Paris, Day One: Versailles

We arrived in Paris rather late on Tuesday. We stayed at One Room In Paris, a bed and breakfast owned by this fantastic Parisian-Swiss couple. The only trouble was that we struggled to find the place upon arrival...that might be the understatement of the week. I had printed a map, thinking that, like most places, there would be a sign to annotate where the place was on the street. It was just off of Avenue Carnot, an offshoot street from the Arc de Triomph. Pretty exciting, non? Anyway, we stumbled into the neighbourhood grocery store, asked an employee for help, but only got so far. In an attempt to help us, she said in French, "I'm going to find someone who can help you in English."

And then Sophie turned around.

"I speak English", she said.

And so began our love affair with Sophie. She stayed with us for about an hour, calling the place, figuring out where we needed to be. She went so far as to finish off her shopping and just leave it at the front doors, knowing full well (somehow) that no one would be off with her goods. She was amazing. It was our first taste of Parisian hospitality and my impression of them would stay that positive forever (no matter how many men tried to rip us off).

In the end, we got some dinner and retired rather early. We had been working since 8:45 that morning, after all, and we needed to rest up for the big day ahead of us.

Wednesday started like this...



...was littered with images like this one: our view just on the other side of our street...



...and suddenly I was completely besotted with Paris. That certainly didn't take long.

We hopped on some trains and headed towards Versailles. We were going to take FULL advantage of the beautiful, sunny day ahead of us...



We were a tad surprised at the strange art installations out front, but came to learn later that these modern art displays were only there a short time before they'd be replaced by yet another artist's work. Nothing like a bit of rusty metal, non?

There is something about those golden gates...

King Louis XIV's bedroom...



Marie Antoinette's Bedroom...











The gal who manned the coffee shoppe that sported this sign let us hang out in her little courtyard for the better part of an hour. It was just delicious. She wondered why we wanted to just sit and sun...we told her it was all part of the Parisian experience: relaxing under a Paris sun is something you just can't do everyday.

Parked along the Grand Canal...

...contemplating life.

The Queen's Hamlet. Had no idea that a hamlet was a farmhouse. There you have it. AND the Queen didn't live there, silly...it was just sort of named after her.





This is the park where we spent a good deal of the day in Versailles. Eating ice cream and sunning was the order of this spot.

After our incredible day in the sunshine on the grounds of Versailles, we opted to head back into the castle to see if the crowds had died down at all. They had. Here is the Hall of Mirrors, empty. Ridiculously good luck, non?

I love me some matching men. Nautical stripes are so now.



By the time we got back to the house, it was nearly nine. Just enough time to gobble down some cheese and bread, swig some wine, as per the plan, and head to bed, exhausted, cultured, and ever-so-happy.