Voyage to Versailles

Last Wednesday we decided to take a trip outside of Paris.  Since it was supposed to be almost 50 degrees outside, this would be the perfect opportunity to go somewhere where we would be outdoors for the majority of the day.  Versailles is located about 25 miles south of Paris.  We got out the door about 11am.  At about 11:45am, I realized that we were on the wrong train.  So, we promptly headed back 6 stops in the other direction and caught the right train and continued our journey towards the famous chateau.  So, what should have taken a total of about 45 minutes , instead, took almost 2 hours!  We made the best of the situation/adventure. 

I thought that we would be arriving in an isolated area where there would only be a big castle and a giant fence protecting it.  Wrong.  There is a whole city that has popped up around it!  We exited la gare and found ourselves on a busy boulevard with no signs pointing the way to the chateau.  Of course, we went the wrong way, but didn't get too far before we saw which way the crowds were headed and decided to follow the herd.  

Here's what we saw as we were walking up to the gates.

 

We spent about an hour going through the actual palace.  Here are a few photos of the interior.  Unfortunately, no flash allowed, so sorry they're a bit grainy!

This chandelier was in the ticket office.  I loved it, even though it isn't of the period!

Jeanne d'Arc

The Hall of Mirrors

We spent the majority of our stay outside in the gardens and in Marie Antoinette's Trianon.

In between the topiaries and walled hedges, we found a little cafe.  Yumm!  

We also found some French geese and sheep!

Next we headed into La Petite Trianon de Marie Antoinette.  She used this little chateau as an escape from Louis XVI and his court.  This was probably one of my favorite buildings on the premises because of its miniature castle-like features.

This was known as Marie Antoinette's tree.  It also lost it's head.

Les toilettes

From the courtyard

From the garden

The summer dining area

The grounds of Versailles are massive!  We never even made it to some of the other buildings on the property!  If ever you plan to pay this chateau a visit.  Spend the majority of your time on the grounds, which go on for miles in each direction!  It's totally worth it!

Hope you enjoyed this mini tour!  Next up on the agenda?  

London's calling!

Leading up to Valentine's Day.

So, as usual, I didn't load the memory card into the camera before we went out on either the 13th or the 14th.  Ridiculous!  The good news is that I've learned form my mistake and tomorrow's post will have a TON of photos!  

Because of this stupid snaffoo, we're going to combine the two days together into one post and I'll instead use my iPhone photos and one or two that I intend to steal from google images!  Thanks to all of those people who deserve credit!

Monday, February 13th.

We woke up early this day so as to properly see my folks off to the airport.  We put them in a cab at about 8:00am and then went for a long walk through the neighborhood, getting quite lost...just the way I like it.  We did come to an impasse when we hit Pere Lachaise Cemetary, which gave us a good reason to turn around and find our way back home.  At about lunch time, we headed out again with the intention of going to a place recommended by my friend Sue, called Bistrot Paul Bert.  We had another recommended restaurant on the back burner, just in case that one wasn't open.  Unfortunately, neither Plan A nor Plan B are open on Mondays...good to know.  Hungry as we were, we kept walking until we stumbled upon a place that had an enclosed patio with heat lamps and an enticing menu.  Les Funambules was fantastic!  What a treat!  

Check out what both Colin and I ordered for lunch.  It's strips of herbed chicken with a paprika dipping/pouring sauce. The veggies were made up of zucchini, green beans, onion, green onion and kale.  It WAS as good as it sounds!  We washed it all down with a bottle of Bordeaux.  Are you jealous yet?

After lunch we carried on our exploration and came across some interesting sights.

 

This is a basketball court in our neighborhood.  Have you ever seen a hoop like that?

 Barbapapa!  Yeah!  Look it up if you don't know it.

 How about an Alaskan fish named Colin?  Awesome, no?

I am convinced that this is the hardest word to pronounce in the French language.  Go ahead, give it a try...serrurerie...wow

 Look closely and you'll see a little wooden man watching after the frozen river.  Adorable.

 Space Needle...What?  Since when?  Did you all know about this film?  Interesting.

We spent the rest of the afternoon getting extremely lost and having the time of our lives!  As we were heading back from wherever we were, we decided to stop into a little, tiny bar where we ordered a carafe of Bordeaux.  The wine was exquisite!  I went up to pay, thinking that a wine that good would be at least 20 euros.  Nope, only 9,90.  Amazing.  Life is good.

 

Tuesday, February 14th.

Colin bought me flowers!  (I helped with the translation at the counter).  They're so beautiful and still full of life today!  Hooray!

For lunch, we decided to make another attempt to eat at the Bistro Paul Bert.  Luckily, they were open this time!  We were pushing it though, as it was nearing the end of the designated lunch time here in Paris.  We walked in the door and were immediately greeted by a smiling barista who told us, trois minutes s'il vous plait.  No problem.  The place was hopping!  But, not a tourist in sight!  We were shown to a very small little table, which was wedged between a mirrored wall and another couple.  They brought out two different prix fixe menus for us to choose from.  That's right, no English menus here!  We decided to go with the less expensive 18 euro menu, since we were planning on spending a lot on dinner later on in the evening.  We took a chance and ordered the multicolored beet salad dressed in a mustard vinaigrette and an even bigger chance on a slice of veal.  (I can't believe I ordered veal!)  

The first dish came out.  It was so beautiful!  I wanted so badly to take a picture, but with that many locales in one place, I didn't want to make us stand out like sore thumbs!  This dish has permanently changed my outlook on beets.  They are one of the most delicious root what-evers EVER created!  WOW!!!

Next came the entree course.  It was a thin slice of meat in a small pool of brownish sauce with a little, baby mushroom in it.  In the center was a lovely circle of pomme de terre puree.  There are no words to properly describe the food-gasme that I experienced with this dish.  So, I'll let Colin give it a shot:  It was awesome.  It was one of the best meals that I have ever had.  It was reasonable to small-ish in size, but was completely filling and decadent.  It was on par, nay superior to anything we've ever had in Vegas.  When we first poked our heads in and saw that is was completely packed with locals, we knew that they were doing something right!  

I totally agree.

For dessert, we each ordered one of the two items on the dessert menu.  Colin received a creme caramel and I a Paris Brest, which is the house specialty.  We will definitely be returning here! We got an awesome bottle of organic Bordeaux, suggested by the server, which put the meal over the top!  It was a great deal and a phenomenal meal!

Later that evening we made our way back to the Brise Miche near Le musee pompidou, our old stomping ground.  It was exactly as it should be.  It was delicious and inviting.  Colin tried duck for the first time and says, "It tasted like beef.  Pretty good!  But, the French onion soup was amazing!"  I tried something new and got the pot-au-feu.  It was very tasty.  There was even a marrow bone in the center!  Yikes!  I tried a little spoon of marrow...not for me, too odd of a texture.  But, I'm glad to be branching out a bit!  For dessert, Colin had a crepe flambeed in Grand Marnier and I had a very fudgy brownie swimming in salty butter sauce.  I know I promised pictures...sorry.  Next time.  We really enjoyed having our special dinner here.  The staff was very nice and remembered us from last week, when we ate there with my parents.  Can't wait to go back!  

It was the first time in 4 years that I've been off on Valentine's day and what a day it was!  It was fabulous getting all dressed up!  Colin wore a tie!  Woo!  (He looked very dashing!)  Again, I wish I had taken pictures!  But, it's Paris!  I'm sure I'll be able to find another reason to dress up!

It was very romantic, says Colin.

On the agenda for tomorrow?  Versailles!  I took a lot of pictures!  We'll have that posted probably by tomorrow night...still playing a bit of catch-up!  Gotta get packed up for our trip to London tomorrow!  

Bon nuit mes amis!

  

Tredding up the Arc de Triomphe.

Well, hello again.  We're still playing catch-up.  So, here's the re-cap for Saturday, the 12th of February.  

It was my parents' last full day and we had a lot to do!  We started out the day by climbing 284 spiraling stairs leading up to the top of the Arc de Triomphe.  Ouch!  It was so painful...and I did it in heels, (luckily they're Clarks)!  Since our apartment is a spiraling staircase with more than 100 steps, it was like we were in training for a week in order to complete this ultimate climb!   

Taking a break about 3/4 of the way up.  Colin went up without stopping...woaw...

Once at the top, the view, of course, was breath-taking! 

Dad and I did another little video. 

Here are some pictures we took from the top.

And here are some from the bottom.

We then quickly made our way to the nearby restaurant called La Gare that was recommended to us.  The decor was beautiful and for how busy it was, the restaurant was surprisingly quiet, thanks in part to the large swaths of fabric hung from ceiling to floor throughout the restaurant.  La Gare is a modern restaurant set in an old train station.  The food was just ok, unfortunately not mind-blowing as the recommending website described it.  The best part was hanging out with my family and having the opportunity to get all dressed up!  Colin was impressed by the little old lady, who was seated in the sunken center of the restaurant, who had her little dog seated on a fancy pillow beside her, enjoying his version of brunch.  So cute!  

Afterwards, we headed back to the Champs Elysees to do a little shopping.  We walked the entire length from Le grand palais to the Arc de triomphe and back.  Exhausting, but fun to see so many world famous designers battling it out for the same shoppers!  The interesting thing about this street is that it isn't just clothes and jewelry, but there are car dealerships as well.  I like the way the French do the car sales-pitch.  They put them in the front window displays, just like anything else!

Once we had gifts in hand for everyone's favorite little girls, we headed back to the apartment for some much needed rest.  What a whirlwind day/week!  

It's time for Colin and I to shift into the next phase of our vacation. What's to come is anybody's guess!  Stay tuned!

Love the Louvre!

So, you  may have noticed that we fell off the grid for a few days there.  But, we're back!  We had a lot to do and only a little bit of time to get it done!  So, we'll try to recap the best we can without being too long winded!  

On Friday, we spent the day at Galeries Lafayette and at the Musee du Louvre.

We first arrived in the big Boulevards and were making our way to the Galeries when we encountered an incredible street musician.  Check out the video my dad took:

We next headed into the massive store and made our way to the 7th floor and to our surprise, it opened up onto a terrace with a beautiful view of the surrounding neighborhoods.

On the 6th floor there is a cafeteria style restaurant, which puts the American Food Court to shame!  Next to the Coca-Cola fountain machine there were wine spigots offering several kinds of wine by the glass or the carafe!  Awesome!  We had a steak cooked a point right in front of us and then hit the salad and dessert bar.  Colin had the best artichoke salad EVER in his life and secretly hoarded them from us, not saying how good they were until they were safely in his stomach.  Soo good, but a little on the expensive side!  You can see a little video of the interior of Galeries Lafayette here:

Next, we made our way to Le musee du Louvre, passing through La Place de Vendome.

Then through Le jardin des Tuileries.  Upon entering the park, a local wanderer spoke to Emily's father, offering him a ring he had found in the park for enough change to buy "Cigarettes and a Croissant."  He bought it for the coins in his pocket.  Later, I discovered that it was 18K gold and probably an amazing purchase!  Crazy?  

The park/jardin ends where the Louvre begins.  

 

Here's another video courtesy of Dad's fancy camera:

We next headed into the Louvre.  

 

Here are some highlights of the 100s of pictures we all took:

This is the moat of the ancient Louvre Fortress

This is a tomb of a Pharoah, whose name escapes me.

Some chick, painted by some guy.

 

We spent nearly 7 hours in the museum and as it got later another crowd came in and we soon discovered that on Friday nights there are special performance arts that take place throughout the museum.  Some performances were better than others.  Some you just have to label as art and call it that.  This one is a video of the performance that was actually really cool!

We left the museum at about 10:00pm, when they kicked us out. We were completely exhausted and totally satisfied.  Colin and I will return and see some more of the exhibits since it's only 11 euros each for the whole day and you can exit and re-enter at any time!  

On the agenda for Saturday:  Seine River tour and Musee D'Orsay!

Une journee congelee!

To say that it is cold here right now is an understatement.  I came dressed for the usual Parisian winter of an average high of 45 degrees.  It's been about 25-30 with around 10 mile an hour wind...making it feel like 15 degrees or less.  It got so cold yesterday that we decided not to walk.  That's right, even Colin agreed to take the Metro and he doesn't normal like to go down into the tunnels because they tend to be a little stuffy, with a hint of urine in the air. 

We took the 9 to the 11 and got off at Hotel de Ville where we caught one of those double decker tour buses.  Since it was super sunny, we sat on the top level, which had an open roof, but the first couple of rows have a cover on three sides.  Seemed like a good idea...at first.  As we approached the first picture worthy monument, I pulled out my camera, aimed, focused, push the button and saw a familiar line flash across the screen, "No memory card".  Dammit!  So, no pictures...sorry.  I'll have to borrow my Dad's memory card and add some photos later today!

The bus started at Hotel de Ville, then went to the ancient Opera Garnier, now the home of the Paris Ballet.  Next it wound around to the Champs Elysees and went straight to the Arc de Triomphe.  Here we finally found the rest of the tourists.  My dad was amazed at the amount of Paris we hadn't seen yet!  

 We passed the Grand Palais and the Petit Palais and went around the Place de Concorde a few times.  This is where you can find the oldest thing in Paris, an obelisk from Egypt dating to more than 3300 years ago!  Amazing!  It replaced the giant guillotine, which took the heads of Louis XVI, Marie Antoinette and thousands more.

We next headed towards the Trocadero.  At this point, I realized that I could no longer feel my feet.  Since we have the right to "Hop on, Hop off" the bus, I asked everyone if we could exercise this right.  They all agreed.  This is also the best place to take pictures of the Eiffel Tower since it's expansive square is elevated and just across the Seine from the famous Tour.  

As I stepped off of the bus, I realized that the bottoms of my feet were completely numb.  It felt like I was walking on stumps!  AH!  We hurried over to the Trocadero where I knew we would find several places to buy some chocolat chaud.  I ordered my hot chocolate and ran to go stand in the sun, letting Colin finish the transaction.  He brought my my cup and I was shaking so hard that I spilled my precious drink all over my gloves prompting the need to now remove them!  Not awesome, but funny in retrospect.

We next headed up La Tour Eiffel.  Since it's February, the line was relatively short, but man, it felt like an eternity!  It was so cold and dangerous on the top floor that they had it closed off to the public.  But, the second floor is of course, very high up and offers a magnificent view of the city as it stretched out as far as the eye can see!  But I was still soo cold!  I stayed on the less windy/sunnier side of the tower and let everyone else go around and take in all sides of the tower!  

 Check out the video my dad took while we were on the elevator up to the top.

After the Eiffel tower, he headed straight home, where I was NEVER so happy to have chosen an apartment with a bathtub!  I soaked for a good 2 hours and then got into my bed for another hour while Colin cooked us an amazing lentil soup!  SO GOOD!!!  Hooray for Colin and his miracle soup because today, I feel great and raring to go!  On the agenda today is a visit to the Louvre and then off to the department stores for a bit of shopping!