a diasterous first time in paris, separated from 1/3 of the group, thunderstorms, and oh ya..none of us had the address to the hotel we booked, so we asked some high class hotel employee to google it for us, and we ended up at the WRONG hotel...and did I mention it was on my credit card, soooo I was panicking that they'd charge my credit card... didnt get to see much, ate pho....eiffel tower is really breathtaking...

... a full sprint, we turned the corner and out of nowhere there it was!! Right in front of us! And there were no crowds! We got there with about 30 seconds to spare, it was just enough time for Slava to pull out the bottle of champagne and pour us glasses, while I grabbed my camera and started shooting some video, all of a sudden the fireworks were going off, people were cheering, the lights on the tower were sparkling! Bonne Annee!!!!! It ...