let them eat cake

when sofia coppola made marie antoinette, i became enamored with her. marie antoinette, i mean. in that light, this {and the next} post is all things marie. the macaroons used in the films, the palace she lived in at versailles, and the country home she resided in to get away from palace life.

these were wonderful. no wonder they were used in the film.

i know these lines probably seem daunting, but they did move them along nicely.

i also have gates of gold surrounding my home - we were unimpressed of course

the chapel

again, the chapel from the second floor

oh, those logs? they're full tree trunks. i'm being completely serious. HUGE fireplace.

and how ornate are the doors? i mentioned something along these lines to nik for our future home and he quickly changed the subject. i'll have to bring it up later...

isn't the ceiling gorgeous?

hall of mirrors

the king's bed

a bust of marie, in her room

marie's bed

marie's bedroom

detail of marie's draperies and ceiling

where the king and queen dined

koln

i am such a goof ball. i just found this half worked on post that i was supposed to take care of in february. well, here it is now...

because nik has family and friends in germany, we were able to visit a couple of different cites - although they're a short distance away - they're such different areas. we took the train from bonn to koln to visit with nik's friends.

upon arriving, we went out with nik's friends.
first, to one of the city's christmas markets
.

our friends

next, to the koln cathedral.

check out the cardinals' red robes! i was obsessed!

then, dinner at the kolsch brewery.

the next day, nik and i went back to the cathedral to climb up one of the steeples! it's so high up the air - nik was cool as a cucumber. i was not so much.

the worn down steps

relics of the three wise men

again, the three wise men