All posts tagged: Château de Versailles

Anish Kapoor, Sky Mirror, Versailles

Anish Kapoor exposition at the Palace of Versailles

This summer, visitors to the Palace of Versailles Gardens are welcomed with a nice surprise. Located around the estate are the works of English sculptor, Anish Kapoor, which will be there until 1st November 2015. Known for his world-famous sculptures including the Cloud Gate in Chicago’s Millennium Park (also known as ‘the Bean’) and the 2012 London Olympics observation tower, ArvelorMittal Orbit in the Olympic Park, there is something very interactive and interesting about Kapoor’s work. I, myself, have been fortunate to have seen many of his works in person prior to seeing them scattered around the royal gardens of Versailles. Since June 9th, the Palace of Versailles has opened its grounds to some of Kapoor’s well-known works. The six sculptures on display around the estate create an interesting and complex dialogue with the pristine order of the gardens, in which Kapoor aims to “upset the balance and invite chaos in”, which I believe he has certainly achieved. As previously mentioned, Kapoor’s works are extremely interactive, using the viewer to bring the artwork to life. …

Summer at the Jardins de Versailles

Hot summers day at the Jardin de Versailles

For those who don’t know, summer has officially arrived in Paris. This last week it has felt like we were physically on the surface of the sun (well, of course not, but a bit of drama adds to the retelling!), it was h-o-t. HOT. On Friday it got to over 32 degrees, and even went above that in certain areas around the city. Don’t get me wrong, I love summer. But it gets a bit draining when you feel as if you’re about to melt. Despite the constant sensation of imminent combustion, my friends and I headed over to the Jardin de Versailles to soak up the sun, and enjoy this magnificent weather. The last time I came to the gardens, and the Chateau itself, was back at Christmas. So it was refreshing to see the place during a different season. We spent most of the day relaxing by the Grand Canal, watching the people row. After an obligatory ice-cream stop, we headed around the gardens and the outside of the Palace to have a look. …

Notre-Dame Cathedral, Paris

Bonjour Paris!

Salut everyone! So sorry that it seems to have taken almost a decade for me to write a new blog post. As you can imagine, this week has been very busy meaning that my time has been limited. I am currently back in Paris, and have been home (where I call home now) for the last week. After New York, I headed down to London to attend a conference (which I am also in en train de writing – some present progessif for you) and arrived in Paris on Sunday. Unfortunately I had the train journey from hell from the Airport to the house, taking me nearly 3 hours to get home! Normally it only takes an hour, so you can probably understand my frustration. Basically, the trains decided that they would not continue to my stop, despite leaving me stranded at the station just before mine. And to make it worse, it was raining cats and dogs, so you can imagine that along with two heavy suitcases, the last thing I wanted to do was …