Our final day in Paris was awesome. we both woke up super early and were planning on getting to the Notre Dame Cathedral before the crowds but learned that it didnt even open until 10 am. So we decided to get a head start out to see the Palace at Versaille. We stopped at the corner bakery for some fresh out of the oven boninis, which are the most delicious little round donuts, and of course some cafe. it was a grab and go breakfast which we ate on the way to the underground. we really felt like we were blending in since a lot of people were doing the same at this time in the morning.
Versaille is over an hour away from Paris by train and we arrived about 10 minutes to nine, which was when the palace opened. We didnt plan this, but we were the first ones in line and by the time they opened the doors there was probably about 15 or 20 people behind us. we grabbed our audio tour devices and walked through the palace virtually alone. It was great!!
Let me just say the the pictures dont even come close to capturing the vastness of this palace and the palace grounds. The place in ENORMOUS! and not one inch of it is not decorated with a painting or carving or some ornate detailing. It was really cool to walk through Louie the XIV bedroom and in the Hall of Mirrors where the Treaty of Versaille was signed. I cant even begin to imagine what this place must have been like in its day. It is absolutely amazing to see and to think about all of the history that took place here.
After touring the palace we spent an hour or so strolling through the gardens and we didnt even see a good portion of them. It was super cold there today. the pathways were very uneven too and unfortunately my knee started to hurt and was pretty much shot by the time we got back to the room. When we walked back to the front of the palace there were literally hundreds of people waiting in line to get in. I am so glad that we got there as early as we did. we did all of this and made it back to the room for a nap by 3:00.
We were determined this time to get up from our nap to see the eiffel tower and eat dinner. Danny woke me up around 8 pm and we freshened up for our last night out in Paris. We ate dinner in a little restaraunt near the tower which was full of tourists, but we were hungry, my knee was in bad shape and i didnt feel like hobbling too much farther than necessary. It was an italian restaurant and the food was delicious...and the France/England match was on so Danny was happy.
After dinner we finally got to the Eiffel Tower at around 10pm. we were standing under the tower when all of a sudden it lit up with flickering lights. It was so beautiful. i guess it does this every hour because it did it again at 11pm. We stood in line for the elevator up to the secind floor and the sites were better than we had imagined.
Overall it was a good day. I think we enjoyed the wandering and eating we did yesterday better, but i am really glad i got to see versaille, and the tower was better than we thought it would be.
Alyssa & Mathew said hi!