Greetings from Versailles

I am stealing internet time to post a couple of photos! On Tuesday we went to Versailles, which was a combination of sublime and insane -- the architecture and the gardens magnificent even in this early spring before the fountains are on or many flowers in bloom, the crowds and the ostentatious self-aggrandizing artwork a bit much. We spent more time walking to Le Petit Trianon and enjoying the outer buildings than we did in the very mobbed royal apartments and other rooms in the palace. Then we went to the Basilica of St-Denis, where nearly every French king and queen is buried, including the early Merovingian and Carolingian rulers, Francis I whose home we visited yesterday, and both the popular and decapitated Bourbons (the mummified heart of the never-crowned Louis XVII is particularly creepy, though I really loved getting to see the tomb of Clovis I). We had to return the car in the afternoon, so we dropped it off and did a bit of shopping for the wonderful bread, cheese, soup, and religieuses au chocolat we had for dinner. We did not partake in the St. Patrick's Day festivities going on at the two pubs nearest our hotel, though it looked like people were enjoying themselves! Two quick pics, more on Instagram!