[Article] Paris Daytrip to Versailles

Paris Daytrip to Versailles
Posted by Lori in Paris on 13/Oct/2006

I've always been attracted to all things completely gaudy... well, art- and architecture-wise. So, of course I had to witness the decadence which is Versailles when I visited Paris. Aside from being into the royals of the past, I will confess... I have a big crush on paintings of young Napoleon, and I wanted to see "Bonaparte à Arcole" and the larger than life "Coronation of Napoleon" painting with my own eyes! Oh yeah, and the acres of lush gardens, Hall of Mirrors and all the crazy statues and paintings... and stuff...

Read the rest:
http://www.sitebits.com/2006/paris_daytrip_to_versailles.html

I've never been to Versailles (hopefully soon), but anyway, we have something similar in Russia - St.Petersurg suburb Petergoff (spelling varies) where our very own tsar... I mean, president... likes to entertain his foreign kin..

Seriously, that Peterhof (another spelling) was built SPECIFICALLY to be "better than Versailles". I believe, that was the concise but explicit specification given to the architects and planners.

You can take a peek here:

http://www.peterhof.org/gallery/

I would LOVE to go to Russia some day...it's a definite must-do. My boss at the job I just left for grad school's father is the writer Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn... have you read any of his work? Gulag Archipalego or a day inthe live of ivan...something

No, I haven't read Solzhenitsyn. Sorry if I go against the accepted norms if I say that I don't really recommend it either. From what I understand, it's a pretty boring type of reading.

If you want to read good late 20th century stuff, read Limonov and Dovlatov. Both lived in NYC at some point (Dovlatov died in Queens) and both are very funny, although Limonov's writing is a bit racy:

http://www.amazon.com/Its-Me-Eddie-Fictional-Evergreen/dp/0802130070/

http://www.amazon.com/Suitcase-Sergei-Dovlatov/dp/0802112463/

its pretty grim. his son is a brilliant conductor though. i worked for him with an orchestra