fess-tivale - versailles

The Dying Gaul.

(sorry the photo is a little over exposed.

What do you expect with a white marble statue in full sun?!)

naughty-bits - versailles

Two Kiki from la Galeries des Glaces...

Two Kiki from the Parterre, near the entrance to the Queen's Gardens...

This one is a copy of the statue The Dying Gaul You can't really see it, but I assure you, he has a kiki...

And yes... the standard Column from a square in Paris. La Fontaine du Palmier at La Place du Châtelet...

sphinx-ters - le 17 juin

At the entrance to the South Parterre, Versailles...





La Fontaine Saint-Michel...



OK, well I'm not sure if these are really considered Sphinx or not, seeing as they end with Serpents tails, but well, I am adding them here at any rate because they are rather impressive!




La Fontaine du Palmier at La Place du Châtelet...

beauté est la bête - tour saint-jacques

There's only the one tower left of l'Eglise Saint-Jacques-la-Boucherie, but it's beautiful.

l'amour est un oiseau rebelle : versailles

While taking pictures of la Fontaine d'Apollo this duck kept following me around the pool...

Then a short while later as we walked along the Grand Canal we saw a family of ducks, so of course I stopped to take a few pics... (Please note my Leopard print socks. heh)

Closer...



Closer...



Close up!

Then when we were leaving at the end of the day I decided to take a couple more pics of the statues at the main gate, and two cheeky pigeons ended up in 2 of the 3 pictures! Camera hogs!

deux pour un: le 17 juin

Les nouveaux Rois Soleils.

Versailles.

leopard spotting - Versailles

It was a Double Spotting today. Whoda thunk it? Well me really. I mean when you think of grandiose luxury you think of two things...

Versailles...

and Leopard Print.


This was from a ceiling painting in the King's Apartments.

And this a painting in the Dauphin's Apartments.

du jour - le 17 juin

Versailles.

OK, it's absolutely impossible to pick just ONE pic of Versailles and say, THIS is THE picture of the day. And so, here are four...

day four (4): Versailles and more...

And more...

After we returned to Paris we stopped at station Saint-Michel to walk a bit. We arrived naturally at Place Saint-Michel and saw the great Fontaine Saint-Michel...

After a few minutes on foot we came to Préfecture de Police Kinda hard not to notice you're in France huh? I guess there was a sale on flags...

If you look just behind the motorbike you can see a small fountain. It's called a Fontaine Wallace, and here's a close up...

They still function today, and we used them many times throughout our travels in Paris.



As we continued on our walk we passed again Le Palais de Justice where we could better see La Sainte-Chapelle.



After reaching the Right Bank we came to Place du Châtelet



And then La Tour Sainte-Jacques

Then finally we made it to the Marais. And after all that walking (Versailles and Paris) it was time for a drink, so we stopped at Wolf Bar...



Then had a bite to eat at le Pavé...



And then one last drink at the Bear's Den...

And by the time the drinks were done... it was time to go home and sleep...

Tomorrow... Le Louvre.

day four (3): Versailles and more...

Les Fontaines de Versailles.

An important part of the structure of the Gardens are the many fountains. And even though none were on while we were there, they were nonetheless impressive...

View of the Parterre de l'Eau from La Galerie des Glaces ...



Assorted statuary surrounding the fountains of the Parterre de l'Eau...







From La Fontaine de la Chasse...




Fontaine Latone, with the Green Carpet and Grand Canal behind...



La Fontaine d'Apollo...



Miscellaneous petit fontaines from the Avenue de 'lEau...





La Fontaine de Dragon...





La fontaine de Neptune...




Urns around La fontaine de Neptune...





... this one has Lobster handles...