Day 4 of our Paris trip started in Paris, but a majority of the day took place in the land of wealth and excess, Versailles!
It was Tuesday, April 12th and we started off our morning taking the metro to La Defence to see the Grande Arche built in 1989. The name refers to the Defence of Paris in 1871 when the Prussians surrounded the town during the Franco-Prussian war.
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| La Defence |
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| The gang at La Defence |
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| On top of the Arch! |
After La Defence, we set off to the grandeur that is Versailles! We arrived in Versailles around noon and walked from the train station to the Petit Trianon. Marie-Antoniette's play house given to her as a gift from her husband, Louis XVI. While admiring the architecture of the building, and the layout of the gardens, we listened to some student presentations, then had a fancy picnic, where we ran out of food! Whoops!
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| Janice, Casey, and Elisa exploring the gardens of Marie-Antoinette |
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| Picnic in Marie's gardens! |
Once our meal and all the presentations had ended, Martine looked at her watch only to realize that we were late for our tour of the palace, so we literally ran through the gardens of Versailles snapping as many photos as we could. By the time we got to the palace, half the class was missing; I guess they didn't feel like running right after a meal!
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| ART 361 at the Petit Trianon |
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| Janice, Casey, Mary Claire, and Rob at Grand Trianon |
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| In the gardens of Versailles |
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| Les Grandes Eaux |
At the palace, we got a personal tour of the palace with the best tour guide I have ever had. He was fun, quick to the point, and knew when the audience was getting tired. He even had us sit down a few times. Versailles, is huge! Its like the Louvre in that once you are inside you have no idea where you are in relation to outside nor do you know how you got there with all the long corridors then spiral marble staircases it is easy to get lost.
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| A gem of a tour guide! |
Once our tour of Versailles had come to a close, we took the train back to Paris, said goodbye to the Missouri kids for the last time, and Casey, Elisa, Dane, Chris, Sam, and I went out to high class dinner at a place called Tennessee, named after one of the united states. It was an ok dinner, but relaxing and talking to friends made it a lovely night!
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| Outside the gates of Versailles |
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| France |
Once our tour of Versailles had come to a close, we took the train back to Paris, said goodbye to the Missouri kids for the last time, and Casey, Elisa, Dane, Chris, Sam, and I went out to high class dinner at a place called Tennessee, named after one of the united states. It was an ok dinner, but relaxing and talking to friends made it a lovely night! 
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