Monday morning, September 10, 2018

Yesterday we started our day with a trip to Versailles. It was our first guided tour. Our French guide Laurent picked us up at our flat at 8 am in a van with a few other folks. Very nice company. It was extremely convenient to be picked up and taken there rather than navigating trains and buses, etc. but we didn’t think there was much value other than that.

There were a zillion tourists toting selfie sticks, and we were herded through a certain path. Stacy said it was much different than when she was there 15 years ago, when they were allowed to linger and wander. The three different styles of architecture and decor under three different King Hentrys was interesting. But what really struck me was the room after room of opulent excess, and the elaborate art portraying the kings as gods.

We had an hour or so to walk through the gardens, which were gorgeous. It’s easy to see how it took the 10,000 people who lived and worked at Versailles to keep building and maintaining what was actually a city in itself.

After Versailles our guide dropped us off at the Arc de Triomphe where we caught a taxi to Sacre Couer. That is a very beautiful church situated atop the hill overlooking all of Paris. The weather was perfect. Going inside all these gorgeous cathedrals I’m in awe that they were even able to build them using the technology available hundreds of years ago. Construction of Notre Dame took place over three centuries. Amazing.

We took a very modern funicular down the hill to the streets of Montmartre. I had always heard of Montmartre as a little art district with painters working in the plazas and sidewalks. Today though it was crowded with shops selling T-shirts. We were hungry, and decided to split a burger and fries at a Steak and Shake that had opened there. It wasn’t French, but it was great.

We came home, relaxed a bit and set out for dinner and a sunset cruise on the Seine. We enjoyed an excellent meal at a little very French cafe, then Cruised around Ile de la Cite up past the Eiffel Tower and back. Our timing was perfect. Just as we passed in front of it the lights on the Eiffel went on. Spectacular.

We slept in this morning, and are now off for our next adventure,