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Published: August 8th 2008
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Day 4: Paris
Versailles
We slept late again and went for breakfast at a café. The coffee was so good! Then we took the metro to Versailles. Versailles. Versailles. Ah… Versailles. So beautiful. We ditched the big line by getting tickets from a side company that gave us a guided tour which was good since we learned a lot. The inside of the Palace is most gorgeous. I can’t really describe it but that’s what pictures are for! We learned a lot about Louie the 14, 15, and 16 and Marie Anotinnnete but what we are not so sure of because we can’t rememeber is why is she so famous? Is it because she was beheded? Good tour- the Hall of Mirrors was really exquisite and Adam really liked the fact that we were standing in the room where the Treaty of Versailles was signed. Pretty cool. Then we went to the Gardens. If I had a thousand acres I would hire the team from Versailles to do my gardens. We grabbed a bite and coke and sat under a shade tree and relaxed and rested our feet. Then we rented bikes and rode all around the gardens. We came
upon Marie Antoniette’s hamlet and went in on the barn side. There were cows, goats, chickens, ducks, but the buildings were so beautiful. I thought it looked like a set and adam said it looked like a fairytale storyland. We got out and decided to ride down to the other entrance of her estate and we found out that we couldn’t get in because we didn’t have the right ticket. Opps… the girl on the other side let us in with the ticket we had! Lucky mistake! We were at Versailles for hours walking and riding bikes. It took us almost 2 hours to get back to Paris because getting a ticket became a pain in the ass. But we made it back and showered and cleaned up.
The French Dinner
Then we wanted to see the Eiffel Tower. I know… we already spent hours there but we were not able to see from the outside when the lights went on since we were in it when the lights went on. We took the metro and literally walked out of the tunnel and volia! The lights went on! Very cool and neat to see. Hard to get a good
picture of but we tried. Then we found a quaint French café. We decided that for the last night in Paris we had to have real French food. I figured I had to try something. So Adam had a French dinner meal. His appetizer was Oefs du mayonase. What is that you ask… hard boiled egg with mayonase. And yes, it is just that. The plate had a hard boiled egg sliced down the middle and a lump of mayo in the middle. He said it was surprisingly good. Then for his meal he had Sausages and Frites…. You would think he would have a sausage… but no… it was 2 boiled hot dogs on a plate with French fries. I, on the other had, and 3 frommages… which is 3 cheeses and a lettuce salad. A slice of swiss cheese- yummo- and another one that was like a parmagean and then a third one that was gooey and way yucko- and throughout the evening it melted on the plate. While we were there a man heard us speaking English and we started talking to him. Turns out that he owns the company that creates and distributes Pepsi, Coke, and
Dr. Pepper coolers and vending machines. His brother in law is Jimmy… something… who has done a lot of commercials and tv stuff. Cool talking to him. Nice man.
Paris…. Final Thoughts
Overall, I have to say that I absolutely LOVE Paris. If Paris were in the United States and was an English speaking place I would move there without thinking about it. But… if Paris were in the US and was English it would not be what it is so therefore I would not want it to change. I love how you can walk to everything and when you get tired you can hop on the metro and get to your next spot. I love that it’s perfectly normal to walk down the street with a piece of bread in your hand or an ice cream cone.I love the lifestyle. A lot of breakfast restaurants don’t open until 10am… Everyone stays up late and sleeps in. From what we saw it is not a gluttonous country. People have a drink with lunch and drink with dinner. I love that the food tastes good and you eat little bits here and there, slowly and you enjoy the taste
of the food. I love that the portion sizes are appropriate and you don’t order pasta and receive an entire box. I love how the café’s are set up. All the chairs face the street… perfect for people watching. I love the twisting cobble stone streets, the architecture, the balconies on houses, the big doors where cars pull in to park. I love how you can walk up and down streets holding hands for hours and stop and find a tree or a park bench to sit on. I didn’t find the French people to be rude or mean. I think if you are respectable, they will be respectable back. We had a lot of great servers and people helping us. We only had one slightly rude server and we just decided that he’s just a miserable person. I think that Paris is a place to be visited. There is so much to do and see. We were there 4 days and we did as much as we could. I would recommend Paris to anyone to likes a relaxed life style, likes to see and do a lot, and likes to walk and climb stairs… many, many, stairs… After climbing
to the top of the Arch d’Triopmh Adam said if he were going to give someone advice on going to Paris his advice would be to train at the gym. Mine would be to go like we did, without a daily plan, just walk and along the way you will find all the big tourist stuff, but even better you will find the side streets where Parisans live, the markets where they buy their food, their bar with locals, bakeries, and see another side of the city and allow yourself to enjoy and take in it all… Au Revoir…
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