A warm sunny day, sitting on a tree trunk under a canopy of an old leafy tree which provides the perfect amount of shade, just enough to stop the glare, eating chocolate vanilla soft serve, the real European kind, looking up at the Eiffel Tower, just 100m away...
Aha, that's right...
Enough said.
Taking advice from some chat room folk, we got up early to beat the crowds for a ticket to the top of Eiffel Tower. Unfortunately, as luck would have it, one of the lifts was not operational, so despite our best efforts to outsmart everyone else, we still had to line up for about 3 hours to get in.
It was worth the wait! I managed to conquer my fear of heights, and followed Jake right to the top (276m) for some spectacular views over Paris. Apparently, on a clear day, the visibility reaches 76km.
( it is just possible to see the Louvre pyramid to the right of the middle of this photo)
We found out some interesting facts about the Tower and it's maker - Gustav Eiffel. It was him who also designed the Statue of Liberty in NY.
Apparently, he had his office up on the top of the tower and built a small apartment there, where him and his daughter Gustave (a bit weird I know), held small parties for distinguished guests.
The Tower was built for an one- off exhibition and it was supposed to be taken down afterwards, be it not for serving as an effective telecommunications antenna. Lucky, they haven't taken it down, considering that now it is one of the most visited tourist attractions in the world trailing closely behind Times Square and Niagra Falls.
The first parachute experiment was conducted off the tower - unfortunately not all that successfully, and the poor bugger died.
I take my hat off to the brave man who tried again, in the second attempt!
Today was another action and history packed day with a visit to Versailles chateau. We actually went on a bike tour and it was awesome fun.
The tour guide met us in front of the Notre Dame and the small group of six ventured out on the train to the Versailles village, 20km outside of Paris. We picked up our bikes and rode around the town and the castle and its widespread gardens. He also took us to a local food market where we bought some banquettes, cheese, olives, ham and strawberries to have with wine for lunch. We set up a picnic on the lush lawns of of the castle, by the water canal.
There is little more French than riding a cumbersome, upright bicycle, with a French stick and a bottle of wine in a basket around such historical part of the region :)
Before we went to the castle, we took an extensive tide around the gardens. Perfectly manicured, they actually now use a laser to make sure all the trees are the same height (a job done by two poles and a rope in times gone by). It's hard to get your head around, but these gardens span 10km and in their heyday there where 4,000 people employed in their upkeep.
The Castle is simply magnificent in its size and history. Apparently there were 6 000 high profile noble people and doctors, who lived there. The king invited them in, so that he could keep a close eye on them. The King wanted to keep them busy and gave them some very meaningless jobs to do throughout the day. For example, there were 3 people designated to sort nuts in the kitchen!! Can you imagine the indignation of making such noble, highly educated intellectuals perform these tasks so that they didn't have the time to plot against the king?! Funny way control your people!
The royal life was extremely regimented. The King and the Queen had separate bedrooms (separate wings in the castle actually). EVERY morning, there was an awakening ritual, where a priest and a doctor was present by the bedside of the King and the Queen to witness them waking up and to make sure all is well. Then, the King and the Queen had to get into one bed and a different priest and a doctor witnessed them wake up together...
No wonder, the royal family had another residence to escape the strict regimen. Queen Marie Antoinette in fact, built herself a whole village, full of farming animals and even a small vinyard. The idea was that it was self sufficient and resembled a little Austrian village, which was her heritage. It contained sheep for wool, rabbits and chickens for food and goats for milk. The village is still functioning in this manner behind the castle.
By the time we returned home, we were pretty tired so we went past a chocolatier near where we're staying, and bought €12 block of chocolate. I have been eyeing it off for a few days, and finally I gave in. I have to ration it and really enjoy it as it's not very big.
One more day in Paris before heading down south to start our ride.
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