Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Day 2 Paris


Day 2 in Paris, Tuesday

This morning I woke up and got the other two out of bed "at the crack of dawn" as Emily says.  Turns out that the crack of dawn is about 7:30 since the sun rises so late.  When we stepped out of the hotel the air smelled of fresh croissants, consequently, we had to eat some. We found a little bakeshop with croissants so fresh the chocolate was still soft and warm in the middle. A couple of blocks away we caught a train to Versailles, which is now one of my favorite places I’ve ever visited. The train took about 45 minutes and then we followed the tourists a couple of blocks to Versailles. The first view of Versailles took my breath away. It’s the biggest palace I’ve ever seen and the front seems nearly covered in gold.

Thankfully, since it was winter there were no lines so we just waltzed right it and using our audio guide started exploring the palace. Every single room is incredible. There are no rooms that are a disappointment. Gold, patterns, paintings, and statues cover every room. Personally, the best part of the Hall of Mirrors is how bright it is and the view that over looks the gardens. Louis’ bedroom is incredible. The rising sun fills the room with light and reflects off all the gold in the room. There isn’t one square inch that doesn’t have any decorations. Because the sun is so low in the sky it fills many of the rooms with sunlight. We stopped along the way for a quick snack of our first macaroon. I expected it to me like a meringue, but instead it’s a delicious soft and chewy cookie filled with frosting.

After finding our way outside we admired the view of the gardens and the rear view of the building. It is so large I couldn’t even get a picture of the entire back. We wandered down through the gardens and admired to view of the palace. We visited the Trion palace, which was the getaway house. Though I could never get enough of the view we eventually left. After arriving back in Paris we headed up to Sacre Couer. The building is beautiful but the area around it isn’t so charming-- thus, we took pictures and then headed back to our hotel to rest.

For dinner we walked a couple of blocks to the restaurant. We ate in French style, finishing at 10:15pm.  I have an entire post devoted to it that I will post soon. 

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