Saturday, May 12, 2012

We started off today with walking down the street a couple of blocks to a little bakery where we had breakfast pastries.  Amy had a small ham and cheese quiche.  All were very good.  We ate at the bakery at a little table.  Amy & Scott had small cups of very strong coffee, I had hot tea.   Dad asked for water and the lady proprietor got very upset.  No, No, No….no water!  So she brought Sam coffee also!  Amy drank his coffee for him so he didn’t look rude.    Then we found the metro or subway line we needed and started out on our day.  We had change to the RER which is the train.  Then we rode a double decker train to Versailles.  The train was full so I am assuming there will be lots of people there.  The end of the line was at Versailles so the entire train….several cars….unloaded.  The entire mass pushed into the ticket station and then out the doors toward the Palace of Versailles….about a three block walk.  The Palace is very large, with gold gates and gold shining off the roof.  There was also a lot of people everywhere.   We had to stand in line for about 30 minutes before entering the security area where our purses and bags were looked into.  Then we entered into the courtyard of the palace.  It surprised me that grounds were all either gravel or very uneven paving stones and not grass.  No trees or flowers either.  We entered into the open door where everyone seemed to be going and entered into a waiting area.  The first place we saw was a beautiful chapel.  Then we followed the crowd and toured through different rooms of the palace.  Marie Antoinette was the last Queen to live in the Palace before the French Revolution. There were lots of statues, painting, chandeliers and mirrors.  Nearly all of the ceilings were painted with beautiful scenes.  After touring the building we went into one of the other buildings on the grounds to a little cafeteria to eat a lunch of sandwiches and chocolate mousse.  We planned to walk through some of the many gardens on the grounds, which are behind the palace and stretch several acres but didn’t want to pay the extra cost to do that.  So, we decided to go on back to Paris on the train.  On the way to the train we did do a little souvenir shopping.  

 

Arriving back in Paris we transferred from the train to the subway to go back to our hotel.  We put away our souvenirs and went to the little pastry shop on the corner, two doors down from the hotel where we sat outside at little tables enjoying rich, decadent pastries.  Then back to the RER to the Eiffel Tower area.  The Eiffel sits very close to the banks of the Seine River, which runs through Paris.  Our Paris Pass included a tour boat ride on the river so we decided to do that.  It was very cold!  But, we were able to see many of the major sights along the river.  There were lots of people sitting on the banks of the river, riding bikes or just walking along.  We passed under many bridges.  The boat was very large and was completely full.   Our tour host greeted us in French, English, Spanish, Italian, Japanese and Russian (I think).  Wow!  And, I have trouble just speaking one language.

Arriving back to the shore we walked on back to our hotel……down the Champ de Mars and the five or six blocks to the hotel.  We thought we’d take a different street back trying to find a different restaurant but ended up eating right across from our hotel…..at 10 p.m. at night.  I had steak and grilled potatoes.   Sam had a cheeseburger and fries.  Amy had a ground beef patty with a fried egg on top and fries…and Scott had a skirt steak with shallots and fries.  We all had water to drink.   We should have all just ordered steak tartar as that is how our meat was cooked.   Amy couldn’t finish hers.   And, no, we didn’t order fries with our meals……….that’s how it was served.  Lots of french fries eaten here, it seems. 

Finally, a long day done and to bed about midnight!!