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Published: June 11th 2013
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Day 2 in Paris, waking up to a bright and beautiful morning on the 24th of April.
With the Cityrama tour office being so close we were delighted in our slight sleep in before off to meet our tour bus for a trip to the beautiful Palace of Versailles. As we were short on time we opted for just a morning tour and heaven knows you need days to explore the beautiful palace of the French, especially its marvelous gardens but a short visit is better than nothing.
It was growded inside the palace and most people did not adher to the rule of no flash photography. However we were excited to be able to take a few photos ourselves inside, of course we had our flash off. The audio guide again was excellent. The hall of mirrors is by far the most stand out room inside the palace and if you look up and forget about all the people inside your imagination can run wild. With the most recent history being the signing of the Treaty of Versailles which ended the first World War. You get to marvel and get up close to the kings and queens apartments
and the surrealness of the fact this is really where they slept. Most famously Marie Antoinette. The paintings that line the walls and the ceilings are unbelieveably massive and detailed although astonishly all kept so well and untouched and undamaged.
Although the real beauty of the Palace of Versailles is of course the gardens. They go for miles and you can hardly comprehend the magnificence of it all. It took us half an hour just to walk down to the Apollo fountain. Unfortunately they were working on some of the gardens and fountains which is a bit of an eye sore for photos but it is easy to understand that this needs to be done to preserve the beauty of it as a whole. There are so many passage ways and fountains and gardens to amaze you that it is easy to get lost, however the Palace does stick out at the end and you know to head for that. Lots of the flowers were in bloom which made it all that more magical to see.
Our main reccommendation for the Palace of Vesrsailles is to go and see it. Regardless of whether you can stay there for
days or hours it is worth a visit. Oh and if youre going to buy the information book make sure you do it at the end because it is a heavy book to carry around.
Our tour bus took us back to the Cityrama office and we headed off to Notre Dame ourselves. We walked and believe me you want to just walk around Paris. We walked past the Lourve and past painters and shops its was great. The sun was out, and it was also quite warm.
We bought a baguette and sat and ate it infront of the beautiful Notre Dame. It is the 850th anniversary of Notre Dame and to celebrate it was free entry to the cathedral as well as a temporaily constructed stand infront of it. Again you are able to take photo's inside Notre Dame as long as the flash is off. It is beautiful inside but I think its true wonder is staring at its facade. There was a very long line to go up to the bell tower so we unfortunately didn't have time to do that but I am sure it would be great. Make sure you have a
good zoom on your camera to zoom in on the gargoyels made famous by the Hunchback of Notre Dame Disney movie.
After Notre Dame we made our way by bus to the Arc de Triomphe. We were amoungst one of the last groups to go to the top as it was closing at 5pm for an event. We asked if it had anything to do with ANZAC day but they said no. If you are planing to visit Arc De Triomphe I am sure people have mentioned that you need to go underground to reach it as it is in the middle of a roundabout. We were aware of this too but it is nethertheless confusing to know which underground entrance you go down to get to it. There are signs and you'll work it out eventually. It is defiantly worth the walk up to the top as it provides a most beautful view of Paris with the Eiffel Tower and all the houses lined up in straight rows.
If you're going to be there anyway you have to walk down the famous shopping street of Champs-Elysees. There are many people exploring the street with a lot less
sourviener shops and more high end retail shops. So if that is your thing you will be in your element. We walked down, stopped for a drink and then kept walking. We looked at a few shops, including a jewellery shop for our first look at engagement rings but saved our money for souveniers which we encounted around the Lourve and closer to our hotel.
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