Let them eat cake..... and stand in a queue
I had the good fortune to be summoned to a work conference in Paris during the Easter holiday week for Lucy and Ada. So off we set for a brief European sojourn consisting of a few days in Paris and a few days in Barcelona with my birthday in the middle.
Mumbai had been warming up and we had become accustomed to the heat so the unseasonably cold weather in Paris was shock even though we had read the forecast. So on our first full day we rugged up and set of to Versailles Palace. What was unusual about the outing is that we were going to visit a historical site with the full support of Lucy. Normally, Palace visits encourage her to want to stay in the hotel room but a history unit covering the French Revolution, tales of Marie Antoinette's "village"and a pirate copy of Les Miserables had sparked her curiosity in revolutionary France. In fact it is enough to spark the revolutionary in all of us.
A train ride to Versailles and a walk through some magnificent Sunday markets led us to the gates of Versailles On arrival the entry line snaked for hundred of metres and was not moving quickly despite it being bitterly cold and us arriving early in the day. Fortunately, Kate, as always had diligently pre-booked our tickets. Imagine our surprise when we discovered that the line was for people with pre-booked tickets.
Unwilling to wait, we set off to tour the grounds, including the "village" constructed by noted architects of the time, the purpose of which was to allow Marie Antionette to play "poor village girl". It reminded me of a pre-Revolutionary Disneyland I suppose it is the 18th century version of sending kids from an expensive expat school to work for a few days in an Indian village. Needless to say, the irony was not lost on me.
Eventually the queue relented somewhat and we entered the Palace proper to marvel at the decadence of the First Estate.
It makes you wonder at the sustainability of the division of wealth in India.
The impending bubble of young, educated Indian men all expecting opportunity and economic advancement.
Who, if opportunity is not presented, may be able to unlock themselves from religion and family and social expectation and drive a revolution to change the social order. Or, like Lucy after this experience, they may just want a pedicure.
Mumbai had been warming up and we had become accustomed to the heat so the unseasonably cold weather in Paris was shock even though we had read the forecast. So on our first full day we rugged up and set of to Versailles Palace. What was unusual about the outing is that we were going to visit a historical site with the full support of Lucy. Normally, Palace visits encourage her to want to stay in the hotel room but a history unit covering the French Revolution, tales of Marie Antoinette's "village"and a pirate copy of Les Miserables had sparked her curiosity in revolutionary France. In fact it is enough to spark the revolutionary in all of us.
 |
| A good market makes the day feel warmer to Kate |
A train ride to Versailles and a walk through some magnificent Sunday markets led us to the gates of Versailles On arrival the entry line snaked for hundred of metres and was not moving quickly despite it being bitterly cold and us arriving early in the day. Fortunately, Kate, as always had diligently pre-booked our tickets. Imagine our surprise when we discovered that the line was for people with pre-booked tickets.
 |
| At least the biting cold binds them together! |
Unwilling to wait, we set off to tour the grounds, including the "village" constructed by noted architects of the time, the purpose of which was to allow Marie Antionette to play "poor village girl". It reminded me of a pre-Revolutionary Disneyland I suppose it is the 18th century version of sending kids from an expensive expat school to work for a few days in an Indian village. Needless to say, the irony was not lost on me.
 |
| An opiate of the masses? |
Eventually the queue relented somewhat and we entered the Palace proper to marvel at the decadence of the First Estate.
It makes you wonder at the sustainability of the division of wealth in India.
 |
| Does it look like this in an Ambani house |
The impending bubble of young, educated Indian men all expecting opportunity and economic advancement.
Who, if opportunity is not presented, may be able to unlock themselves from religion and family and social expectation and drive a revolution to change the social order. Or, like Lucy after this experience, they may just want a pedicure.
