Earings from the Musee de Quai
Fountainbleau- front
hardware-door (for Nepolean)
hardware-door
hardware on window
view from inside looking out-Fountainbleau
hardware-door
hardware-door
chairs in Fountainbleau
Sorbet at Fountainbleau-mine is the middle one
Vaux le Vicomte-back
Vaux le Vicomte-from a distance
Vaux le Vicomte-back
Vaux le Vicomte
fireworks
fireworks over water
Today we had free time in the morning and were scheduled to venture out later with everyone. A few of us went to the Musee de Quai. It is the building that has a green wall that I mentioned in a previous blog. I like the outside of the building and hoped to find some treasures inside. When you get inside you go up a ramp to reach the exhibits. This seems pretty boring and normal, but they had what they call a river. It was a projection on words on the floor that were moving and looked like a river flowing down the ramp. It was pretty cool. The first exhibit was an oceana geography area. There were lots of cool masks, totem poles, and jewelry. It was a complete contrast to Paris. The next section I visited was the Asia section. It was like entering a different part of the world. Other sections of the museum consisted of Africa and the Americas. I loved being able to compare and contrast the different style of the countries. One of my favorite features was that as you traveled through the museum the color of the floor changed according to what country you were in. Overall I am very glad that I went to this museum. On our way back to the Hotel we got crepes. Yum! I got a cheese and ham crepe. It was absolutely delicious. I hope to try a chocolate one later.
As the study abroad group we met at 14:00 to board a bus. The bus took us to Fountainbleau. People that lived here consist of Frances II-the salamander king, Louis XIV-the sun king, and Neapolian-the bee king. Fountainbleau is considered the kings get away. Here they would hunt and relax. Honestly I thought it would be bigger, because the pictures make it look huge. It was fun to explore the house though. I noticed that the hardware for the door knobs kept changing, so that is why on this blog I am featuring different hardware. I didn't even include all of the different kinds of handles, but I hope you like the ones I did include. I found it crazy that there were so many different kinds. After touring the house I got black currant sorbet. It was delicious. I love that in France I can find currant everything so easily.
Our next venture took us to the market. Here we purchased food for our picnic. It was one of the quickest grocery store stops. We purchased two begets, ham, humus, pears, and bueno bars. The bus took us to our final destination of the day Vaux le Vicomte. Across the street from Vaux there is a wooded area. Hidden back inside a little ways is a pavilion with picnic tables. This was where we feasted. Our dinner ended up being so delicious and just the right amount. Other groups had lots of extra food. Susie and Darrin bought éclairs and candles that said happy birthday. After assembly and trouble lighting the candles with the wind we all joined in singing happy birthday to Griffin. It was so fun.
The moment finally arrived. Vaux le Vicomte is a beautiful building originally owned by Nicholas Fouquet. Nicholas. Le Vau, Le Brun, and le Norte together designed the wonderful master piece chateau and gardens. After completion Nicholas had a house warming party. The king was in attendance. King Louis the XIV realized that Nicholas's chateau and gardens was more impressive than anything he had. The saying about Nicholas goes something like, King by night jailed by morning. After the amazing party that ended with fireworks the kings jealousy was too much. He had Nicholas thrown in jail. Poor guy didn't even have time to enjoy his chateau. Nicholas was in jail for 19 years. I started with walking in the gardens. They were beautiful. The atmosphere is very romantic, almost tangible. They have a candle light tour of the house, which we did. Wow, it has a moat and everything. It is so pretty on the estate. I would be quite content there. Our night ended with fireworks. We watched them shoot over the water. It was amazing. No fighting anyone for a seat. No horrid parking. It was great. We were close to the fireworks and had no one around to bother our group. We left after the fireworks and didn't return to the hotel until 1 a. m. Late yes, but very worth it.
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