Eurotrip Day 8

Today was going to be a good day. I would be able to cross another item off of my bucket list by visiting the Palace of Versailles! Ever since my freshman year humanities class (which was really more of an art history class), I wanted to see the Hall of Mirrors and visit the gardens.

We booked a shuttle to transport us there and to 'skip the line'. Our guide picked us up at 8:00am sharp and we were off! He was friendly enough, and the sound of the metal pole scraping against the side of the van as he pulled into a much too narrow side street, didn't even phase him. It's really not as dramatic as it sounds. In Paris, these things happen and its apparently not so uncommon to just keep on keeping on instead of stopping to look at the damage and filing a report.

So, off we went and we arrived at the Palace as per scheduled. There wasn't much of a line to skip, yet, but it quickly became crowded inside. We collected our audio guides and jumped right into the tour.

I've visited the Biltmore in North Carolina a few times and I had kind of imagined the tour of the Palace of Versailles to be similar. The Hall of Mirrors was every bit as extraordinary as I had imagined it and the Royal Chapel was breathtaking.

Unfortunately, many of the rooms were closed and, before we knew it, we had seen everything there was to see inside.We wandered out onto the terrace over looking the gardens.

You could just see the Grand Canal in the distance, so we figured we had enough time to walk down and see it up close.

{Actually, we had intended to take a 'short cut' through the gardens to see Marie Antoinette's Estate and then walk back up, along the canal, to catch our ride home. However, the map they provided failed to indicate a locked gate within the maze of trees between us and the estate. So, we conceded and decided to have a snack by the canal instead.}

Accompanied by wood ducks, swan, and a few unreserved carp, we decided it was worth it to just be able to sit by the water and take in the scenery.

We arrived back in Paris around 1pm which was perfect because we still had time to see the inside of Notre Dame before it closed. We hopped on the Metro (which we had become quite good at navigating, if I do say so myself!) and headed over to the island again.

The Notre Dame Cathedral is a must see. I have never seen stained glass like that before! The cathedral took over 800 years to build as they kept making additions to the original structure and they still hold regular mass services.

After spending a few quiet, reflective moments in the sanctuary, we went out in search of our last Parisian dinner. The night prior, at Le Parvis, I was adventurous in trying the escargot; something Daniel had eaten before. I admit, it was pretty good... for a snail. So, tonight was Daniel's night to branch out. He was skeptical at first, but the carpaccio was delish and we followed that up with an amazing entree of duck breast. The Grizzli Cafe  is definitely at the top of our list!

After dinner, we thought we would call it a night since we had to get up early to catch a train to Switzerland. Little did we know, the opening game of the 2016 Eurocup (which France won btw) would have football fans chanting and celebrating in the streets ALL night. It was pretty amazing actually. 

We first arrived in Paris feeling timid, vulnerable, and a bit out of place. We left Paris with a great sense of camaraderie, unity, and humble appreciation for this beautiful city. 

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Eurotrip Day 7

Eurotrip Day 9

Eurotrip Day 7

On day 7, all of the things we did on day 6 caught up to us. We slept in a little later than preferred, but were still able to grab a cafe creme and a croissant on our way over to the Louvre.

The Louvre itself is a sight to see! I honestly wasn't expecting the place that housed so much beautiful art to be a piece of art in it's own right. Although, the place is seriously a maze and their 'map' was not so informative. We wandered mostly until we stumbled upon something we recognized.

We saw some of my favorite pieces of art including The Winged Victory of Samothrace and the Venus de Milo.

Daniel got to see a real mummy and a ton of sarcophagi in the ancient Egypt section.

We did eventually get close enough to the Mona Lisa to see her smirk and to snap a picture for ourselves.

When we finally made it outside, we took a few photos with the infamous glass pyramids and then set off for the Ile de la Cite.

On our way, we made it a point to cross the point des arts bridge for a selfie.

Apparently, it's easy to loose track of time when you're underground viewing centuries old artwork. By the time we made it to the island, the Notre Dame Cathedral was closed.

We walked around the outside parameter a bit, trying to take in all if the incredible details.

As we headed back toward our apartment, we wandered by a restaurant called Le Parvis. The steak dinner was nice, but the service was fantastic! We could only understand a few words here and there, but our server had us cracking up as he was poking fun at passerby's. (All in good, harmless fun, of course!) It was a great, relaxing way to wrap up our day.

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Eurotrip Day 6

Eurotrip Day 8

Eurotrip Day 6

If you've been following along on our journey, you might be thinking.. 'Wait?! What happened to day 5?' Truth is, most of day 5 was spent in transit from Dublin to Paris; but I can give you the quick version:

There were some awesome highlights, like having one last breakfast at Cowtown cafe in Dublin (discovering the difference between black pudding and white pudding)... and taking a bottle of wine out to the lawn of the Eiffel tower and watching it light up for the first time after a much needed and well deserved cheeseburger*.

If we're being honest though, this day will mostly be remembered by getting lost on the Paris metro, being the target of an attempted pick-pocketing, and discovering the the real meaning of a 'language barrier' - between us and the french-speakers and between Daniel and I. Needless to say, our first impression of Paris wasn't great, but we don't want to dwell on that! In fact, we have grown to love Paris! So let's just skip on over to Day 6, shall we?

So, day 6 in the city of love began with Daniel sleeping in a bit and me exploring the cafe outside of our apartment. I purchased a few cappuccinos and pain au chocolat (by recommendation) for breakfast to lure Daniel out of bed. The rest of the day we did some serious work exploring and sightseeing.

 On our way to see the arc de triumph, we stumbled upon an amazing street market. It put Nashville's farmers market to shame (and I love Nashville's market!!). It seemed to stretch on and on and they had EVERYTHING imaginable. We decided we would just have to come by for a quick bite on our way back.

The arc de triumph was way more impressive than I thought it would be. The architecture and sheer size was just stunning. Its definitely worth visiting, even if you don't pay to go to the top.

We opted out and decided to go to the top of the Eiffel tower instead, but not before hitting the market for the most amazing crepe I've ever had in my life!

A cherished memory I have of my grandmother were her crepes. She would simply spread butter on them, sprinkle a little sugar and roll them up. She called them sugar-butters. So, when I saw 'sucre buerre crepes' on the menu, I had to have one (for grandma Joan, of course). Daniel ordered a Nutella crepe, which was equally amazing, just minus the sentiment. :)

Off to the Eiffel Tower! We booked a 'skip the line' tour which gave us a tour guide up to the 2nd level of the Eiffel Tower, which was really great because she was able to point out different landmarks for us and give a little history and context lesson as we went.

After our guide's presentation ended, we were free to explore the 3rd floor on our own. We took the elevator all the way, in case you were wondering. We had a fairly clear day, so our view was really awesome.

Now for some, that would be enough adventure for one day, but we had a second wind of energy and a rediscovered excitement for Paris, so we kept going! The catacombs were our next stop. (By this point we had figured out the metro pretty well and were able to zip right over.) I honestly thought I would find these catacombs very morbid and creepy (and they were to a small extent) but as we wound through the tunnels beneath the city, there was something peaceful about that place of rest.

When we resurfaced, the daylight reminded us of how hungry we were. We wandered the area in search of a place to eat until someone walked by with a cone of gelato. Sold! Our first tastes of gelato were in the flavors of Nutella, hazelnut, strawberry, pistachio, and something with cherries that I couldn't pronounce. Delish!

We ended our wonderful day with a glass of champagne on the top floor of the Montparnasse, overlooking the lights of the city.

* Ive already received an earful from my sister about eating a cheeseburger in France, so you needn't bother. In my defense, it was a French cow and it came with a side of franch fries. That is not a typo, they were listed as franch fries on the menu. And we had wine. So there.

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Eurotrip Day 4

Eurotrip Day 7