July 26th and 27th - Paris and Versailles
Hello everyone!
Let me tell you all the crazy things that I've been doing over the last 2 days.
After packing, I boarded a bus and headed to St Pancras Station, right across the street from King's Cross Station. Since I had some time to kill, I went over to King's Cross and looked at Platform 9 3/4. Pretty cool! The line was pretty long and I had a train to catch so I didn't pose with the cart or anything.
Once I got on the Eurostar train to Paris Gare du Nord, I was presented with a simple meal of chicken, vegetables, bread, and a piece of chocolate (yes, that's not a brownie; it's chocolate!)
Once we actually got to the station, we loaded our bags into a taxi and drove to the hotel. Then, we spent some time exploring the city.
After exploring, we started to work up an appetite. For our first meal in Paris, we went to a place called "Le Relais de l'Entrecôte" or "The rib steak relay." I was slightly confused at the name, until we sat down and were immediately served salad, 2 servings of steak frites, and dessert, lightning fast. The food was awesome; I feel like I could swim in that sauce. I have no idea what this dessert was called, but it was a stack of ice cream with meringue in between the stacks and chocolate sauce on top. It was rich and excellent.
After dinner, walked along the Seine to the Eiffel Tower. Seeing it for the first time in person was definitely moving, especially since I've been told about it my entire life and I finally got to see it.
We didn't stop there. We decided to climb up the tower and take in the amazing view from the 2nd floor. Then, once the tower closed, we took the elevator back down and returned to our hotel room.
The next day, I woke up bright and early to get to Gare Montparnasse, since I was taking a train over to Versailles for the day.
When I got to the station, I met with my tour guide, Maya, and got on the train. When we got to the Versailles station, she gave me the bike that I'd use for the rest of the day. Our first stop was the amazing Palace of Versailles, where we explored all the different rooms (see above).
Our second stop was the palace gardens, which were beautiful!
The next stop was a market, where I was able to participate in a cheese sampler and buy a whole bunch of things, such as meat, cheese, grapes, and a baguette. We then brought the items to the Grand Canal and had a nice picnic. Absolutely incredible.
Our final stop before heading back to the station was Le Grand Trianon, or Marie Antoinette's village. Very nice!
When I got back to Paris, I walked through the Luxembourg Garden and did another tour, which took us all over the 5th and 6th arrondissements.
When the tour ended, I went ahead and got dinner at "Bistrot L'Estrapade". Tonight, it was a starter of breaded camembert with bread, a main of suckling pig with mashed potatoes and salad, and a dessert of crème brûlée. Awesome!
Now I'm just sitting in my hotel room writing this up. See you next post!
