Tuesday, July 17, 2007

Exhaustion and Versailles

We woke up refreshed at 10 am and took it slow. I missed the Musee D'orsay, but Ellen and Jeanie went. We met at our hotel for the private mini van tour to Versailles, a castle 30 minutes out of Paris. Louis the14th moved there to get away from the stink of Paris. Our tour guide Christophe was fantastic-he let me practice my french and corrected me when I made mistakes -it was great. so far he was the only person I spoke to that spoke french and english so it was fun. He also spoke spanish so Ellen got a few words in.
It was SO hot at Versailles, but we did it anyway. The Hall of Mirrors was incredible, the bedrooms as well. It's so shocking to see how much the wealthy had and the poor with nothing. 700 rooms at Versailles and many bedrooms never slept in. Louis was quite fond of himself and there are plenty paintings of him.
Out to the fountains and the beautiful fountain show which is only on sundays. Stunning views, beautiful gardens. Nasty restroom.
Back to the town of Versailles and our daily ice cream break and water. No gifts-too pricy.
Back on the van and Christophe drops us at the Latin Quarter on the Left Bank. We walk around, sweat some more and find a fabulous outdoor resturant Chez Clements.
We said our good-byes to the B's and Ellen came back with us to the Right Bank. She leaves in the am for NY. But first Nic makes a movie time video starring Ellen. Ellen is hilarious with her phony french accent-she is a natural commediennne. Au revoir Ellen-we will miss you.

2 comments:

Tom said...

It is so nice to hear about your travels. It reminds me of when Gina and I were there on our honeymoon.

I don't know how they did it but Google has a photo of Gina and I in a rowboat on the Grand Canal of Versailles!

Ahh...memories...

Linda & Jerry said...

Nancy, I will want to hear all about Chez Clements when you get back. We will check it out when we are in Paris in Sept. Great blog - I enjoyed it so much.