Frivolities: Versailles

Tuesday, 25th November : It's a great feeling waking up to the smell and sight of a well-presented breakfast. Though far from 5-star standard, the breakfast spread at Hotel Muguet was decent enough given its EUR8/pax rate. It has everything typical in a Parisian breakfast - croissant, baguette, cheese, cold meat, hard-boiled egg, fruits, cereal, yogurt and coffee. Beside the room rates and its location, I loved the fact that it's a small boutique hotel where hotel staff is attentive and wifi internet access is free in all rooms!

Today, our plan was to spend a leisurely day at the world's greatest museum, the Lourve. However, much to our dismay, we arrived there only to discover that it's close on every Tuesday. A signboard bearing "CLOSE" was displayed at the pyramid entrance.

We took some pictures of the museum exterior (see above), made a swift decision to reshuffle our itinerary around, and quickly headed off to Versailles. The train ride from Paris to Versailles took about 45 minutes. It was around noon when we arrived there. Versaille is a small touristy town situated on the fringe of Paris that thrives on tourism, with the Palace of Versailles being the central attraction. The palace is located a short walk away from the train station. It's not hard to find one's way there. Almost every passenger who arrived at the train station from Paris is a tourist. One just have to follow the walking crowd.

A visit to the Palace of Versailles is like a tour of a show house. But with the rich heritage and history that lies within, it's definitely worth a visit, particularly if one is a fan of Marie Antoinette.

Below is a photo of the famed hall of mirrors - the largest and arguably the most beautiful room within the palace. It owed its name to the 17 mirrors on one side of the hall facing 17 arched windows at the opposite side.

There is a room dedicated to Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte. The famous Coronation painting adorned an entire wall. See below. An identical painting can be found at the Lourve.

The works of Jeff Koon, a contemporary artist, can be found in almost every room within the palace. These modern pieces seem so out of place here. They must have raised some eyebrows, especially the old-school historians, who may see them as distractions. Whether one is old-schooled or more culturally accepting, one thing for sure - these modern art do bring the place alive.

To understand Jeff Koon's mind, one just need to look at some of his works, I guess. Take this porcelain statue of Michael Jackson. He added a monkey named Bubble to the statue, and the two are not necessarily unlike each other. Go figure!

There were just too many things to talk about, if one is a history buff. With that, I end this tour with a photo taken on the way out of the palace. Can you see a large red heart-shaped structure in the background - that's also Jeff Koon's creation.

It was late evening by the time we returned to the city of Paris. We went back to the cathedral of Notre Dame for some night shots.

There is nothing better to look forward to after a long day of sightseeing than a hearty French meal. Tonight, we had a very satisfying French dinner at Le Florimond, a traditional restaurant near Hotel Muguet.

Yan's appetizer turned out to be a real surprise. It looked like a dessert offering - strawberry triffle of sort - but it was not! What looked like strawberry puree was actually beet root puree. The white foam was not some sweet-tasting cream but seafood flavored foam, and the last layer contained the prized mussels. What a creative presentation!

For the main course, Yan ordered from the beef menu. It came in two forms. The first was stewed beef served with raspberry sauce, and the second was grilled steak served with polenta and baked potatoes.