30 Days in Europe with Max

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30 Days in Europe with Max

July 8, 2010 - France - Versailles, Chantilly

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Slept in till after nine and got a leisurely start to Versailles. This required driving to the Paris Peripheriqe (their ring road), then around and on to Versailles. Traffic was tough as usual, but Ivan sped us through as best as he could. Our visit to Versailles was free thanks to a girlfiend of Ivan's who's head of security there. Ivan parked "creatively", nice and close to the palace. Recent restoration work made the wrought iron fence in front a bright gold finish. We bypassed the very short line and made our way in after consulting with guards. Ivan's friend would not be able to accompany us, so we were on our own. We got English audio guides for free too and began the tour. Crowds were very reasonable for Versailles (so I was told), but still a significant annoyance at times. Guilded, decorated wall and ceiling surfaces with artwork were everywhere. Canopied beds, sculpture busts, etc. All very opulent and impressive.

Versailles, from the south

Newly refinished gates.

Versailles interior.

Only light crowds at Versailles that morning.

Versailles interior.

Louis IV.

Versailles interior.

A ceiling.

Wall-ceiling detail.

Versailles interior.

Ceiling detail.

Laborers with a crocodile in a painting.

The Hall of Mirrors.

Max helps with a photo.

A canopied bed.

Versailles interior.

Another canopied bed.

View of the grounds to the northwest.

My favorite room was the "1729 room", with huge paintings of various battle scenes. They're really just giant, beautiful illustrations of historical events. Each one has an interesting story behind it, and there are many. After touring the interior we walked briefly around the grounds and then found a kebab place for lunch.

The 1729 room.

Painting from 1729 room.

Versailles, north facade.

Versailles grounds to the north.

Ivan had suggested showing us the chateau and stables at Chantilly earlier, so we headed there afterwards. It was a fairly long drive, but worth the look. Prince Chantilly thought he'd be reincarnated as a horse, and built the biggest stables in the world. Indeed they were huge and impressive. The chateau was beautiful too, surrounded by water. This chateau was depicted as the home of villainous Max Zorin in the 1985 James Bond movie A View to a Kill. We walked the grounds a bit, and left to pick up Ivan's son Luka for dinner.

Chateau de Chantilly.

Another view of the chateau.

The stables at chateau de Chantilly.

Carved horses heads above an entrance at the stables.

South facade of the stables. They were big.

Stables entrance.

Stables, west facade.

View of the chateau from the north.

A closer view.

Ivan's son Luka is just a couple of weeks older than Max. Very nice guy with good English. Ivan and Luka's common interest is bee keeping, and we planned to see their hives later that night. Back to Ivan's house for a swim in the pool, and a game of monkey in the middle with Luka. It was a good way to break the ice. We barbequed again and had a nice dinner under his weeping birch tree in the yard. Then went to visit the bees. He has about 6 hives with tops that can open, and piece of glass below, allowing you to see the bees without them coming out. They were "ventilating" their hives by flapping their wings, which made a big buzzing noise. Kind of nerve wracking, and Ivan called out a few false alarms about getting bees on him, which made me run to the car. I hate getting stung by bees! Afterwards we dropped Luka off at Ivan's ex's house and went home to bed.

Max with Ivan's car in front of Ivan's house.

Main entrance to Ivan's house.

Max and Luka in the pool.

Luka.

Dinner with Ivan and Luka.

Visiting the hives after dinner.

The bees, ventilating.

Viewing the bees.

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