château de Versailles: a photo essay

A bust of Marie Antoinette looking at a portrait of Marie Antoinette in the Petit Trianon 

Looking back at our trip to the Palace of Versailles, and many of the images I took there, I realized how much I was trying to disassemble such a large, grandiose, and overwhelming place. The splendor was unfathomable, and the context in which the palace was constructed creates an even more baffling experience.

Only when I was away from the palace and the manicured gardens, did I feel myself relax—I watched residents of the town of Versailles use the grounds for their morning runs and a place to walk their dogs, and I thought what an interesting notion of how the grounds have been returned to the people.

Visiting the Grand Trianon and the Petit Trianon could not prepare me for the crushing spectacle and madness of the main palace—endless hoards of people storming into the rooms, seizing what they can with their cameras, ipads, video cameras, pressing up on each other eager to capture a prize, oblivious to those who were around them. The tighter the crush, the higher my anxiety ratcheted, the more sour my experience. Seeing the photos I took, I realized I wanted as little of context of where I was as possible and I wanted to find the imperfections and humor in order to ground myself in the overwhelming experience.

 

3 Days Down

Despite having been here for almost 5 days now, I find myself still having a hard time believing that i’m actually in Paris. The past couple of days have been a flurry of all the things i’ve always wanted to do or see and the daunting task of trying to adjust to the time change, the metro system, and taking everything in while half asleep. I have already faced many unexpected surprises and some disappointments, but the experience is no doubt a positive one over all, and one i’m glad to be a part of. 

On day 1, we made our way to Notre Dame. At first I was supremely peeved by the giant blue mass that sat in front of the Notre Dame thinking that it would ruin any chance I had of taking a good photo or seeing the building in it’s entirety, however, upon entering the big blue frustration I came to realize that it was offering a unique opportunity to get close to the pieces of the building that you might never get to see so close on a regular basis.   

It’s hard to tell what surrounds it besides cafe’s due to the droves of people that flood the grounds at all times. This is actually one of my continuing great disappointments in Paris, the number of tourists. Of course it is to be expected but it’s still sad to see that the church can’t even run a proper mass due to the amount of people flooding in and out of the church. We will never again be able to see the Notre Dame as it was originally.

Despite this small moment of gloom, the Notre Dame was magnificent and climbing the tower to the very top was as rewarding as it was difficult. Seeing the gargoyles close up and taking in Paris as a whole from the top was breathtaking. As ridiculous as it sounds one of my first thoughts while wandering around the top, was how many things Disney’s Hunchback of Notre Dame got right in their depiction of the Notre Dame and particularly this rooftop-ish area, as it's rarely seen in images. 

The arrival of day 2 meant a couple of things things, one, I would be very tired, and two, I would be seeing one of the sites I had most been looking forward to since signing up for the trip. Versailles, and more particularly, the gardens were awe inspiring. I could easily spend hours upon hours in the gardens and never get tired of it. In fact what captured me most wasn’t the palaces or the statues but simply the landscaping. The square trees, the labyrinth of bushes. It felt as if I had stumbled into Wonderland without realizing it.

Besides the landscaping I was drawn to the Petit Trianon and the Hamlet that Marie Antoinette had revamped for herself. Marie Antoinette has always interested me, but interests me profoundly more after having read the article on her and visiting her palace. It was such a great experience to be able to physically see all the places that I had been imagining while reading the article, seeing how different or similar they were to what I had dreamt up in my head. I was pleased to see that the Petit Trianon was, in fact, petit.    

Saint Louis, King of France and a Page

Day 3 I was initially a little skeptical about just because i’m not much of an art analytical sort of person. What I enjoy more is looking at the art and what it depicts and then thinking about the time period and the people and what it would have been like to live in that time period with those customs, particularly of course with historical artwork. So I was nervous about how I was going to have to approach the assignment. I certainly can't articulate myself as well as my peers in this area, so i'm hoping to grow in that while i'm here.

  I ended up choosing 2 of what I thought were portrait paintings. I chose “ A Teacher of the Law” by Jean Barbault and “Saint Louis King of France and a Page” by Domenico Theotocopolous El Greco. 

Analyzing them ended up not being quite as difficult as I would have imagined but I still feel like there has got more to the paintings that I just don't see.

Easily one of my favorite pieces though was this piece whose name plate image I somehow deleted. :(

If you happen to know who this is by I would not be at all opposed to finding out! 

Natalie_A brief thought about the Louvre

Subject Matter Viewed: Etoiles et Croix de revetement   (Ceramic Stars and Crosses)

The tile art was ceramic glaze dated from Iran 1266-1267. I choose this because I wanted to do something different than painting, I felt like the challenge was going to be how to place it in a similar way to a representational image that already had a narrative. 

I was attracted to the Iranian art area because of my internship with Kohl's. I felt like I should take the chance to look at some of the pieces of great iranian art while I had the chance. Initially there seemed to be more of a reverence for the art in the Islamic art are of the museum than that of the rest of the museum. I stumbled upon it while looking at the Mediterranean art and then suddenly the room I was walking through opened up into a balcony that overlooked the Islamic exhibit. The exhibit had a decidedly hushed murmur about it. People were walking around slowly and taking their time as they moved through the planned gallery space. All were seemingly more careful, quiet, and considerate compared to the more popular areas of the museum exhibit where crowds gawked, gathered, and exclaimed. 

The exhibit area for the Islamic Art display really demonstrates the conscious decision making that went into it. The area is newly constructed, in fact this spring is the first time the area is open to visitors. The space was largely dominated by the colorful tapestries that flanked the right side of the exhibit as well as the display cases set at 45 degree angles along the floor perpendicular to the balcony style entrance I emerged from. The height of the balcony allowed me to look over the space and take in the various blocks of displays gathering interest. However, immediately my gaze was drawn directly to the wall opposite me, directly in the back of the room. Even among all the display cases, tapestries, and people I was able to spot a bright area of color (even brighter, it seemed, than the rest of the things in the room although that is hard to imagine). I moved toward the back of the room and directly toward the mosaic tile I choose.

The perimeter of the mosaic piece I choose was clear to be intentional. The wall it hung on was painted a black slate but the piece itself and the ones which surrounded it were colorful and highly noticeable from a distance so their placement within the space utilized this to their advantage, drawing attending from people despite its location at the “back” of the gallery. On the same wall there are a mix of other eight sided stars, but the ones I chose to study were the only ones without other illustrations or depictions on the stone.

Key parts of my experience while in the Islamic Art section was the congruency between the tile and the work presented. Gold and wood inlay mixed with color stain was a prevalent part of the exhibit as a whole. When I moved to sit on the floor in front of my piece I was immediately drawn to the floor. The well planned out design did not overlook the floor, it brought gold flecks and lines into black slate floor which mimicked the arabic writing that presented itself throughout the decor work. 

Rough Sketch up of the layout of the room 

Rough look at the piece and notes

One of the best moments during my sketching and reflection was the moment when a woman came up and began to read the arabic writing on a work of tile opposite my piece. It was neat to see someone who understood a different level of the piece than I did. 

Some more tiny notes

Moved: Emotionally and Externally

Fatigue commenced. The first few nights remained fairly sleep-less, but I trekked on. Everything we were about to endure for the first few days I knew was going to take every single breath of mine away. My thoughts did not prove wrong about the days to come. The first place we encountered on our trip was the famous, Notre-Dame. 

To sit outside of the front exterior façade and examine the architecture and ornamentation – was seemingly not real to me. I believe the scale was just too large to grasp at the first glance of it - the structure is massive compared to any other structure I have encountered before.

It wasn’t until I took a stroll to the other end of Notre-Dame that I really began to appreciate its entirety. Beauty, it exuded pure beauty. Not only from the outside, but also from the interior architecture and decoration, as well as the views from the near top. Breathtaking, indeed.

Notre-Dame (May 18, 2013)

-       I was particularly intrigued with the tourists in the area - and how they were posing for pictures. They stood on the concrete blocks in-front of the Notre-Dame, twisting their hips, shuffling their feet, pouting their lips, and adding the last touches to what they thought would be the perfect photograph of themselves in that moment of time.

It’s interesting to capture the moment where someone is posing, but they don’t know you are there, maybe their nerves are less prominent, maybe just as present in front of the camera closer to them. Whatever may be true, this method of capturing people in a space sparks an interest in me...Why are they here? What brought them here today - are they the same reasons? What makes this building so important to them individually they come so far away to see it, and then pose for it?

To digress from day one, we concluded the evening all together with a dinner at Bouillon Chartier. When we left the restaurant, you could tell the loyalty the restaurant goers had for the place. I see this fitting for how wonderful the food was,  and the pleasant service as well. The line looked as though it could have been at least a two-hour wait. 

Bouillon Chartier 

Day 2: Versailles Visit 

Versailles - It exudes extravagance to the ultimate degree. From the gardens to the architecture, the decorations, and the massive scale of most objects that inhabit the landscape of versailles, the palace couldn't be anything but indulgent. 

Day 3: Louvre Visit

The visit to the Louvre was highly inspirational. I felt the interior architecture of the space (Especially the entry, and Islamic Arts space) and exterior moving me emotionally in ways I have yet experience before. I was nearly overwhelmed to tears – of joy of course, by the elegance of the Louvre. Awestruck in these very moments, this moment of elation was barely conceivable to me, however, the dialoge thus being created in my head, I wanted to stay forever.

summing up

Versailles, Norte Dame, Louvre, Pantheon, Latin Quarter, Coffee, Bread, Bread with Cheese, Cameras and the Metro.

I guess if I were to sum up my past three days in 15 words or less, that would be it.

Considering this is an academic course, I can do more than that. So maybe I will format this post for all my friends and family and scholarly readers in a organized manner.  I’ll start with the first thing that I encountered in the city of love.

The Metro!

I am so surprised at how simple it is to use the Metro. Right after I got off the plane, it was right there and took me almost right to the hostel. And for the past few days this is how we have been getting around. It is a really easy a convenient system, it really makes me think about how behind on the times of subway design we are in the states.

Coffee

Having traveled to Europe before, I was expecting great things from Paris in terms of their caffeine. As far as I am concerned all my expectations have been far exceeded. After walking around all day, the best most delicious thing in the world is an espresso shot.

Bread & Bread with Cheese

Typical mornings breakfast at the hostel, but still, always amazing. All the food here has been outstanding so far. Being the Wisconsin carb and cheese loving girl that I am, I am pretty much in heaven. I love trying new food and learning about cultural dishes and Paris is a pretty great place to do so.

Norte Dame

I feel like its just as amazing as everyone has said it is. Although there is a certain feeling that overcomes one when they are sitting in front of something built hundreds and hundreds of years of ago. To me there is an awakening of self worth, and there is this moment when all of sudden you realize how small you are in comparison to the rest of the world. But to be honest, perhaps the majority of Paris makes me feel that way.

Versailles

Possibly one of the most decadent and elaborate structures I have ever seen. If you sit here and think about all the words you could ever use to describe something big, none of the words in the world would be able to accurately fit Versailles. The Gardens were so unbelievably beautiful, although the inside building was not the best experience I had ever had in my lifetime. The people there were swarming, it was like a giant herd of people, and if you didn’t move with them they pushed you to the side.

Louvre

Oh My! I want to say there are no words for how the Louvre made me feel but I am sure I can think of a few. We had been there literally the whole day and to think that I only saw not even 1/8 of the artwork there. It gives me chills down my back. The enormity of the Louvre and almost everything in it; is outstanding.  We all sat together as a class and looked at Gericault’s the Raft of the Medusa. Before that, I don’t think I had ever spent more than an hour looking at one painting. And I had never spent so long in such a crowded place, looking at a painting so large. After a while within that painting, I started to really become attune to my surroundings. I started noticing everyone looking at this piece. For the next 45 minutes, I took pictures of people taking pictures, and looked at people looking. After that we were released to look on our own and find two works to compare. I spent 3 and a half hours looking at one piece, without even realizing it.

Pantheon & Latin Quarter

I fell in love with the Latin Quarter, as my dear father told me I would. The Latin Quarter is all the schools are, it is amazing to see all the students! And everyone was so beautiful! I can’t believe the Pantheon as well. It’s almost funny how it works out, the Romans had created a Pantheon hundreds of years before with better construction and almost better technology. I saw its funny because the Pantheon in the Latin Quarter has to be completely redone.

Summing up my experience in a small blog post in nearly impossible. But either I can rightfully say that Paris is the most amazing city I have ever encountered in my lifetime so time. 

>AM

The Louvre & Versailles

For my time at the Louvre, I focused on Chardin’s Le Singe antiquaire-left (1726), and Chimiste dans son Laboratoire-right (1726).  They were in the French Gallery on the second floor away from most of the floor traffic.  The atmosphere was far more relaxed, to the point that there was a man napping by the window.  Very few people traveled there and I saw no tour groups.  This gallery was laid out with specific paths on the floor, arrows included and it was split into two small sections and two large.  Few people strayed from the paths to looks at the art in the center of the smaller sub-galleries.  Chardin’s work was spread throughout the whole gallery.  
To the right of Le Singe, through the doorway in the next gallery, was Chardin’s Chimiste dans son Laboratoar, another academic, but he was human.  Few people stopped to glance at these pieces, fewer to actually look.  I got the impression that some people only looked because they saw me drawing it and were curious what the painting was.  For how interesting some of Chardin’s work is, it got little attention.  This quick walk though could be contributed to the drawn out pathways and arrows on the floor, the location of the galleries, the location of the paintings on the wall, or that people were so exhausted from the rest of the museum, they didn’t have the energy to look at much more.

gallery maps

General pathways of the gallery and a sketch of Le Singe A sketch of Chimiste and Le Singe's frame

The strange leg of the monkey, Le Singe's frame, the painting's locations, and a sketch of the Chemist.

In both of Chardin’s paintings, he depicts academics leisurely (the relaxed atmosphere of the gallery mimics the positions of the figures) enjoying their books facing opposite directions.  The compositions are similar.  They are centered vertically off centered horizontally with the subject facing center.  In Chimiste, the tone is more straightforward and literal, while the artist’s decision to use a monkey in Le Singe takes a bit more interpretation.  Using a monkey to depict a scholar and a painter (opposite of the dead rabbit and still life) seems to be mocking the two professions.  The monkey is similar to some earlier work, like the Flemish artist Teniers the Youner.  Tenier painted very similar scenes of anthropomorphic animals.  Chardin’s choice for a subject might reflect this thought.  Perhaps Chardin’s decision to make the bottles in Chimiste so secondary is a similar idea, as if he does not want us to take this chemist seriously.  The chemist looks relaxed, not hard at work.  The monkey and the chemist are not parodies and Chardin likely does not think highly of scholars and academics, himself included, as there was a monkey painting in the same gallery.

Versailles construction Versailles sketches

The experience of Versilles was overwhelming: in scale, luxury, and tourism.  The gardens were so ridiculous and beautiful, it’s hard to believe they were built for so few people to enjoy.  It wasn’t hard to believe how upset the Palace of Versailles made the rest of France feel and the revolution it helped start.  With those thoughts in mind, it was difficult to actually enjoy them.  The money put into building and to maintain Versailles over all these years amazes me.  If the extravagance of the palace upset the French before, I am curious to know how they feel about it now.  It is a treasure that would be an absolute shame to lose, a main tourist spot, and must provide a lot of jobs.  The cost of maintenance (cleaning, gardening, etc.) and conservation must cost a fortune.  Even the new work (the tree installations and marble or plaster sculptures) must be expensive.  Versailles is still a symbol of unnecessary decadence, not much different than before.  While I would never wish for it to fade and become overgrown, thinking of the money continuously being put into the Palace and garden seems so contrary to what the French wanted in the Revolution.

Days 1-3

These last few days have been some of the most breathtaking, exhausting, and overwhelming days that I’ve experienced in my life so far. Everything here is beautiful. The light here is unlike anything I’ve ever seen before, and illuminates everything in sight. Even under the heaviest rain clouds like we had at Versailles on our second day, there is still this unbelievable luminosity that emanates from every corner in France.  I have found myself in disbelief that there could be this kind of beauty and I had been unable to access it for this long.

            The first day was so exciting and exhausting at the same time. I was absolutely awestruck at the amount of history that is visually present from the second you step off of the metro, and up onto the streets of Paris. The experience of flying, and taking the metro was so extremely foreign to me but definitely necessary and rewarding.  Navigating foreign countries, which speak a completely different language than you are accustomed to be extremely humbling. I realized that a lot of Americans, including myself expect other people to speak our language, but hardly do we ever expect the same out of ourselves. It made me realize that the world is a lot bigger than Milwaukee/Wisconsin/The United States. It’s so easy to forget that there is a whole other world out there with a history much, much older than the United States.  It’s so easy to become comfortable in your city and accustomed to your schedules but there is something so important about feeling uncomfortable in a city and a culture you aren’t familiar with. Being faced with a language that you know very little of is extremely overwhelming. Hearing everyone around you speak this beautiful language is intoxicating and extremely dizzying at the same time.  I was completely overwhelmed from all the change that we experienced on the first day… visually, mentally, and physically. Jet lag played a huge part in all of that I’m sure—but even though I just wanted to sleep, staying mobile and walking around the city was what I needed. I got the most out of the boat tour that we did toward the end of the day. After reading the Seven Ages of Paris book, as well as the readings that were assigned for our groups, a lot of the information that was given became blurred and it was hard to visualize the city and connect monumental parts of the city. Already being completely overwhelmed from traveling, a new city, and a new culture, the highlight of my day was definitely the boat cruise. I was able to pick apart and enjoy
Paris-see the monuments from afar, get a refresher on the city's history, and unwind.

 Being able to sit back, and learn about Paris through a different perspective was extremely rewarding. I am such a visual learner that I needed that downtime, especially on the first day to soak it all in and enjoy it through a different lens. While there was very little down time from the plane, to the different activities we had, the first day was extremely tiring but rewarding.

            The second day, it all started to sink in that I was actually in Paris.  This day was extremely emotionally draining for a number of reasons. We headed to Notre Dame, and I was absolutely in disbelief at the size of it.

After seeing it so many times in class, being right in front of it was unreal. The architecture on, and inside of it is absolutely breathtaking. I honestly had very little interest in going to see it before because I had heard so much about it-I was partially afraid that it wasn’t going to live up to the hype that all of my Art History classes had given it, and partially not as interested because I couldn’t really understand it. Architecture is so foreign to me and so hard to understand that it becomes really difficult for me to access anything so complex like that. But, when we got there, and I actually saw Notre Dame up close and stood underneath it, it was a completely different story. Seeing the figures carved into the stone all throughout the building, hearing the stories that went along with each figure blows my mind. I honestly felt that Notre Dame changed my perspective on architecture. Particularly within the stained glass window that made up the middle portion of the façade. I felt that the shape was extremely intriguing from afar, but the designs within the design were what really amazed me. The extreme attention to detail within every inch of the circle, despite its height goes to show that this is not just a building-it is a work of art. There are stories within each piece of that circle. The inside of the building to me, was the to me though, the best part. As soon as you enter you are absolutely engrossed within this beautiful architecture-domes and arches for days, seamlessly bleeding into each other. But, of course, the light is what really got me. I got really excited when the light changed from room to room-carrying emotion and a weight that for me wasn’t palpable beforehand. I never knew that stained glass could function like that. It was beautiful to have the light direct my emotions and my thought process rather than visuals, which I had been so over-stimulated by from the first day as well as just looking at the outer façade.

            After Notre Dame, we were given an opportunity to go and see the European Museum of Photography along with a memorial that I knew little about (Ice cream was also an incentive) instead of waiting in line to go to the top of Notre Dame. I decided to go to the memorial and museum and the experience I had was extremely, extremely powerful. There is very few times where I am moved to tears by something visual—this memorial was the most powerful one to date. I never expected architecture to be so emotional, but this was the hardest thing for me to go through. I came in blind and walked right past the plaque describing what it actually was. Which, in retrospect, I’m glad I did. Because the second it hit me and I wrapped my head around the memorial it just got me. You enter the memorial by going down in a small group through a narrow, tall, heavy, white stone staircase. You then enter into a circular space with walls that are at least 20 feet high full of this heavy, deafening stone that engulfs you. You are given two choices on where to look. You are allowed reprieve from the enclosed space in 2 forms-through a triangle, black Iron Gate that was placed over a small patch of water from the Seine, or into a room. The room only had one way to enter it, and only allowed one person to enter it at a time. These giant, rectangular concrete pillars engulf you and you enter into a pentagonal space, with words written in red in French on the ceiling and around it. Directly in front of you when you enter, was a room filled with small light bulbs on each wall that went 10 plus feet back. I turned, and remember seeing the word holocaust and realizing what I just had taken a part of, and what this was. The second I realized it was a memorial for those affected by the Holocaust it hit me-I had just experienced enclosure, entrapment, confinement just like those killed and affected by the Holocaust were. It was absolutely horrifying. I have heard absolutely horrifying, gut-wrenching stories from our extremely close family friend (to the point where I call her my Grandma) about when she was put into a concentration camp in Germany, but feeling just a sliver of what she felt, knowing that this was her reality for so many months was horrifying. I have never, and never think I will experience a piece of architecture and design that affects me so emotionally. It is a piece of art-it conveys the feelings associated with the Holocaust through architecture, design and materials.  I am still speechless as to how it is possible to convey those un-relatable, unthinkable emotions through art. That was a huge turning point for me.

            When we went to the European Museum of Photography, I was really, really excited about what I might see. I came across a show in the basement of the building by Phillipe Favier, called Noir that absolutely blew me away.

His use of material, the re-use of old photographs, and the ingenious idea of playing with your perception through framing and design blew me out of the water. He re-contextualized the idea of the frame by placing these photographs within non-traditional forms like shadow boxes, a typewriter, and even integrated sculpture with photography. This work was extremely inspiring to me and I found that I was easily excited about because it was so outside of the norm. I have always been attracted to the integration of mixed media within photography, but never have attempted to do it. The work felt personal and family related—by obscuring identities and morphing them into a new form, the work transcends the personal and becomes public.

            The third day, when we went to Versailles, I had a moment of inspiration almost immediately once we entered the gardens. While I found the entire grounds absolutely breathtaking, as soon as I stepped out by steps overlooking the long rectangular pond that stretched out towards the grounds, I had a moment where I was speechless that something like this existed.

 I have had such a difficult time connecting with the culture here because I feel so foreign and out of place—something that is less familiar to me back at home. While there is something important to feeling this way, it has allowed me to look for connections in different manners than I usually would. I was drawn to one woman in particular who was by her, and stood in amazement for about ten minutes in the same spot, overlooking the gardens. Seeing this older woman, independent, and completely awe-struck made me realize that these moments of being amazed, speechless and completely infatuated with the culture here are interchangeable.

There was something about the way that she was standing, that was so eloquent and quiet that summed up everything I’ve been feeling so far. I realized that that perspective, of overlooking the gardens, and the realization that the world is so much bigger than you thought was something I’ve been internalizing… the fact that she was by herself also played into it I’m sure. There is something extremely unsettling but necessary to being pretty independent while traveling to a different country and this woman embodied every emotion that I’ve been feeling. As soon as I started seeing that it was interchangeable within that spot, I stood there photographing reactions…. I’m not articulating what I felt there perfectly, but that experience was unlike any other I’ve had so far. Here is a page from my sketchbook from that day, dissecting the view of the gardens.

When we went to the Lourve, I was on complete overload. The museum was absolutely beautiful, and I could not believe the size of the museum, and then the amount of work within it. When we were on our boat cruise the first day, there was a fact thrown around that said if you spent 3 seconds in front of every piece of artwork within the museum, that it would take you 3 months to get through everything. I had no idea that the museum was this large, and so confusing. I was really taken aback by the number of tour groups, but particularly how little time people spent with the work. The purpose of going to the museum and seeing these beautiful  When we split up to find two pieces to compare and contrast, (more later) I spent the remainder of the 3 or so hours upstairs on the 2nd floor-and I don't think I even got through half of the work up there! I chose to focus in on The Valpincon Bather by Jean Auguste-Dominique, as well as "Study of a Half Naked Woman" by Jacob Van Loo. I found that it was interesting how the gaze within each painting of a nude woman changed the perception and objectification of the woman being portrayed within the portraits. Van Loo's painting, was filled with dark colors, sickly cold skin, and a gaze averted to the corner of the painting that allows the viewer to understand that she's aware and uncomfortable. Within Dominique's painting, he portrays a woman in a completely different manner-soft, delicate, romantic light, yet he is still intruding within this woman's everyday life. I found it interesting as well, that how the curator decided to present the works, spoke to the artists intentions as well. Within Van Loo's painting, the artist is putting her on display; making the viewer feel uncomfortable for looking at her. She is essentially an object. In Dominique's painting, the woman is portrayed more as an inspiration in my opinion, because of the soft light it was painted in. While both artists are intruding into these woman's lives and objectifying them to a certain manner, the thing that really consumed me the most was the gaze/lack of gaze. 

 I saw a quote right before I left that I feel fits this whole experience so far, and even sums up the experience I had at Versailles that I feel will carry me throughout the rest of the trip:

“Travel is about the gorgeous feeling of teetering in the unknown.”

I’m learning to become comfortable with being uncomfortable here, and accepting the fact that there is no possible way to take in everything within this one trip… acknowledging and accepting that will only allow me to take in everything more genuinely.