Gardens of Versailles

And finally here are my pictures from the backyard of Versailles. I thought my parents took care of their yard until I saw this place. The intricate mazes, the gorgeous fountains, the lush greenery and the size of this were all astounding to me. When we got to this part I realized that Versailles was definitely worthy of another trip...

Young Man!

This one's for Otus. Colin tried to act surprised when I noticed that he had THE hat. He tried to play it off like "oh, is it? i was wondering why i had this great hat and never brought it to school" but we all know this hat is unforgettable and that was obviously a FEEBLE attempt at maintaining innocence! (Kidding, for Colin's sake (though Otus does deserve it back because he technically did have to 'pay the price' to get this work of art)) Sorry. This makes sense to, like, four people who are reading it.

I'm the dog and the dead deer is representative of all the haters in the world. WOOF WOOF WOOF

Just a glimpse at the vast expanse of the backyard. We spent an hour leisurely walking around and did not reach the end of the pond, which was certainly not the end of the property. NUTS.

First tier of one of the main fountains. I'm not kidding when I say literally every pond had some sort of interesting water feature. This one was ridden with mythological symbolism, like many of the others.

GAH! So incredible!

Cattail fountain and a frozen pond.

Inside a maze.

And right before my camera died, we found a way to break into the maze... bahahah!

Honestly, Versailles was one of the big eye-openers for me since I've been here. This country has such a strong culture, and such a rich inheritance. I think it's really hard for outsiders to understand who the French are, without trying to. They've fought opression from religious forces, fallen to communism, and risen to power again. They've maintained a consistently strong voice in the world since their rise and, today, continue to help modernity to progress. I've fallen in love with these people and can only imagine what the following months have in store.