France Day 7

This was our last full day in France which is a little sad but we are starting to miss home and all the people and comforts there. We both think two weeks was just about right. :)

Cathedral Basilica of Saint Denis - located north of Paris in St. Denis (where we're staying). We hadn't originally planned on going here, but it turned out to be a very worthwhile trip.  It's the burial place of the French Kings (nearly every king from the 10th to the 18th centuries is buried here, as well as many from the previous centuries) and queens were commonly crowned here.  In the 12th century the Abbot Suger rebuilt portions of the abbey church using innovative structural and decorative features that were drawn from a number of other sources.  In doing so, he is said to have created the first truly Gothic building.  The basilica's 13th century nave is also the prototype for the Rayonnant Gothic style, and provided an architectural model for cathedrals and abbeys of northern France, England, and other countries.

Among others (both in the crypt and above in the sanctuary), these are the tombs for Louis XVI, his wife Marie Antoinette, Louis XVIII.

Mark smiling for me.

Lunch! Mark had Steak Haché avec Frites (ground beef & fries). My salad was full of thinly cut roasted veggies and roasted duck (I thought it was bacon but it was not, thankfully).

War memorial outside the Versailles mayoral/city council building.

Gate to the Château de Versailles (Palace of Versailles) in Versailles, France - about 20 km SW of Paris.  The court of Versailles was the center of political power in France from 1682, when Louis XIV moved from Paris, until the royal family was forced to return to the capital in October 1789 after the beginning of the French Revolution.

View of the Southern Parterre and l'Orangerie, part of the ridiculously large gardens of Versailles. We spent about 3 hours in the gardens and made it through maybe half.

Some of the orange, lemon, & pomegranate trees are over 200 years old.

Latone ornamental lake/fountain - this fountain illustrates the legend of Apollo's mother and Diana protecting her children.  It was originally mounted on a rock in 1670.