My Paris Pilgrimage, #2

Day Three: Versailles and a delightful neighborhood dinner

Disclaimer:  Haven't figured out how to get my pictures from my iPhone to my PC, so this blog is all words.  For pics, you need to go to Facebook or Instagram (sorry).  I hope to have it fixed soon.  But, I've really not had much time in the apartment when I wasn't sleeping!

I just returned home from my third day of activities in Paris.  Sorry it’s my first blog from here.  Each day has been exhausting.  Our flights were uneventful and we arrived a little before scheduled.  We had a mix-up finding each other after we deboarded, and had a giggle when we got to the baggage claim to find that our 3 bags were the only ones left on the stopped carousel.  We had taken so long connecting with each other and then using the restroom, that EVERYONE else on our plane had already retrieved their bags.

The apartment is a little smaller than the pictures led us to believe, and the 69 steps it takes to get there can be daunting at the end of a tiring day, but I’m confident that I’ll be happy here. My visions of a lush courtyard view from our windows were also overblown.  It’s a small area with one big tree and the rest filled with cobblestones. Yet, it is my home and I’m excited to have it.  The neighborhood is fun and totally NOT touristy, which is what I wanted.  I haven’t met anyone local yet, but I hope to do so.  Now that I’m here with Barbara and Sheila, I’m not as open to meeting others, but I know that I will when I’m left to my sole living.

We arrived on Thursday, and did a little exploring and stocked up on groceries that day...Friday we did the Louvre, walked down the Champs Elysses to the Arc de Triomphe, and went up to the top for the view of Paris. Today, we did Versailles. CROWDS everywhere.  I’m getting a bit overwhelmed. Versailles wasn’t really worth the time and energy, although we did learn a bit more than expected about taking the train.  Our proposed route was unavailable because they were working on the tracks. Luckily, the second info person we spoke to showed us an alternate way that took an extra stop, and extra train, but we got where we were going—albeit much later than we had planned. (Part of that was just because we have a bit of trouble getting three women out of the house in the morning!)

By the time we arrived in Versailles, the line to enter was huge. Proposed time to wait: 1.5 to 2 hours. We waited.  Actual time was 1 hour and 20 minutes. And, it was COLD!  Our poor, spoiled California blood isn’t prepared for 50-something degrees in a biting wind, standing on cobblestones, awaiting the line to reduce. We eventually got in.

I had visited Versailles in the late 70s with my mom.  The tour today was probably 1/2 of what it was then...many rooms and wings were off limits. The gardens, though, are still spectacular. Unfortunately, the crowds made it hard to see anything for very long.  I had decided to not take pics of everything around me and only focus on what I really was drawn to and the three of us. When I can figure out how to post pics here, I'll let you see!  The best thing that happened today at Versailles  was that the young man who waited on me in the cafeteria there told me he thought my French was great and I spoke better than most Americans he heard.  He actually first asked me if I was Spanish.  Guess I have a Spanish/American accent in my badly done French?

Yesterday’s journey to the Louvre and walk from the Louvre, through the Tuileries, to the Place de la Concorde and along the Champs Elysses to the Arc was adventurous and interesting.  Again, I am not enamored of the Louvre.  I think it’s just too overwhelming and I am not well-educated enough about art to really enjoy what I’m seeing.  I did get to see the Mona Lisa (I had seen it much closer when it was not behind glass and ropes in the 70s), a few of Michaelangelo’s sculptures, and various other paintings and sculptures I didn’t appreciate or understand.  Truth be told, I was not in my best form—possibly because I managed to fall out of the Metro car that took us to the Metro stop at the Louvre early that morning and was just plain sore!  I had an encounter with the Metro door—being too stupid to know how to open it and somehow, the details are a little sketchy, I fell onto the platform out of the door just as the door closed with Barb and Sheila still inside!

No, I wasn’t hurt badly—despite being seriously embarrassed.  My first Metro ride and I managed to delay the train!  The doors opened so S and B could join me, several strangers tried to help me, and the driver of the train even came out of the cab to yell down the platform to see if I was ok and needed help (ergo the delay).  And every bit of this was in FRENCH!  Holy catastrophe, Batman! What a way to greet the city of my love.  Yet, despite being sore, I am fine.  Nothing broken. Hallelujah..

So, that’s what’s happened so far.  Today, after Versailles, we had a lovely walk from Gare D’Austerlitz to our hood and ate dinner at Le Canon de Les Gobelins.  We had Kir Royal for an aperitif; escargots, gazpacho, and onion soup for appetizers; a lovely bottle of Bordeaux; and three delightful main "plats" before sharing a creme brulee for dessert.  It was a delightful day.  And, even with the crowds, the minor issues, and a bit of cool wind---I'm In Paris, living my dream.  WoW.


LLOParisPilgrimage