I cannot believe we are in Paris!!!!! The day started with an early rise as we wanted to get on the road by 7 to begin the 3ish hour drive to Versailles. When we arrived the place was PACKED!!! There were busses everywhere you looked!! Our tour wasnt to begin until 12:30, so we walked around the grounds and then went into the gardens. When I say gardens I mean GARDENS!! They were beautiful and went on for as far as you could see. It was totally liked we stepped back in time as you could even hear people skeet shooting off in the distance. The flowers were all in bloom and the flower smell was something else. We were only able to spend about a hour there as we had to get lunch before our tour but you could easily spend an entire day wandering around and exploring. The worst part I think everyone found about the grounds was walking on the cobble stone. It was the original stone from back in the 15th/16th century so it was pretty worn and extremely hard to walk on. Talk about tripping hazard!!! But, we all survived....but may have a little ankle pain!!! After our lunch (some had traditional French food while others ventured off for some McDonalds) we made our way into the Palace of Versailles. It was absolutely beautiful but it was insanely packed. It was hard to stop and take everything in as the crowd was constantly moving and you had to keep moving with them!! We saw everything from the famous Hall of Mirrors to Louis bedroom... And his wifes bedroom...and mistresses bedroom!!! Can you even imagine!!! Other than the history behind the Palace it was rather fitting for the subject matter of our trip as the Treaty of Versailles was signed here. This treaty basically ended WWI and is what divided and broke Germany down which led to the eventual start of WWII. We finished our Versailles tour and got back on our bus to venture into Paris for our panoramic bus tour. The first sighting of the Eiffel Tower was something special. On our bus tour we saw many of the sights we are going to be seeing up close over the next two days as well as a few more that we wont be able to make it to. Paris sure is a beautiful city. We had to stop of course for a quick picture with the tower in the background!!! One thing I do have to say is that drivers here are nuts!!! Dont think I would ever be able to survive driving around the city. When we got to our hotel we had to say our goodbye to our amazing driver Pascal. He was absolutely wonderful and he really loved us!! He said many times how respectful our students were and how we all were laughing and having so much fun. It made it such a relaxing trip and he enjoyed every minute of being with us. Our hotel is great (and it has awesome wifi!!). It is located right in the centre of Paris just a 10 minute Metro ride from the Eiffel Tower!! We even have a rooftop deck here with an amazing view of the city. Youll see some pictures from that Im sure!!! We went to supper at a beautiful little restaurant not far from here and then walked around the Montremart area. Its such a great area of the city!! We even had some time for souvenir shopping before heading back to the hotel around 9pm. Tomorrow is a big day -- its a early rise to get to the Eiffel Tower hopefully before the two + hour lineup starts. We are going to be going up the tower!! Some will take the stairs and others have opted for the lift. After that we will be visiting the Louvre, Notre Dame, the Latin Quarter (where we will be having supper) and a few more sights. Its hard to believe that we just have a few more days left here. Time has gone so quickly!! But, we will certainly make the most of the couple of days we have left!!!
Posted on: Sat, 05 Jul 2014 21:56:37 +0000
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