England/France Trip: Part 7

Our last day in Paris had finally arrived. It was drizzly, and we were headed out to Versailles in the afternoon, but there were a few things we still wanted to do in the morning hours. So after another room service breakfast,we left the room for our first stop, The Sacre Coeur.

You may recognize the Sacre Coeur from the film, Amelie! That is such a beautiful foreign film. We wanted to go there because we were unwilling to wait hours and hours to go to the top of the Eiffel tower. We wanted to make the most of our short time in Paris. But our tour guide from earlier in the week, told us the views from the Sacre Coeur were just as good.

So we walked up the steepest and most back breaking hills for what seemed like forever, before we finally got there. And the tour guide was right, the views were so worth it. And we soaked it in for a while.

Before heading back down the hill, I stopped to get some Macarons from a bakery we had spotted on the way up. I got a mix of flavors, but my favorites were the Pistachio and Earl Grey Tea ones. 

After we ate Macaroons and made our way down the massive Sacre Coeur hills, one of the things I needed to mark off my Paris bucket list was to see the Moulin Rouge, which we did with a quick ride on the metro. I would love to see a show at the Moulin Rouge one day, I always loved that movie!

It was time to head down to grab our tour bus out to Versailles. One of the best parts of walking around Paris is the little peekaboo you get of the Eiffel tower when you least expect it. It always took my breathe away.

 

After our morning activities, we headed out for an afternoon at Versailles. Versailles was the main reason I wanted to go to France in the first place. I would call Marie Antoinette one of my historical obsessions and I've gone down many a internet rabbit hole reading about her life. Our first stop at Versailles was the Petit Trianon. 

The Petit Trianon was a mini palace of sorts, near Versailles. Marie Antoinette used it as an escape from palace life. And it's beautiful. I loved the tiny bed (apparently they used to sleep sitting up)?  It was just cool to see the rooms she lived in and the furniture she used. 

The best part of the Petit Trianon was the hamlet. Marie Antoinette had built a "faux" village for her to experience. It was so picturesque and lovely. You could tell how frivolous and unnecessary it was, and it quite possibly was a small factor in the French Revolution (the nobility, especially the Royal family, just bled money). But it was just so lovely, I wish I could have had a picnic out there.

  

Versailles itself was even more extravagant! Gold, mural, and statues everywhere. And boy was it crowded, like sometimes hard to move crowded. But from what I've read, it is always crowded. But I got to lean over to Adam and whisper, "There is a lot of people at Versailles today," which was the famed line Marie Antoinette said to Madame Du Barry.  Yeap, I'm a nerd.

I loved the hall of mirrors especially and unfortunately the Queens chambers were closed this day. We did get some time walking around the lovely gardens though, getting a little soaked, due to the rain not really ever stopping.  

The amount of rain Paris had that week was unusual we learned, and in fact about a week after we left, the Seine flooded terribly. 

When we got back to Paris, we stopped and had dinner at a nice cafe. Adam and I were so proud because our waiter did not speak any English, and yet somehow we were able to have a basic conversation with him and order our meals just fine. It seemed a good way to end our trip, having learned a little french! I got the beef bourguignon by the way. 

The next morning we got up before dawn,  and discovered the subway was not opened yet, so we were forced to hail a taxi to the Eurostar station. We took the Eurostar back to London, and then took the tube to Heathrow airport before flying home. It certainly was a long travel day!

We had such a great trip to Europe, and I was so glad to finally have made it to Paris! Even Adam was surprised with how much he loved Paris, he didn't expect to like it at all. He can be a curmudgeon that way.

 

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