Tourist Weekend

This saturday I finally managed to do one thing being on my list for ages: visiting the famous (and freshly renewed!!) castle of Versailles. On arriving, I was instantly impressed by the size of the castle, but what really amazed me was the fact that on the tourist map I could hardly find it, as its garden is ginormous in comparison. If you don't know what I mean, check it out on google maps!
For entering the castle there is of course a very long queue, which takes up to hours to finish. To save yourself all that time, here is the thing to do: check in your wallet (or wherever you keep it) if you don't aready have a free ticket in the form of your ID card - proving that you're a European citizen and under 26! If yes, you can directly enter the castle (yes, without a ticket)!

Strolling through the castle was an amazing experience: suddenly there you are, facing portraits out of your school's history book in their full glory and impressiveness, recognizing corridors, rooms, and views from movies and feeling you've already been there in a sort of dream which finally is becoming reality. I found it unimaginable to understand what self-conception a man must have had to build himself a residence of that kind! And all the others around him, to let him do that... no wonder the revolution followed suit.
Speaking of these events, my visit surely would have been half as pleasant, hadn't it been for Jaques who had offered to act as my personal guide, brushing up and adding to my half-forgotten knowledge on French history. Sadly the gardens were closed early this day, due to some spectacles. I really feel I need to return once more (preferably before my next birthday) to fully enjoy of which I already was given a fantastic impression just by looking out of the windows.

The second event this weekend was quite different, but nevertheless memorable: I saw the Tour de France passing next to the campus (and the chaos it still caused when I got to Paris later that day). What added noticeably to the fun was a group of interns from MIT with whom I was picknicking at the road, watching an eternal stream of advertisement cars passing by before the 'actual' Tour was finally arriving. Frankly, by myself I would have been rather bored, as the cyclists really are gone in the blink of an eye. But, with nice company... you can even find a way around gates being closed in front of your nose preventing you from going home ;)