Last time I told you this past year on my seventy-fifth birthday, my daughter ask me what I wanted and I jokingly said a Trip to Paris – well guess what? – I got a Trip to Paris the first of June!
On our 2nd full day we set the alarm and got up early. My daughter and I went down to the breakfast buffet in the hotel basement and left granddaughter to sleep in. When I got up to go to the bathroom at 1 a.m. she was coloring in her drawings from the day before and I insisted she go to bed. We brought her a baguette and chocolate pastry from the breakfast buffet.
We had a trip to the Palace of Versailles planned. We only had to walk to the end of our little short street and cross the boulevard dodging the dozens of bicyclists. You’re more likely to be run over by a bicycle than a bus in Paris. The entry to the Metro (underground subway) was just down the block on the other side of the street. Using a machine on the wall to get a ticket was quite a challenge and took my daughter 7 tries to finally get them. If it had been up to me, I would still be there struggling. We had to get 2 metros and a bus to get to Versailles (about 11 miles away).
Versailles was originally a hunting lodge build into a palace in the 1660s and was the residence of King Louis XIV. This “over the top” opulent palace was the residence of kings for over 100 years before being turned into a museum in 1837. The treaty that ended WWI was signed there in the “Hall of Mirrors.”
The lines were long to get in and a light mist was falling. We got in relatively fast for as many people as there were.
The palace is massive (thousands of rooms) with room after room of galleries with mural painted ceilings and walls with huge oil paintings by the masters of the time. Some were living quarters – bedrooms or sitting rooms with gorgeous furnishings. We all got headphones that you could punch in the room number you were in and get all the recorded details for that room. It was overwhelming, but filled your senses with what these royal’s life must have been like. There were magnificent fireplaces and stairways and the architecture was unbelievable. You could peek out many of the windows and see the manicured gardens with their elaborate paths, fountains and statuary. Versailles sits on 2,000 acres and is the largest royal domain in the world.
We were getting hungry and saw a restaurant doorway with a long line and a 45 min. wait (they had a snack bar that had a wait too). I needed to go to the restroom while my daughter and granddaughter got in line. I followed the host’s instructions and wandered down halls around corners and saw the snack bar with a very short line and passed rooms with available seating for the snack bar. After using the facilities, I went back to the long line up front and told the girls to follow me and say nothing. It was so busy with servers carrying large trays and not enough staff to keep the line flowing to the snack counter. The girls got in line and I told them – get me something and I’ll find us a table in one of the dining rooms, which was not a problem. I had a chicken salad sandwich that was delicious. I even had a little bottle of cabernet. They drink wine in France like we drink a bottle of water. We had a pretty little dessert too.
We were going to walk the gardens, but it was raining and we could see some of it through the windows and a good size section was being renovated, so decided to go back to our hotel. We got an Uber easily – my daughter and her apps!
We took a quick nap and recharged our phones.
We decided to go to the Catacombs which is an underground ossuary (place to store the dead) that holds 6 million Parisian remains stacked. It was on my granddaughter’s must-see list. We got an Uber since is was getting late in the day (rush hour) and the Metro would be packed. But the traffic was so bad it took forever and the narrow streets were jammed. The Catacombs had a posted sign on the door that they were closed due to a strike by the workers. This was a “place of nightmares” to me, so I was OK with the closure.
We went across the street to The Museum of the Liberation of Paris, which was very interesting and learned things I was never exposed to in history classes or ever realized happened. Paris was liberated after 4 years of Nazi occupation. It was very emotional and sad to realize how many French people were killed. This historical museum covers Paris during World War II and the Liberation in August 1944.
As we left the museum we saw a restaurant on the opposite corner call the “Indiana” and stopped in to see why they named it that. I talked to one of the employees and he said it was because the owner had worked at a job that sent him to Indiana so he decided to name his restaurants “Indiana” (all 10 of them). Well it had the tackiest decor you can imagine. Light fixtures with faces surrounded with red feathers and large pieces of wall art with photos of dozens of Indian chiefs (like Geronimo, etc). We decided to sit down and have a drink and appetizer and see if they knew what Indiana food was like. My daughter said if they don’t have ranch dressing, they don’t know what they are doing. Well yes they served ranch dressing with their deep fried Mac ‘n Cheese balls. It wasn’t bad so they did know what Hoosier food we eat. I meant to look and see if they had giant tenderloins, but forgot.
We were going to take the Metro (entrance right in front of the Indiana) but it was too hard to figure out so my daughter called an Uber. The traffic was even worse and the streets so narrow. I saw a lady in high heels on her bike pass us with inches to spare.
Back at the hotel my daughter and I decided to make a cocktail in the little bar lounge over the lobby. They had nearly everything and we just had to list what you used on a clipboard.
We went shopping for souvenirs around the corner and the ladies who ran it were so nice. We bought so much they gave us free bonus gifts. Things were reasonable so we had fun.
Next door was the little Carousel Cafe we loved so much and my daughter had shrimp and I had sweet potato hummus. For dessert we had Creme Brulee—everything was yummy!
Next time the Louvre!
