NOTRE DAME CATHEDRAL

Cathedrale Notre-Dame de Paris is a majestic ediface, 420 ft long with two 226 ft towers.  The spire reaches 295 ft.  The most famous of its several rose windows has a diameter of 42 ft. Construction on this gothic style cathedral began in 1163.  It was completed in 1345. 

The most famous features of Notre Dame are its gargoyles and its flying buttresses (arched exterior supports).  Interesting facts from Wikipedia:

 

The building was not originally designed to include the flying buttresses. After the construction began and the thinner walls grew ever higher, stress fractures began to occur as the walls pushed outward. In response, the cathedral's architects built supports around the outside walls, and later additions continued the pattern. Many small statues were placed around the outside. These were crafted individually and served as supports for columns and water spouts. Among these are the famous gargoyles. These were originally colored, as was most of the exterior. The paint has worn off, but the grey stone was once covered with vivid colors. 

Many of the cathedral's sculptures and gargoyles were removed or demolished during the French Revolution. A 23 year full restoration began in 1845.

Notre Dame is located on the Ile de la Cite, a small island in the heart of Paris.

 

 

View from the Seine

Interior

Rose window and Gallery of Kings

  .

The Louvre

The Louvre is one of the world's most famous museums. The Louvre Palace which began as a fortress in the 12th century became a royal residence by the 14th century.  It was during the French Revolution that the Louvre was transformed into a public museum.
Anyone who has viewed the movie, "The DaVinci Code", can easily identify the building with the glass pyramid as Musee du Louvre.  The pyramid was designed by the famous architect, I.M. Pei.  The structure was completed in 1989 and serves as the main entrance to the museum.  (The pyramid and the underground lobby beneath it were created because the original main entrance could no longer handle the enormous number of visitors). The museum averages 15,000 visitors a day.

Interior

Interior

Over 35,000 works of art are displayed at the Louvre.  The painting collection has more than 7,500 works dating from the 13th century to 1848.  Of course the most famous painting in the collection is Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa.
The Wedding Feast at Cana is the largest piece in the collection (262 in × 390 in).

Mona Lisa

 

Portion of Wedding Feast at Cana

Venus de Milo

Winged Victory of Samothrace

VERSAILLES

In direct contrast to the bucolic setting of Monet's residence, we next visited Versailles. Versailles was formerly a hunting lodge, built by Louis XIII in 1624.  Louis XIV expanded the hunting lodge into one of the largest palaces in the world. The Palace covers 37,000 acres and at one time had 1400 fountains.  

Gate at Versailles

Courtyard

View of garden from Hall of Mirrors

Hall of Mirrors

View of Garden from Hall of Mirrors

Queens Bedroom

The French court was officially at Versailles in 1682. During its height the Palace is said to have accommodated 20,000 people, including 9,000 soldiers and 5,000 servants.

Interesting tidbit:
The smell at Versailles was said to be "unique out of all the palaces in Europe" (duc Saint-Simon). There were no functioning toilets until 1768. By the time of the French Revolution in 1789 there were only 9, and those belonged to the King and his closest family members. The rest of the palace simply had to live with the constant smell of the privy-chambers clinging to their clothes, apartments and the general atmosphere. Although banned, chamber pots were constantly emptied out of the nearest window. (from Wikipedia)

The 1919 Treaty of Versailles was signed in the Hall of Mirrors at Versailles.
This room, with one wall lined with 17 beveled mirrors opposite windows overlooking the gardens, has 10 crystal chandeliers along its length. 


The gardens at Versailles were designed by landscape artist, Andre Le Notre.
The stiffly formal gardens include ornate fountains with "magically still water expressing the power of humanity over nature."

Gardens at Versailles

Gardens at Versailles