Versailles. Versailles! What a beautifully ornate place. Graham always lets me make all the plans, and he is my little tag-along pal. We caught a train leaving the heart of Paris to the visit the Palace of Versailles on the outskirts of the capital. This, for all of my readers who may not know much French Monarchy info, was home to royals like Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette. This was a large sprawling landscape consisting of the Palace, the gardens, the Grand Trianon, the Petite Trianon, and, within the Palace, the Hall of Mirrors!

     We have been through so many mansions, cathedrals and monuments now; it's fun to compare and contrast throughout them. Yet again Europe showed that they have an affinity for painted ceilings. There was so much gold leaf paint throughout the Palace, adding that touch of elegance. The chandeliers and mirrors created an aurora around the Hall of Mirrors allowed for another perfect moment in France  Funfact: it took us about 30 minutes to get a photo as good as the one above. It was crawling with tourists and it was practically impossible to get everything in the landscape in one photograph.

    The sheer amount of distance in the Palace's grounds is overwhelming! I knew it would be grand but I didn't really have an understanding of how spread out it would be. As soon as we finished touring the inside we were ready to explore the remaining parts. Of course, like every day we were in France, around 2pm the rain would fall. We were prepared with our raincoats, but I was pretty disappointed that we couldn't view the grounds, with the mystical melodies chiming in from a performance on the grounds trickling in, as detailed as I wanted to. (And I was wearing new flats that rubbed my skin off my foot, so I was walking like an imbecile for the bits we could see.) We trudged onward, buying a trolley ticket to take us to each of the sprawling locations. 

    WOW wish I had the same gardeners the Palace has (Lonnie & Annette- if you're reading this, you also wish you had them). Everything was so well groomed. The intricacy! The ornateness! The showstopping glory of the greenery and water! We were privy to see a great number of fountains, flowers, and lakes. Doesn't water always seem to make a place even more heavenly? Everywhere was bright with colored trees and bushes; walking by provided a sweet scent. There were many paths between all of the aforementioned places. We would pick a beaten road and stroll along, just following it into the gardens. 

    The Petite Trianon was my most favorite; we had a really cool experience there, too. While walking in the gardens it began to rain again (it was very on and off). We ran for shelter under a very large tree that was on the banks of a lake, and on the other side of the lake were vintage cottages and a large windmill. We were hanging out and enjoying the day- for it wasn't a heavy downpour and we were staying rather dry- just repeating "France, can you believe we're here? France!" When we saw a gorgeous swan. He swam right next to the bank, where Graham would reach out to touch him whilst I recorded. The swan, the love of my life, the lake, the windmill, the cottages, France- all in one spot. Picturesque.

    That experience was the epitome of France- beautiful and awe inspiring. We left no food untouched or large monument unseen. It was a grand old time. I am determined to revisit to this kind, historic country again one day!

Paris Pt. II

    We scaled the best parts of Paris and- like you already knew- we did not skimp on the food. When I say the French can cook, I mean it! Everything from cold sandwiches stuffed with boiled eggs to scalding French Onion soup, and every bit of fromage (cheese) in between was finger licking good. The most incredible meal, to me, was a roast chicken drowned in a salty gravy that was bursting with flavor. The side of fries was paired with a weird upscale ketchup that consisted of a pureed tomato with balsamic vinegar? Graham was all about the cold sandwiches and soups. The French desserts that we put under our belts included: eclairs, nutella crepes, panna cotta, creme brulee, flaky pastries and homemade ice cream. What I wouldn't give for a large spread of everything to be sitting in my presence just  now. Except the hot chocolate that we tried at a local pub- that tasted like rubber. ;)

    The Lourve! This was an incredibly huge and somewhat overwhelming museum we visited. My favorite piece was the sculpture of a veiled woman; I can't get over the amount of talent that must have taken to make her so captivating. While touring we saw some sculptures by Michelangelo, incredibly vivid works of art from Egypt (always Graham's fav) and, of course, the Mona Lisa. It was very small, when in comparison to some of the grand works decorating the halls. As the crowd of about 100 people inched closer to the roped off portrait, an Asian lady kept elbowing me to get out of the way! Not once or twice, mind you, and I almost lost my cool, you'll notice that I'm giving her the evil eye in the picture Graham took while it was happening. Beyond that, we experienced so much kindness from the French- very generous people. And yes, I did go back to get a better picture of myself with the portrait.

    Notre Dame was next on the list. Just knowing we were going there made me burst into song (and maybe that incited a little bit of wincing from my boy, who knows). We even passed a souvenir shop named Quasimodo's Trinkets, or something in that vein. The outside was truly delightful, exactly what one would have imagined, though on the smaller side as we have now seen double digits of Cathedrals. There was a thin drizzle so we carried the umbrella around, posing and the like. The stained glass windows were beautiful in the high arched ceilings. We did not end up going up to the bell tower, but instead enjoyed the intricate designs and melody floating throughout it.

    On our last morning in France we decided to go on a bike tour to fully see every bit of the city. This was the best move of the trip! Every afternoon, beginning at 2 pm, rain would heavily fall on and off until we would return to our room for the night. Our tour began early in the morning giving us ample time to enjoy the city with each of the beautiful monuments! It felt so real- as if we could have been true French people enjoying a happy morning, gliding by on cobble stoned streets. To top it off, we learned all the historical facts that we should have picked up from our river cruise. Yes, it was the best time, a breezy ride throughout Paris.

    My favorite pictures of us in France are these two overexposed photos of us with the a carousel & the Eiffel Tower. Just having a goofy old time! That's how it really was for us, the romance & dreaminess was just oozing out of every building, it was shown as we jilted past accordion players and as listened to the heavily accented English words tossed at us. If you're out late, like us, starting at 10 o'clock the Tower lights up on the hour for 5 minutes, where it twinkles and shines with a thrilling beacon of light swirling overhead. Every night we would hang around, eagerly searching for the most ideal spot. Night one we watched from the Seine River, night two we were in park benches very near the belly of it, and for the third night we watched it twice from the Trocadero stop near the Parliament (which was a good piece away). The Eiffel Tower just seemed to cement the fact that Paris was as charming and poetic as everyone chalks it up to be. 

    Paris, you're very dear to my heart- I have the greatest wish to return one day! 

Paris Pt. I

    PARIS! I was here in France feeling as if I was having an outer-body experience. Can it be? Little me in Paris (must be said with a French accent, as to make a rhyme). Oui, oui!

    We arrived by train the morning after we arrived in Europe. We were raring to go do anything! We spent some time on the Metro, which truly was very simple and easy to navigate, found our delightful AirBnB that we had reserved and we were off! The day was cloudy with possible showers expected in the evening, but we were in Paris so who cared?! The first thing we were dying to see was the Eiffel Tower, okay, first and last thing we saw every single day was the Tower :)

    I had underestimated its' size, it was so glorious and gorgeous, the areas surrounding it were so whimsical with the greenery. Don't miss the chance to ride up to the Summit. What's fascinating is that the Parisians are so adamant about their city staying in the same vintage, romantic city that it is- they won't allow skyscrapers and more modern architecture to be put up (at least not without the ability to complain so much they remove it later). Alas, they didn't get the memo beforehand to the builder of the one lone skyscraper in the city, and afterwards it was too hard to remove, so it was really weird to see it sticking out like a sore thumb. Okay, so you get the picture: wonderful city, fantastic buildings everywhere, view from the Eiffel Tower was picturesque. 

    After milling around at the top for as long as possible, we came down to just keep on staring at it! Seriously, we were so transfixed. We grabbed a yummy supper that included Duck Confit, homemade fries (French fries in France... though they aren't French) and warm Camembert cheese with bread. Since the weather was holding out we decided to cash in our river cruise tickets to float along the Siene in the dark. Everything was swell, G and I were in Paris, front and center on the top of the deck on a huge ship about about to give us the details on everything. Did I say that we were in Paris? My dream city? And then the downpour began, a heavy flow and a wideset- anyways. It was bad enough that we had to get on the lower deck. Of course everyone was chattering so we didn't get to have a real tour, but instead just enjoyed the architecture as we rode past it. It took us 3 days to get our shoes to dry out. 

    And after the cruise ended, in conjuction with the rain, of course, we walked towards home. As we crossed the bridge, I looked over at the river and for about 10 seconds I saw the most breath-taking treat of the dazzlement of the sparking Eiffel Tower, twinkling into the night.