Tourism in Paris and Versailles

Wednesday late afternoon I arrived at Gare de Lyon and whizzed my way along the Metro to meet up with David at Gare du Nord. After getting a horrible shock when I received a text from him saying 'where are you?' over an hour ago, and thinking I had made an awful mistake arranging train arrival times, it turned out my phone was just playing a nasty trick on me. We met up at Gare du Nord, and then set off on foot to find our hotel for the next three days. The hotel was basic, and as we went for an evening stroll we realised that it was next to an avenue teeming with prostitutes, but the hotel at least served its purpose.

The victor in the hot chocolate competition. 

Thursday was a day more than fit for sight-seeing. The sun was shining and Paris wasn't too crammed with tourists. We started at the Arc de Triomph, and then worked our way down to Place de la Concorde, walked part way along the Jardin des Tuilleries before stopping off for chocolat chaud at Angelina's. I had been recommended Angelina's and her hot chocolate by my originally-Parisian housemate. He had also warned me not to try and take on an entire hot chocolate on my own. Needless to say, really, but I did take on the challenge. And I failed! It was basically melted chocolate, and to add insult to injury there was a separate little pot of whipped cream.

The gardens by Le Louvre

We continued down to the Louvre, the gardens of which were beautifully planted and bursting with colour. Nearby, we saw the gardens of the Palais Royal (smaller, but just as pretty) and the Comedie Francaise theatre (where Molière reportedly fainted during a performance of Le Malade Imaginaire). Hopped on the metro to the cathedral of Notre Dame de Paris and had a nose inside. Then we took the metro to the Mosque, but I didn't want to pay 3€ entry so we moved on to the Natural History Museum (which I unfortunatley didn't find particularly informative). Lunch was found at a boulangerie, namely a tuna baguette made with lovely fresh bread. One final stop off at the Tour Eiffel in the sunshine before heading back to hotel to rest our weary feet after our wanderings. Dinner was had on Rue Moufftard, in the same restaurant I had gone to with Montana before I went home for the February holidays.

Chateau de Versailles in all its golden glory

On Friday, we hit Versailles. I was surprised at the number of people who weren't at work, as it was absolutely PACKED. Well, the main palace was heaving, but less so when we visited the smaller residences, used (among others) by Marie Antoinette, who was married to King Louis XVI. These buildings were further out into the grounds, and the number of people to be found there was much smaller; perhaps they didn't want to walk that far. So much the better for me! It was interesting comparing the main Chateau, the Grand Trianon and the Petit Trianon. The first oozed wealth like a squeezed orange; gold was flaunting itself inside and outside the buildings, marble dominated the architecture and there wasn't a single ceiling which wasn't painted with fabulous and delicate designs. The second was much more modest, but still evidently portraying luxury, and seemingly much more comfortable then the first. The third was rather empty and plain. There was some beautiful furniture, but many more white painted walls and empty spaces in the rooms. We were too tired to walk around the gardens and it was beginning to rain, so we headed back to Paris on the RER then the Metro.

Grand Trianon - note unpainted ceiling

After another nap (since being a tourist is a very tiring occupation) we headed out on the metro again to visit a restaurant recommended by my housemate: Le Zimmer. We only had a main course each due to the prices, but my lemon and thyme chicken was excellent. It was simply served with green beans and a tomato dip; it is typically French to serve a good piece of meat with one accompaniment. David's fish cakes were served with squid ink risotto, and the man next to me's duck leg was served with mash potato.

Our final day, Saturday, had arrived. After dumping our bags at Gare du Nord (and being ripped off to the tune of 10€ for a locker), breakfast was found in the form of a crepe (au chocolat, for me) before being admitted (for free) into the Hotel des Invalides. This is a complex with many functions, one of which being the burial site for Napoleon, but the section that we visited was a WWI and II museum with particular emphasis on France's involvement and occupation. The exhibits revived everything that I had learnt in Upper Sixth, and I learnt a little bit more about the 1870 Franco-Prussian war. After finding another excellent boulangerie (this time I had a coronation chicken baguette) and eating it by the Tour Eiffel, we headed for the Basilique Sacré-Coeur. The sun was blazing down, making the white stone of the Basilique even whiter against the blue sky. The inside was as beautiful as ever, but this time I noticed the delicate mosaics dotted around which I hadn't seen when I had last visited it, two summers ago. Sadly, the killer steps up to the Basilique were still there.

Basilique Sacré-Coeur

Then it was time to go back to Gare du Nord so that Dave could catch his EuroStar back to England, and I got on the metro down to Austerlitz to take the first of my three trains back to Romorantin. It is now midday on Sunday, and I have spoken barely any French for the last week. Before the church service this afternoon we are having nibbles to give people a chance to say goodbye to me, so no doubt that will fling me back into the delights of French conversation. For now, however, I shall continue to put off tidying up my room by translating my FINAL Year Abroad essay before sending it off to a teacher to be checked. Nothing is going to ruin my epic (and fast-approaching) summer!