The Beautiful Versailles

The Palace of Versailles is known for its glamour, politics, scandals, and of course, Marie Antoinette. While she was Queen, the palace was elaborately decorated and known for its pompous manner that we think of today. The palace has been preserved in this glamorous state and visitors can see the main rooms once lived in by Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette.

The main gates are still decorated in gold, showing off the power of the French monarchy at the time. Inside, it has gorgeous rooms decorated in gold relief, with huge paintings on the ceilings. There are crystal chandeliers, wall length mirrors and golden candle stands in basically every room. The prettiest of these rooms is perhaps the Queen's Bedchamber that is decorated in white and gold with floral prints. There's a huge bed with a canopy that I really wanted to take a nap in!

The gardens had not bloomed yet but I can imagine how pretty they must look in the Spring. There are trees surrounding a lake that seems to go on forever. Along the way you can see the fountain where people are being turned into salamanders and the rise of Poseidon on his horses.

I can only imagine what Marie Antoinette must have felt like, being Queen of this enormous palace and its surrounding gardens. Seeing portraits of her almost makes me wish we still wore the pretty dresses she wore back in her time.

Bonjour Paree

I just spent my Spring Break in Paris and realized it is definitely a better experience in warmer weather. The sun keeps everyone in a good mood and there are many more street performers by the Notre Dame. The cathedral is beautiful on the inside and view from the top is amazing. I lit a candle to pray for family and friends. But it's a little sad that there's coin machines to make money off of tourists. A monument and religious space like that shouldn't be cheapened with commercialization.

After the Notre Dame, I went to the Eiffel Tower. There were so many people trying to sell souvenirs but some of them were rude up to the point where I wouldn't buy the souvenirs even if I wanted to. The tower itself is a great view and this time, we could actually take the elevator all the way to the top.

It is definitely worth walking from the Eiffel Tower to the Arch de Triomphe, or if anything, taking a bus rather than the metro. It's a great way to see the real city and enjoy a pastry at a sweet shop you would've otherwise missed. I'm still not sure what this structure means but everyone finds it important so I guess it must be special....

Sacre Coeur is located on a hill that has a gorgeous view of the rest of the city. You have to climb a lot of stairs but it's definitely worth it. The inside is a bit more religious than the Notre Dame but it's just as pretty. The streets leading up to the cathedral are full of affordable souvenir shops and restaurants. The cobblestone alleyways really set the mood for a cute little village inside Paris.

Moulin Rouge is walking distance from the cathedral (a little weird I know). This part of the city is just a little bit crazy and can take you by surprise if you're not ready for all the explicit material displayed in windows. It's a good experience to see what you're comfortable with and of course the actual Moulin Rouge provides a great photo op.

Best part about Paris, crepes with nutella and banana. If you don't do anything else, at least try this dessert. I had two while I was there and wish I had had more!

Imperial War Museum

This past week my history class took a trip to the Imperial War Museum (off the Lambeth North stop on the tube). It was a pretty nice day out so the park by the museum looked really pretty and there were so many cute dogs chasing each other. A couple of them were actually showing off by jumping across the fence and leaving their less adventurous friends in the dust haha.

The museum itself is amazing. It has many photographs and video footage from both world wars that I've never seen before. There's a room where you can experience what life was like for soldiers fighting in the trenches during the first world war. There's another room where you can experience what it was like to have to hide in a cellar during the Blitz in London in the second world war. The exhibition about children during the war is really sad and some of those photographs are really hard to look at. The Holocaust exhibition has many videos of Nazi speeches and actual propaganda posters that were used at the time. Many of the videos playing are interviews with the Holocaust survivors that are just so sad and emotional.

On a happier note, the main lobby has many airplanes and tanks that were used in wars. There's a big green rocket and an ambulance jeep. There's also a children's play area where they can experience life in a submarine.

It was definitely one of the more interesting museums I have visited in London!

Wicked!

Just saw Wicked at The Apollo Victoria Theater and it was amazing! The set was beautiful, the cast was great and the seats were oddly very comfortable. I haven't seen the play before so I can't compare it to Broadway but I loved it.
It takes so much imagination to come up with this twist to the story behind the Wicked Witch but it's believable and I actually felt bad for her. The music is also very good and I recommend it to anyone who enjoys musical plays!

Chinese New Year in London

London celebrated Chinese New Year with amazing festivities in Central London Trafalgar Square. The crowd got a little crazy when the dragon performed (one lady grabbed both of my shoulders and tried to push me through!) but that's to be expected. There were dozens of street vendors selling toys, lucky charms, red bean buns, spring rolls and dragon beard candy (sounds really interesting but did not look too appealing). I had some really good food from a restaurant in Chinatown and got a balloon for the upcoming Kung Fu Panda 2! The celebrations ended with Chinese dancing and beautiful fireworks. Here are some pictures!