March 22: Paris-Versailles

Versailles & The Deaf School

by Estefany

In the morning, the Roadrunner group was so excited to go see Versailles "The King's Home." We got on the train and it took us 30 minutes out of Paris. The group saw the shiny, beautiful and enormous Versailles when we arrived. There were many crowds and many people in lines because Versailles was closed due to a protest. There were two women from Germany who we recognized from the Eiffel tower the day before. They explained to us what was happening and helped find more information. Versailles was finally open two hours past it's normal hours.

We looked around to see different rooms that were huge. We could not believe how big the rooms were and how fancy everything was including a gold bed and wallpaper. We learned a lot of fascinating pieces of information about the royal history of France.

The school for the Deaf in Paris. This is where Laurent Clerc studied and went to the United States to establish the first School for the Deaf in the USA (American School for the Deaf in Hartford, Connecticut).

After Versailles, we rushed to the Institut National de Jeunes Sourds (School for the Deaf). We had a tour with a Deaf guide, Henri, who explained to us about the history of Deaf education in France. We looked at different places, the garden, and the dorms at the school.

I asked our group to share comments about today:

Alex: I saw many beautiful paintings and statues in Versailles.  Many walls have gold which fascinated me. I thought the king and queen were very greedy with money, places and food and they always had someone to do their hair, dress them, and everything!

Vergena: I thought the king and queen of France was very egoistical. They were selfish and owned a large palace with huge gardens, many big rooms and gold on the walls.

Margaret: I am fascinated with the huge old piano from the past. I thought the king was very selfish to own a big palace while his people were poor.

Lucille: I was really fascinated with Queen Marie's room and bedchambers.

Estefany: I did not realize that the French king used to own that big palace. I thought it would be much smaller. It was huge and luxurious. Gold on the walls, gold doors and the painting on the walls were exquisite.

Due to the recent events in Belgium, we will not be going to Belgium for safety reasons. Our sponsors Joi and Scott is working with us in changing our plans. We will stay in Paris for two more nights and go to the Netherlands on Friday.