Over the course of the past couple of days I kept thinking about things to write on the blog but so much has happened that I'm afraid I'll forget the good details.
I think we left off after Sacre Coeur, which was Friday night. On Saturday (yesterday), I got to sleep in a little and then it was time to embark on our adventures for the day. We planned to go to the Louvre and the Catacombs.
We first ventured out to Coffea - a chocolate shop around the corner that I wanted to investigate. As I'd hoped, I found some special surprises to bring back for all my loves at home! What exactly that was will have to remain a secret until you all get some :)
Ah - first a picture of our hostel!
Then we made our way to the Louvre. When we came out from the underground, we could see it but were distracted by the gorgeous SEINE! We passed the museum and ran across the street to see the river. As we were walking I said, "Hm, I wish we could find that famous lock bridge!" A few moments later we looked up...and it was RIGHT above our heads! Of all of the parts of the Seine we could've found, we found the right bridge. We didn't hesitate to get a lock and put it on the bridge (then throwing the key into the river for our "loves").
Finally we entered the museum! We stayed just outside for awhile, and even wandered off the grounds and walked along some of the nearby shops, where we saw a beautiful patisserie. I had to go in and take pictures...
Eventually we actually went INSIDE the museum. It appeared that there would be a lot of line-waiting... but then we showed them our Luxembourg ish residency papers and... VOILA! It was FREE!!! We saved 24 euros.
Of course had to see La Joconde.
Afterwards we decided to make a little switch instead of going to the Catacombs. I can't remember how we decided this but we chose to go to the Champs Elysées instead! We walked all around for a few hours, slowly making our way to L'arc de Triomphe but also enjoying the French fashion and shops. We actually went into a GAP there...and were shocked at how much more clothing and better fashions there were there! I loved the French GAP so much more than the one in Cleveland... there happened to be a huge sale and I bought a birthday present for myself - this chunky wooly scarf (a big French fashion).
At one point we were walking along and I said, "Wow - what is that beautiful palace?!" People were lined up out the door and down the street waiting to get inside. We searched for a sign...it was an Abercrombie & Fitch! WHAT!?
By the time we reached L'Arc, it was bright and sunny outside!
We ended the day famished - so we went BACK to the Seine for a lovely dinner.
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Today was another packed day planned out. We headed out at about 7:30AM to try to get to Versailles by it's opening at 9AM. Versailles is far from the city center and we made the GREAT decision of buying day passes - or Mobilis - at the Metro. These passes got A LOT of use today. We had many exchanges and a good several minutes of walking to get to the Chateau.
Woke up this morning and got to open a nice card from the family :)
I've been wanting to go here forever and have to credit Alex with having done all of the logistical work and investigating to make sure this happened for my birthday. I couldn't think of a more spectacular way to spend my birthday.
Luckily, we got another FREE entry here - the first Sunday of the Month from November to April is free entry!
We toured all around and were getting pushed and shoved a lot by other tourists. The manners of people from some countries are very different than how most people I know behave! Of course...maybe the manners of most families - regardless of culture - are different than what I'm used to...
We went through all of the normal exhibits - Hall of Mirrors, Royal Bedchamber, and the King and Queen's suites. It was all even grander than I'd imagined from the pictures I've pored over. Seeing it in real life, I realized how excessive the whole structure is. Very lavishly excessive.
I loved the grounds even more. We were blessed with more great weather and it was breathtaking. One of the most exciting things was watching a crew practice on one of the ponds! Didn't know you could row there??? This made me very homesick for rowing.
Following Versailles we stopped for lunch. I ordered a "Southwest Salad," which didn't have a description... I did NOT get what I expected! There was a piece of toast with foie gras on top! Something that is very French for sure, but not something I eat! I did eat around it and the rest was interesting, but good.
The one thing we did pay for was tickets to quickly ascend the Tour Eiffel. I'm going to have to post pictures of that one tomorrow because I think I'm slowing down the blog with all of the pictures from today. Frankly, this weekend deserves another post, so stay tuned!
We were glad, however, that we had paid for these reservations. We cut right through the crazy tourists and got to the top relatively quickly. It was wonderful to see the whole city from so high up. I kept thinking how lucky I was to have a birthday here - and how I could never forget it! It almost didn't seem real...going from a small-town girl to a world-traveler in just two weeks is quite a shock! I'm glad I have many pictures to look back on for when it sinks in though.
Stay tuned for Part II tomorrow!!! Love you all :)
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