Tuesday - Versailles and goodbye party

Today we spent the day at the castle of Versailles.  We took the bus in the morning and began by visiting the gardens.  The French gardens at the time were cut into geometric shapes that showed that the king, Louis XIV, was able to dominate nature.  The fountains and statues in the garden represent Greek Gods and Louis himself is represented as Apollo.  We got a bit lost in the maze but were able to find the outdoor ballroom.  After a picnic lunch, we went into the castle and listened to our audio guides as we weaved through the rooms to see where the royals in the court lived 400 years ago.  At the time of Louis XIV, 3,000 royals lived in the castle and 40,000 people worked there.  We could imagine attending a ball in the Hall of Mirrors!

After the field trip to Versailles we returned to school and prepared for our goodbye party.  Families brought lots of food to our pot luck event at the high school and many parents shared how much they enjoyed the exchange experience.  Tomorrow we will say our goodbyes to our exchange families when the bus leaves at 7:30 AM and we will spend the day walking and visiting sites in Paris.  Our blog posts in Paris may depend on available wifi at the hotel and also how much time we have at the end of our very long days!