Travels with Beth: Paris Sightseeing and Versailles

Paris Sightseeing Bus Tour and Visit to Versailles

Paris is the capital and most populous city of France and located on the Seine river. The city is made up of 20 arrondissements or districts. Archeological evidence shows that the site of Paris has been occupied by man since between 9800 and 7500 BC. In the 3rd century BC, it became the site of a town of a Celtic people called the Parisii, for whom the modern city is named.In the 1st century BC, it was conquered by the Romans and became known as Lutetia.It was Christianised in the 3rd century. In the 12th century, Paris was the largest city in the western world, a prosperous trading center; one of the most influential centers of learning in Europe; and the birthplace of the style that later became known as Gothic architecture. In the eighteenth century, it was the center stage for many important events in French history, including the Enlightenment and the French Revolution.
Paris is the home of the Louvre, the most visited art museum in the world, with outstanding collections of European and ancient art; the Musee d'Orsay, devoted to 19th century French art, including the works of the French Impressionists. It also is the home of several masterpieces of gothic architecture, most notably the Cathedral of Notre-Dame-de Paris (12th century) and Sainte-Chapelle, (13th century). Other notable and much-visited landmarks include the Eiffel Tower, built in 1889 to celebrate the centennial of the French Revolution; the Sacre-Coeur Basilica on Montmartre, a Neo-Byzantine style church built between 1875 and 1919; and Les Invalides, a 17th-century hospital and chapel built for disabled soldiers, where the tomb of Napoleon is located.

Even on a rainy day the Eiffel Tower captivates visitors.

From the seat of power to the Museum of the History of France

The Château de Versailles, which has been on UNESCO’s World Heritage List for 30 years, is one of the most beautiful achievements of 18th-century French art. The site began as Louis XIII’s hunting lodge before his son Louis XIV transformed and expanded it, moving the court and government of France to Versailles in 1682. Each of the three French kings who lived there until the French Revolution added improvements to make it more beautiful.

The Hall of Mirrors, the King’s Grand Apartments, the Museum of the History of France. The Château de Versailles, the seat of power until 1789, has continued to unfurl its splendour over the course of centuries. At first it was just a humble hunting lodge built by Louis XIII. But Louis XIV chose the site to build the palace we know today, the symbol of royal absolutism and embodiment of classical French art.

In the 1670s Louis XIV built the Grand Apartments of the King and Queen, whose most emblematic achievement is the Hall of Mirrors designed by Mansart, where the king put on his most ostentatious display of royal power in order to impress visitors. The Chapel and Opera were built in the next century under Louis XV.

The château lost its standing as the official seat of power in 1789 but acquired a new role in the 19th century as the Museum of the History of France, which was founded at the behest of Louis-Philippe, who ascended to the throne in 1830. That is when many of the château’s rooms were taken over to house the new collections, which were added to until the early 20th century, tracing milestones in French history.

- See more at: http://en.chateauversailles.fr/the-palace-#sthash.9r5rilQ8.dpuf