Saturday, August 25, 2018

24 August - Paris, France

Had a busy day in Paris yesterday. Started off with a river cruise on the rive Seine which runs right through the middle of the city of Paris. What a treat to sit on the top deck of our cruise boat in great weather viewing many of the famous sights of Paris. Wonderful way to start the day. After the cruise we made our way to Montmartre which is the old bohemian part of Paris, and many artists live and have studios here. Our target was the Basilica of Sacre Coeur, on of the main churches here in Paris.
Sacre Coeur is located on the top of the hill and to get there we had to navigate lots of very narrow cobbled street and a very steep climb. Well worth it though. After that we made our way back home using the Metro and had steaks at a restaurant a short distance from our hotel.

Today was our opportunity to visit the palace of Versailles, one of the most visited tourist destination in the world. This opulent palace, built by the Sun King, Louis XIV, is located a 20 minute train ride, and a 20 minute walk from Paris. This huge palace is surrounded by incredible gardens and that's where we started our visit.
After that we headed into the palace. I imagine it would take many days to explore the whole building  and at this stage we were all getting a bit foot sore and tired. What we saw though was magnificent. Can't imagine what it would cost to keep up the maintenance to this place.
So then, very weary and thirsty, we walked back into the suburb of Versailles, and had drinks in a local cafe before catching the train back to Paris.
Our hotel here in Montparanasse is literally surrounded on all sides by restaurants of every type you can imaging. This evening we chose a little Italian pizza/pasta place for dinner before calling it a night. After three very hectic days we are planning fairly quiet day tomorrow.

No comments:

Post a Comment