Paris: Day 5 - Versailles pt.3

Jeff and I clutched our audio tour thingies close and made our way through the many salons and rooms. At last we reached the doorway to the hall I'd longed to see since I was fourteen years old...



I love the disdainful look on the statue. Like he's thinking "Moo" as we all herd past him, cattle style.

The tour groups swept in and of this room like the tide. Jeff and hovered on the outskirts to avoid being dragged along with them. I could have spent ages in this room! I loved the moments between groups when the Hall felt empty. I can't imagine the crush in the peak season!





I swear I had this exact grin on my face for the entire day! This would be one of the few pictures to prove it! When I get back to France, and I will someday, I'm going to spend another day at Versailles!




We walked all the way down the Hall of Mirrors to what was Louis XIV's throne room (no throne now). We walked back into the Hall and entered the Kings Bedchamber.


(There's that grin again!)



There were two fireplaces in this room and it had a beautiful view of the grounds. This was the King's state bedroom. Louie had a more private room on the 1st floor.


Here's the King's bed! Notice that fence? The Courtiers would stand on the outside of the fence while the King and his Body men - crazy! Would dress him and undress him as needed. All part of the rituals of the court.

Up Next: The Queen's chamber & the Dauphin's room.

Paris: Day 5 - Versailles pt.2

We scooped up our audio tour thingies (that's the official term for them :-) and made our way inside the Chateau, passing through security took next to no time at all - they've really got a smooth system in Paris! We breezed along at every major sight we entered.

Once inside your audio tour thingie gets programmed for the language you need and off you go! There were clearly marked signs denoting the beginning of the tour. We started at the Chapel Royale.



There were two stops for the chapel - the second floor was the first stop, which would be where the King and Royal Family would have been for service, and the 1st floor (where this photo is from) which was for the rest of the Courtiers.

Moving from the Chapel Royale we pass a series of salons in the Grand Aparpartement du Roi or the King's public rooms.








Next up: The Hall of Mirrors & the King's bed chamber.

"Toy Story 3" Premiere - a.k.a. Hurray for Hollywood! Pt.2

Set up in the field of Hollywood High (seriously) was the funtastic 'Fun Zone'! Inside were games, delicious food, and photo spots! We had a blast!





Our very first stop was this sweet spot - with Red Velvet cupcakes (no pictures, I was busily cramming them into my mouth). The little 'pops' were various chocolate enrobed morsels. The one I had was peanut butter and chocolate, dipped in chocolate and chocolate sprinkles. It brought a (chocolate) tear to my eye! We also had corn dogs, cotton candy, pizza, vanilla shakes, and a potato taco. We had to share that one, as the last one was snagged right from under me by Weird Al Yankovic (I swear!).



We didn't try all the games but, we HAD to stop at this one: the Bean the Alien game! Jeff does the voice for those little green charmers and I wanted a picture of him there:




When you toss the ball through their mouth they say "Oooooooh!". Hilarious.



In the 'Big' tent you could build a Mister Potato head, see inside Ken's dream house, Sit on a GIANT chair for a picture, race Slinkys down stairs, and take your picture with the Roundup Gang!

There were lots of characters running around. We saw Woody, Jesse, Bullseye, & Buzz. I almost bumped into Mister Potato head who waggled his eyes at me...so, I'm pretty sure he didn't mind! We also saw Lotso!



I didn't get close enough to see if he smelled like Strawberries - sorry.



As I mentioned before, it was Tim Allen's birthday and they had a HUGE cake for him at the theater. They had one at the Fun Zone too, and I got a piece! It was made by the folks with the Red Velvet cupcakes! It was chocolatey delicious!



About this time, we started getting tired. The party was winding down and we had dinner plans. It was time to go. Jeff had ONE last thing he wanted to do. His favorite "Toy Story" characters are Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head. He LOVES them (I think it's because of the very excellent voice work by Don Rickles and Estelle Harris but, that's my opinion). We'd seen Estelle Harris earlier and Jeff wanted to say "Hi". She was SO sweet (and hilarious! I could listen to her ALL day!). I made her laugh by telling her that Jeff plays her adopted sons, the little green Aliens. She was tickled that he wanted to say 'hello' and didn't believe m when I told her the Potato Heads are his FAVORITE characters. He assured her it was true. It was a great way to end our day, laughing with Mrs. Potato Head!


Do ya see the guy in the middle there? He give great bitchface!

And so ends our fabulous day of fun and excitement! Hope you enjoyed it and go see "Toy Story 3" in just a few short days!


Jeff says 'so long, Hollywood'!

Additional: You too can experience all the joys of the Toy Story Fun Zone! It's open from June 18 - August 29! You can buy tickets here!

"Toy Story 3" Premiere - a.k.a. Hurray for Hollywood!

My very talented hubby, Jeff was invited to the "Toy Story 3" premiere this past Sunday, at the El Capitan theater, in Hollywood. He worked on all three of the Toy Story films, so we were very excited to attend this event. I decided to make it extra special and booked us a room at the Montage, in Beverly Hills. I'm so glad we did!




The bolster pillows have our initials on them! Next time, I'll put our first name initials on the form. Still, pretty swanky!






Yes, that would be me reflected with a giant grin on my face!




We chilled for a little while and then headed off (adventure awaits!). Silly me had neglected to look at a paper (or any news outlet, really) so, I had no idea that the Pride Parade was taking place in our neighborhood at the same time we were heading out the door! Needless to say we just squeaked into the premiere! Or, as Jeff said: We arrived late enough to be famous! We picked up our badges and made our way down the red carpet (not the press gauntlet! That was reserved for celebs and muckity-mucks!) - we sauntered along the back of the press line and snapped a few pics as we went!






Director Lee Unkrich and Producer Darla Anderson work that red carpet!


Lee heads inside. We should to that, too!

We grabbed out popcorn and soda, put our 3D glasses on and got comfy. We had killer seats! Dead center & about 4 rows back! The lights went down and John Lasseter took the stage to introduce the show. He also introduced Lee, Darla, Tom Hanks, and Tim Allen - who was having a BIRTHDAY! Woody and Buzz wheeled out a HUGE cake and we all sang "Happy Birthday" (I think someone owes Sir Paul some coins). Tom Hanks jumped behind Woody and started talking, John handed him the microphone and 'Woody' got everyone cheering! He and 'Buzz' (Tim Allen had hopped behind Buzz by this point) traded a few jokes and we all just ate it up! What a treat!

They showed "Day & Night" first. I'd seen it in 2-D at the wrap party and loved it. The director, Teddy Newton said it's astonishing in 3-D and let me tell you, it IS! Truly, truly astounding! Jaw-droppingly gorgeous in 3-D! I'm not usually a ra-ra fan of 3-D but, in this case? SEE IT IN 3-D! You will not regret it! It's worth it just for the short! Then, "Toy Story 3" started and I loved it all over again. I had my tissues prepared (thankfully) and I needed them. Next time I see it (opening weekend - in TWO days!!), I won't wear mascara, either.

After the screening, I raced downstairs to the 'little girl's' room and had the most random celeb siting! I saw Evan Lysacek waiting for his 'date' Cheryl Burke (she co-choreographed a dance number for the film - just see it!). I will confess to being a fan of "Dancing with the Stars" and for this past season, I was rooting HARD for Evan and Anna. I tossed all my normal 'too cool for school' schtick and hopped over to shake his hand and gush for a second. Poor guy! Trapped until his date finished!

Once I found Jeff again, we hooked up with some fellow Pixarians and made our way to the "Toy Story Fun Zone" to celebrate!

Paris: Day 5 - Versailles

I've always wanted to see Versailles. I believe the first time I'd heard about was when I was 14 (or so). The idea of the place intrigued me. I imagined walking those halls - those same halls as the tragic Queen, Marie Antoinette (please remember, this is a 14 year old drama queen imagining these scenes). At last, after X number of years (like I was going to say!), I arrived!

The day before, at Disneyland, we had lucky weather! Cool and overcast but, not a single raindrop. We were not as lucky at Versailles. I had wisely packed umbrellas for Jeff and I - I'd even included a jacket for Jeff. Sadly, I neglected a raincoat for myself. Desole! It was pouring in the morning as we ate breakfast. It was sprinkling as we headed out on the Metro (to the RER station). It would rain, on and off, for the remainder of the day.



The best part of the cloudy, gray day? The pictures! It gave us beautiful pictures, without the odd soft-focus quality from DLRP.





There is a major restoration project at Versailles. I read that they're hoping to bring the palace up to it's sparkling pre-Revolution glory. I'm of two minds on this project. On the one hand, I love seeing historic sites cared for and maintained, especially one as beautiful as Versailles. On the other, glitter-izing the palace almost removes it's darker history - the Revolution, the looting, the neglect. The replanting of the gardens to follow original layouts, I applaud. Re-gilding the 100 year old doors? 50-50. After all, when you remove the patina from a bronze piece - it loses it value, by losing it's history (of dust, and dirt, and time).







The tour starts in the Chapel Royale. An audio thingie is included to give you bits of info and put some of the things you're seeing in context. You get to move at your own pace (slowly), unless you're taking a guided tour. Next time I go (and I will see it again!), I'll try one of the tours - mostly because Jeff and I kept walking the wrong way! We'd go through a room to it's apparent (to us) end, and find that we'd skipped a room we were supposed to turn to, or a door we were supposed to walk through, missing vital pieces of beauty, to reach the location we were standing in. So, inevitably, we'd backtrack time and again, wasting our energy. The guided tour might have helped.

Paris: Day 4 - DiSNEYLAND pt. 5

Tomorrowland!






By this point of the day, I was pretty beat. The mister left me to sit and doze while he ran off to snap some Tomorrowland photos. We didn't ride a single ride! Too sleepy! Instead, we wandered into the arcade - the REAL kind! For a bit of a break from the weather and a hot cocoa. There are two arcades in DLRP - one themed for the Statue of Liberty & one themed for Da Vinci. The 'Liberty' arcade lead you to the retail sections and the 'Da Vinci' arcade had all the take-away food windows. Both had spots to sit and relax and they were both relatively quiet.

We opted to stick around the park for dinner and tried our luck at the Blue Lagoon (the restaurant inside the Pirates ride). We waited about 5 minutes for a table! Excellent! I LOVE DLRP! No lines, no real crowds, and no waiting for a table!



It's not themed at all like the Blue Bayou. It's more 'tropical' - as it's supposed to be a pirate hang out in some exotic locale. You couldn't really see the ride as the restaurant is incredibly dark! I tried to peep out from the foliage lining the deck, hoping to wave to a passing boat. I could hear them pass but, couldn't see anything. Oh well! Back to the dinner! I had some kind of tropical 'jambalaya' and Jeff had ostrich flambe!


Funny, all my pictures are of the pitch black darkness!

By the time we finished our dinner, the park was beyond closed. A cast member had to escort us from Adventureland (to make sure we didn't try to pull a trick 'From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler' and stay after closing). We meandered down Main street and back to the RER station. A quick transfer to the Metro and we were soon snoring away in our beds. The next day was going to be exciting AND exhausting! We were going to visit Versailles!

Next Up: King Louie's Place!