Today was another important day for me. Joe and I went to the Palace of Versailles. 
I first studied it in Humanities in high school and have always wanted to go there. It started as King Louis XIII´s hunting lodge before being his son´s, Louise XIV, palace. In 1682, Louis XIV moved the palace from Paris to Versailles as a way to keep his court closer to him and further away from the French people. During this time, the French were struggling in poverty and the palace was built to the detriment of the people. It was extravagances such as this that eventually led to the French Revolution and caused the royalty to, quite literally, lose their heads.
The palace is the ultimate in opulence. The bedrooms of the king and queen are breathtaking
and the Hall of Mirrors is indescribable.
It´s one of those places that has to be experienced to be believed. It is truly beautiful, but I think, it should be viewed with a lesson in mind. It is so easy for each of us to ignore the pain of others. I have found myself, many a time, associating myself with a group of people, that I shouldn´t. It is so easy to forget about what is outside our social circle when the group we are around alienates others and only keeps to itself. I found myself getting sucked into a way of thinking or living that really isn´t me. I didn´t even realize it at the time, and I was totally blind to what was out there. That´s why I think it is so important to be careful who my friends are. If they are not interested in helping make this world a better place, I don´t want to be closely associated with them, because I don´t want to forget about the hurting people out there. I don´t know if this makes any sense to anyone else but me, but that is the lesson I took away from Versailles. 
Another lesson I learned is, when traveling, give yourself much more time than you think you need, not just because of the lines. I went to Versailles thinking I just wanted to see the Hall of Mirrors and gardens, but there was much more there that I didn´t know about that I actually enjoyed more. I´ve learned in the past couple days that once you go to the ¨must sees¨, if you go away from the crowd there may be jewels right around the corner that are even better.
I first studied it in Humanities in high school and have always wanted to go there. It started as King Louis XIII´s hunting lodge before being his son´s, Louise XIV, palace. In 1682, Louis XIV moved the palace from Paris to Versailles as a way to keep his court closer to him and further away from the French people. During this time, the French were struggling in poverty and the palace was built to the detriment of the people. It was extravagances such as this that eventually led to the French Revolution and caused the royalty to, quite literally, lose their heads.The palace is the ultimate in opulence. The bedrooms of the king and queen are breathtaking
and the Hall of Mirrors is indescribable. It´s one of those places that has to be experienced to be believed. It is truly beautiful, but I think, it should be viewed with a lesson in mind. It is so easy for each of us to ignore the pain of others. I have found myself, many a time, associating myself with a group of people, that I shouldn´t. It is so easy to forget about what is outside our social circle when the group we are around alienates others and only keeps to itself. I found myself getting sucked into a way of thinking or living that really isn´t me. I didn´t even realize it at the time, and I was totally blind to what was out there. That´s why I think it is so important to be careful who my friends are. If they are not interested in helping make this world a better place, I don´t want to be closely associated with them, because I don´t want to forget about the hurting people out there. I don´t know if this makes any sense to anyone else but me, but that is the lesson I took away from Versailles. Another lesson I learned is, when traveling, give yourself much more time than you think you need, not just because of the lines. I went to Versailles thinking I just wanted to see the Hall of Mirrors and gardens, but there was much more there that I didn´t know about that I actually enjoyed more. I´ve learned in the past couple days that once you go to the ¨must sees¨, if you go away from the crowd there may be jewels right around the corner that are even better.
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