Palace Living is For Me

Pretty Excited to Be Here
The evening started with a short bus ride out to the Palace of Versailles  just 20 miles out of the city.

We were welcomed into the Palace by 18th century trumpet players and a couple dressed in costume. Then, we got to tour the rooms that are usually packed with tourists but were just open for us, including the magnificent Hall of Mirrors. There were professional photographers standing by to take our picture, but I took a bunch of "selfies" along the way, to prove I was HERE.

I had to pinch myself several times. I just couldn't believe where I was standing!

My Place Setting
Then, we wandered into the "war gallery" for a sit-down dinner with the entire group -- about 600. Several French actors were walking around with large Marie Antoinette hair-dos and fans, flirting and telling stories. They handed out beauty marks and explained what they were for. I couldn't sit still and ended up walking to the bathrooms, just to see more.

Afterward dinner, we were served champagne out on the back patio under the stars. Again, the sight of the back of the palace, the incredible grounds and this party of dressed-up people just took my breath away! My imagination just wouldn't click off.

What an AWESOME night!

Wine and Moles
I kept thinking about all the history this Palace has seen. And not just French history (hello, Revolution!). The Treaty of Versailles (obviously), we ended our Revolutionary War in the Hall of Mirrors. Ben Franklin was a favorite at Versailles, for Pete's sake!

When we walked through the main, front door I couldn't stop thinking that for must of its existence, you had to BE someone important (royalty, a politician, wealthy) to use that entrance to the palace. And here I was, being ushered through.

We found out later that the Palace only hosts four private events each year, and you have to petition for a spot 18-months in advance. That's pretty impressive!

A special night, for sure.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The $80 Kitchen Pantry Update

Image
It took two days and about $80 in supplies, and now our kitchen pantry is REBORN! Here's a quick review of the project in pictures, starting with the BEFORE pictures: My main issue with the wire shelves were bottles or anything "thin" would tip over. And with my commitment to bulk, I wanted to store glass containers in here but knew they wouldn't be "safe." I foresaw broken glass at some point. Plus, it's a great space, so I knew I could add more storage space if I was strategic. Last, wire shelves are ugly. So then I demo'd the pantry and painted the walls (which was just primer) with leftover paint from the rest of the house. It's called Polar Bear. I paid an electrician to install an outlet at "counter height" in the pantry, so I could move the dumb microwave off the counter. (The electrician did a slew of other small jobs around the house, not just this outlet, including a motion-activated light in this pantry. Tres Fancy
Keep reading »

Family Calendar Improvement

Image
 Made a quick improvement at the start of the school year that I'm pretty excited about.  And yes, I'm probably the only one excited about it, but here goes ...  Here's our "command central" in our kitchen. This is a good landing spot, and a central place to all look at the family calendar ... it's that huge wipe board in the middle of the photo. All our activities are supposed to be written on here and our electronic family calendar on Google.  (Brief aside: my family is the WORST at writing their plans down in either calendar and Dave still doesn't share his events on our Google Shared Family Calendar consistently, which makes me nuts. And they all ask me "what are we doing today?" instead of looking at the calendar, usually directly behind me. But, that's another post.) I went to so much trouble putting this little area together and that huge calendar with wobbly writing was really killing the sophisticated look of that space. PLUS, we don
Keep reading »

Basement Shiplap Project

Image
The guys left me all the unused shiplap from the bathroom and I've been trying to think about where to use it. I had so many ideas but not a lot of shiplap, so I eventually settled on this corner of our basement. It's where the exercise mats and treadmill live, right behind the sofa. And also where the Marvel-themed bathroom with shiplap is located. So it made sense. It took much of a rainy Sunday to cut and nail up the new boards ...    I even had enough to do on the "backsplash" of our little kitchenette in the basement I've been slowly building out.  Next up will be to patch all the nail holes and calk around the edges for a clean look. And then the best part ... picking out paint color. Since this is a "free" project, I'm hoping I can find a color in my paint cabinet.  I'll keep you posted. 
Keep reading »