Ooo La La Lyon: Paris 1.0

12/20/16

Versailles Gardens

Front of Versailles

Today started with taking an RER to Versailles! One amazing thing about this place it that if you are a student you don't have to pay to get into any on the buildings on the estate. To be honest I found that main palace a bit disappointing. A lot of the wings were closed and so you just followed a long line of people from one room to the next. There was a lot of nice paintings of the royal families that have lived on the estate, and some great history lessons with them. There were also a TON of people there!! There was way more people going through the main palace than there was in the Louvre. Then when I went out to gardens, the fountains were turned off and the statues were covered up for the winter. For me the best part was Marie-Antoinette's estates. She had her own Petit Trianon with her own party house, then a separate larger estate farther away form the main palace. Only people that were invited could enter (including the King). She also redid her trianon to eliminate a staircase that allowed the King to enter any room he wanted. Instead there are locking door mechanisms that slide up and down to section and lock off parts of the house. I also visited the farm and gardeners housing on the estate. On the farm, I got to pet some of the animals! All of the grounds keepers houses were adorable! While walking around the grounds I ate my delicious sandwich with I made with the cheese I bought yesterday. I visited the Grad Trianon which was for King Louis XIV and for other family members. This was used for entertainment and social gatherings. All in all it was a good visit, but I am happy that I didn't have to pay for any of it! I was also disappointed that I didn't get to dance in the ballroom (Bucket List Item). The one I got to see was the "parlor" to the ballroom, small events hall. Plus since most of the palace was closed off there was legitly no room to move AT ALL. Every one was crammed into this room while tour groups leaders were talking, and every one else was trying to move to the next room. This just means that I will have to come back to France and tour more castles till I get to dance in a ballroom. After I was done at Versailles I went back to Paris and headed to the Catacombs.

Notre-Dame

When I got there the line was super long (two hour wait). So I was like " Uhhhh NO"!!! I then went to Notre-Dame. There the line was long, but it was always moving. Now the thing that I had to remember is that every church is special in its own way. I have scene the Sagrada Familia, there are no words to describe that cathedral. Now Notre-Dame is special in how the lighting inside of the church is used. They had it all decorated up for the holidays and it looked amazing. There was a Christmas market next to the church that I walked around. I now can say that I have all my Christmas shopping done! After the market, I went to Centre Pompidou. However, I did not check its opening times, and see it was closed today, so I SAW it and went back to my AirB&B.

Dinner!!

I went to this Vietnamese restaurant across from my Air B&B. The hostess thought it was weird that I was eating by myself. She tried to seat me with some people in front of me. I tried a hot mango bubble tea, with citrus chicken and rice. The meal over all was delicious, and I ate the whole meal with chopsticks!! The waiters were impressed, they kept waking by every couple of minutes or so, and would look my way every time. I don't think they thought I could eat the whole meal with chopsticks. I was asked multiple times by the waiters if I want a fork.

Getting the extra sleep was helpful for my cold, but I still was pretty out of it today! I had a coughing issue while at Versailles and the attendant asked if I was ok or if I need help. One thing this solo trip has taught me, is how much determination and shear will play into achieving what you want. I am determined to see the places that I want to see and I WILL enjoy them!! Tomorrow I have another packed day. I will be going to the catacombs, then to a chocolate museum, followed by the Paris Opera House, and then up to Sacre Coeur. After that I have several option on what to see depending on how I feel. I am not going to waste any time tomorrow for my last day in Paris/France.