morning came quickly after all my struggles with the internet, and I ended up with about four hours of sleep. Breakfast was very French with croissants, cheese, baguettes, and yogurt. We were on the bus by 8:00 a.m. and headed back into Paris. The traffic seemed pretty bad, but our bus driver said it wasn't. It took us about twice as long to back into the city as it had to leave the night before. We eventually saw the reason for the slow moving traffic. There had been an accident. Frankly, I'm not surprised we haven't seen many accidents since the driving is a bit nerve-wrecking.
We picked up our local tour guide, Valaria. She was from Brazil, but easily spoke to us in English and to our driver in French. It really puts us to shame that we do not know more than our own native language. Most everyone we meet speaks at least three languages. Valaria was a delightful guide entertaining us with silly comments and jokes.
It was rainy and cold, so it was nice to spend the first few hours in the bus. We drove around Paris while we got a brief history lesson. Paris is divided into two sections on either side of the Seine river. We learned about the Latin quarter and the French quarter. We drove past many different sites including Notre Dame, Bastille Square (where the beheadings took place), Concorde, Invalides (where Napolean's military school), Arc de Triomph, and of course the Eiffel Tower.
Next came a short ride to Versailles and the Chateau which we call the Palace of Versailles. This massive home, larger than any hotel I've ever seen was built by Louis XIII as a hunting lodge. At times it housed 600 aristocrats who wanted to be close to the king. The following kings lived in this opulant estate until the monarchy ended when Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette lost their heads. We had made good time, so had enough time to sit at one of the local restaurants and have lunch. I had Quiche Lorraine and hot chocolate. The quiche was very creamy with ham and cheese which surprised me since I always think of quice lorraine having spinach and bacon, but it was delicious and the hot chocolate was very rich too.
Valaria led us through the public portions of the palace telling us about the different rooms we were in. It was very crowded and we had to listen to her through a headset and follow the little American flag she waved. Much of this palace is under restoration, but there was still so much to see. We saw gorgeous paintings, beautiful inlaid marble, intricate painted ceilings, and lavish gold furnishings. It was amazing.
When we finished the inside tour, we then were set loose to explore the extensive gardens that went on and on and on. The manicured lawns, fountains and hedges were just lovely. We of course had to stop at a little shop in the gardens for another crepe, this time filled with strawberry.
We were back on the bus and headed into the city by 3:30 and we had free time to explore until dinner at 6:30. We went to a perfumery for Froganard a famous perfume in France, and went into a high end store called Lafayette Galleria which had rooftop access where you could view the city.
Dinner was at a place called Flam's where we had this flatbread pizza and then it was off to a boat ride on the river to view the city from the water. We finished around 10:00 p.m. and got to see the Eiffel Tower all lit up before we headed back to the hotel. It was a full but fun day!
Once again I was up very late trying to upload photos, so I won't be adding any more to this blog until I return home. This morning we are going to Notre Dame and the Louvre. And then it is a night train to Florence, so it is doubtful I'll have time to upload anything for a few days.
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