Ahhhh Versailles! The ultimate 1%-er house (and we see how well that turned out, huh?). And not really a house, more like a luxurious village all stuck together and daubed with gold leaf.

Hi Cath!

See what I mean about the gold leaf?

Look at this behemoth! It stretches for miles. In fact, it is so large that back in the days of Marie-Antoinette random people just took up residence in the numerous hallways:

Cath and I had to take a photo together in this hallway because we had both used this Marie-Antoinette screen-saver (below) for months when Sofia Copola’s “Marie Antoinette” came out:

Speaking of Marie Antoinette, here is her beautiful bedroom:

I’ve had a bit of a soft spot for Marie A since reading Antonia Fraser’s biography on her (highly recommended read, btw). History has condemned her a bit too harshly. I mean, sure, she was extraordinarily rich and turned a blind eye while people in Paris starved, but really, that’s no more or less than any royal in any country had done and was doing at the time.

For instance, her grandfather-in-law Louis XIV was much more bombastically monied than she. He called himself the Sun King, pranced around in extravagant costumes (see below), and built Versailles to be the largest palace ever seen. This rich megalomaniac got to keep his head.

Right place and right time eh, Louis? You certainly couldn’t wear this now (Louis’ sun king costume. really):

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Marie Antoinette was wrongly accused of saying “Let them eat cake” indirectly by Monsieur Rousseau in his autobiography. He says, “Finally I recalled the stopgap solution of a great princess who was told that the peasants had no bread, and who responded: “Let them eat brioche.” At the time of his bio, Marie was just a mere nine years of age, living in Austria, and not even princess yet:

Lady Fraser attributes the dismissive saying to Maria Theresa of Austria (daughter of Phillip IV of Spain and married to Louis XIV), but there seems to be some doubt about that as well. (I’m getting all my “scholarly” information from this wiki article):

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Marie A definitely deserved being stripped of some of her wealth, but not being brutally beheaded. A bit harsh, don’t you think?

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I think going to a beautiful, gorgeous place like Versailles just makes me a bit thoughtful about how something so awe-inspiring came to be: the good and the bad of it.

Anywhoddle, enough of my history lesson mumblings. if you’ve made it this far, thanks for reading, lovelies! And thanks for tagging along on some more of our Paris adventures. There’s a few more installments to come!

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Dear Kitcath,

Hahaha! I loved your outdoor outfits for Edi and Paris and always wished I could feel as warm (that Primark coat is more like a jacket).

I can not wait for the summer! Even if it’s still only 55 degrees, at least we’ll be together again!

xoxoxo,

Larbar

I feel bashful sometimes sharing travel photos. It feels a bit like going “oooo look at me, I was in [name of gorgeous locale here] for the holidays, nanny-nanny-booboo!” So I promise not to inundate you guys with post after post of what we did in Paris and try to exclude images that you might be sick of: Marie-Antoinette inspired macaroons anyone?

So here are some un-postcard shots of what we saw:

We stayed a bit north of all the touristy sites, so most of our days included a lot of metro rides. This is the metro on an empty-ish day:

Lots of cute pups all around, most begging for a bit of croissant (can’t blame them):

Site-seeing (at Sacré Coeur):

This is what Cath site-saw:

Many breaks for espressos and hot chocolates:

An empty hall in the Louvre:

The same hallway peopled:

Sisters standing in front of sisters:

A fluffy pink Christmas tree in the Repetto store window:

Catching a glimpse of Mr. Karl Lagerfield, or rather Mr. Lagerfield as a doll multiplied, set in the window he designed for Printemps:

Another Printemps/Lagerfield window (see them all here):

Puppies invited in for dinner at our local restaurant:

Fluffy clouds of pink meringue:

Sitting with friends inside works of art at the Pompidou:

Another hot chocolate and croissant break:

The best part of all, getting to see Kitcath again!

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Dear Kitcath,

Doesn’t this all already feel like it happened ages ago? When I think back on Paris I mostly think of our flat there and riding on over-stuffed metro cars.

I really hope you can make it back across the pond this summer! I promise not to make the weather so cold and windy if you do!

Love,

Lar

Dear AsianCajuns Readers,

Thanks for sticking with us throughout all of our crazy changes this year!

What do you all have planned for tonight?

I’ll be ringing in the new year with black eyed peas (a southern tradition) and cava (er, my own tradition), and Lar will be celebrating Hogmanay in Edinburgh with a torchlight procession down the Royal Mile – I’m so jealous!

See you all in 2012!

XOXO,

Cath and Lar

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Dearest Lar,

I cried like a bumbling idiot in the taxi on the way to the Edinburgh airport. I’m determined to start saving up starting now so I can come back and see you in the summer. It’s just not natural to have twins be apart from each other for so long.

I’ll try to skype you at 7 p.m. my time (midnight your time) to wish you a happy new year!

love, cath