Jetlag Rating: C
By now, we had our routine down: Tim would get up early and go downstairs to wait in line to secure us a spot for our chosen daily event and tickets to our nightly one if we were doing something other than the main event. For day three, we reserved spots to travel to the Palace of Versailles and then head to Women’s Beach Volleyball at the base of the Eiffel Tower in the evening.
From our guide: “Step into the opulent world of the royalty who called the Palace of Versailles home and experience an unforgettable journey through French history. You’ll get to peek behind closed doors and uncover the exquisite architecture and grandeur seldom seen by the public. A personal historian will guide you through the Opera, as well as the private apartments, bringing to life the tales of the royal residents.”
Versailles is located about 45 minutes west of Paris. Louis XIII built a hunting lodge there in 1623. Then, in 1661, Louis XIV expanded the lodge into a palace, and for a while, it became the de facto capital of France. It wasn’t until 1789 that the royal family returned to Paris. During the French Revolution, Versailles was mostly abandoned, and the surrounding city nearly empty. It was restored in the 1830s, and the palace and park were deemed a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1979.
The palace is breathtaking. Each room is adorned with opulent furniture and decor, crystal, gold, and parquet. Like the Louvre, it seems to stretch endlessly in all directions, and even the ceiling frescoes are extravagant. We explored some of the private apartments, which are usually closed to the public, and the magnificent Opera. The Opera is a remarkable surprise, its grandeur concealed behind a low door. I can only imagine the other hidden secrets that Versailles conceals.
At the end of the tour, we only had a short while to spend in the gardens, which we could have spent hours in. At its peak, there were 2,400 fountains in use at Versailles. Today, only fifty still function, and they go off on different schedules. You can see them here:
When we got back to the hotel, we decided to opt for a little shopping and so walked around until we realized we were starving. Out of happenstance, we realized we were just a few steps from Café de Flore, one of the oldest and most famous coffeehouses in Paris. It was associated with Jean-Paul Sartre, Simone de Beauvoir, Albert Camus, and other famous thinkers of the 40s and 50s. Its rival, Les Deux Magots, is nearby and known for Hemingway, Picasso, James Joyce, and Julia Child. The truth is that the cafés have had a rivalry for years, and most of the people mentioned were known to have switched allegiances from time to time. We sat down and had an incredible lunch; I ordered a Croque Monsieur, a tomato gazpacho, and a sparkling lemonade.
We had time for a quick nap, and then set out for the Eiffel Tower and beach volleyball.
This was our second Olympic Beach Volleyball experience. If you ever get the chance to go, it is the most fun of any Olympic event. There is a live DJ, the crowd has specific cheers for specific moves, ie. MONSTER BLOCK, and the event is energetic and so much fun. Make sure to check out the album links I’ve posted, again, at the top and bottom of this post but also on the photos tab for all the videos and pictures we took while we were there. At 10p they lit the Eiffel Tower, and we got to see the whole thing sparkling with the Olympic Rings on the front.
In the bronze match, we watched Switzerland beat Australia in straight sets. Because our first Olympics were in Brazil, and we saw what the Brazilian crowd is like, we were on Brazil’s side for the Gold match. It was incredibly exciting to watch Ana Patricia Ramos and Dude Lisboa beat Melissa Humana-Paredes and Brandie Wilkerson 2-1, in Brazil’s second gold in the sport, the first one in 1996 when beach volleyball was first played at the Atlanta Games. There was one point when the teams began arguing, but the DJ played John Lennon’s “Imagine,” and the crowd sang along as they smiled and finished the match. It was one of the best games we’ve seen.
At this point, we were both exhausted but decided to quickly check out the Foundation Louis Vuitton party. It was hosted in an incredible architectural building designed by Frank Gehry. There were drinks, small bites, and music that was so loud I realized why we don’t go out much at our age anymore.
We made it back to the hotel by 1 a.m., and crashed so we could get as much sleep as possible for Day Four!