Storming Versailles
Travel Location: Versailles,France
We woke up very early the next morning to get the free breakfast that came with our accommodation. It was basically just a roll with some jam, and a cup of hot chocolate. But whatever is free is fine with me. The big thing on today’s agenda was Versailles. We purchased metro tickets (it was a very good deal because we bought an all-day pass for 3.20 euro) and took a few connecting trains to reach Versailles. I’ve never been on a subway before (whoo California!) so it was an interesting experience. It was a lot more efficient than I expected. We never had to wait more than 5 minutes for the trains, and it took us all over the city. I’m really impressed with it, and I liked looking at the maps to figure out how to get from one stop to another. Yeah, I’m a nerd…but a nerd who was in Paris!
It was 16 euro to see the Palace and Gardens of Versailles and also Marie Antoinette’s private estate and garden grounds. The place was HUGE! We spent a total of 6 hours there. The palace was impressive, but it wasn’t too different from other huge and rich buildings that I’ve visited before (Hearst’s Castle and Muck Ross House). It’s like “Yeah, I get it, these people were filthy rich…” But I enjoyed seeing the Hall of Mirrors that I learned about 3 years ago in Mr. Shonk’s class. It was so unreal. I was the only one from our group that had some kind of history about Versailles and the monarchs that lived there. Yeah, high five, Mr. Shonk! Haha. My favorite part about Versailles was the gardens. I could not comprehend the vastness of the palace grounds. It took about 40 minutes to walk from one end to the other. It was really lovely though. I enjoyed watching the rowers along the Grand Canal, and the majestic fountains. Marie Antoinette’s estate was at the end of the garden, and we looked through her private rooms and house as well. When we got out, we thought we were almost done with our Versailles adventure, and pulled out the map of the palace grounds. We nearly collapsed on the floor from exhaustion when we saw how far out Marie Antoinette’s gardens extended. We decided to just walk to the Temple of Love that was situated at the front of her garden, and begin the long trek back along the Grand Canal to the main entrance. Overall, I was impressed with Versailles, and I think the main excitement stemmed from being in places that was so full with history and that I’ve only read about in books.
We nearly collapsed on the floor from exhaustion when we saw how far out Marie Antoinette’s gardens extended.
The next sight on our list was the Basilique du Sacre Coeur. We stopped for a quick and cheap dinner again, and headed straight to Montmartre. By then, it was already dark, and we were in for an unexpected surprise when we got out of the metro station. The entire area seemed very dodgy, and it reminded me of the ghettoes in the heart of Los Angeles. The four of us just looked at each other, and tentatively decided to just go for it. We walked timidly through the streets, all scared that we were going to get mugged or attacked at some point. We saw the tip of Sacre Coeur in the distance, but we had to mount a tower of stairs to get to the actual building. We decided that the tip was all we really needed to see, and turned back around. Instead, we went to another part of Montmatre where the Moulin Rouge was. There was nothing too exciting about the building itself, but I am absolutely in love with the Luhrmann’s film, MoulinRouge! so it was a very exciting thing to be there! I purchased a little posted from one of the shops outside the Moulin Rouge, and we bought crepes again.
After the Moulin Rouge, we were all dead tired, but we said we could squeeze in one more sight before heading back to the hostel. So we went to the Opera Garnier. The area was all lit up with Christmas lights, so it was very pretty. It started to pour rain though, so we decided to take the metro back to the hostel and rest up. There was a pain in my foot after the first night, and it only got worse with all the walking I did that day. I think I may have strained a muscle there. After a while, it became almost unbearable to walk, so I was grateful for the rest. I’m proud of getting through so much that day though!
