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Another fun day in Paris!!
All 6 of us headed out for a day trip to Versailles. It's not close so we had to take the Metro, then get on a train, then walk to get to the palace. 4 of us needed train tickets, so Kim & I went to a kiosk at the metro station to buy them. It was a touch screen-we started off by hitting the English button & figured out to press this, that & the other thing to get a round trip ticket to versailles. Please enter credit card. Not valid. WHAT?! Maybe it goes in the other way. Nope, not valid. Upside down? Nope, not valid. Try typing everything in again. Enter credit card...nope, not valid. Let me try...nope,nope,nope. It says it takes Visa! What the heck? The other 4 were waiting for us by the train station turnstyles (which was a looong walk away). Kim walked to them & got their credit cards. We tried 6 different cards about 3 times each & it never would accept it. RRROOAARR!!!
To get us even more stressed, the machine only took coins-no bills! Well, we didn't have enough coins. It figures! Of course, there's no human being around (employee) to help us.
So now we were on the hunt to find somewhere to get change for a bill. We found a shopping center connected to the metro & went there. It was about 9am & nobody hardly was open yet. We asked at a coffee shop & they said no & pointed upstairs. Then we went to a concierge. They had no money & told us to go to a store & ask. We laughed. He was good about helping us & even wrote down how to ask for change "en francais" for us. So we went to another coffee shop. The poor girl was so nice about it but she was reluctant to give us all her change cuz then she wouldn't have any for customers.
Guess what? After all that, we were 1 euro short. Kim goes ALL the way back to the others & asks for all the change they've got. Then, praise the LORD we FINALLY got our tickets after about an hour. Let's GO!
Luckily, the others in their time waiting for us, figured out how to get on & transfer on the train to get to where we're going. Sheesh.
Versailles-
it was just a short walk up the street to get to the palace. HOLY COW- there it is on top of a hill, immense!!! HUGE!! Unbelievable. It was so exciting!! We got through the line quickly & into the courtyard. It's so vast...elegant, impressive, gorgeous.
Inside, we got a free audio guide that tells about the rooms as you go. We shuffled our way through the different rooms w/ the crowd looking at the incredible furniture, paintings, trimwork, moulding & murals on the ceilings.
I kept falling behind cuz I wanted to listen to all the blurbs about everything. After a short while, the others started getting impatient & punchy. Kim said they'd meet me in the gardens if I wanted to linger.
I saw them up ahead of me at one point, then went down steps & lost them entirely. There were about 4 different exits they could have gone. After a few minutes of trying to find them I said "forget it, I'll meet them in the garden somewhere" & went on to look around. Kim was waiting for me when I came out. They changed their plans & wanted to eat first instead of the gardens. I'm so glad she waited for me to tell me that. I started realizing that maybe I don't travel well with a group. ;)
Lunch was fine, then we all toured the gardens together. Not long after the others wanted to leave. There was so much more to see! Kim & I stayed together & took our time seeing everything we wanted to see. It was fantastic!!!
Past the gardens (22 acres) we walked to Marie-Antoinette's domain & the Grand Trianon where the kings went to "get away from it all". It was so much nicer cuz there were barely any crowds. We could look at stuff without being rushed, it was GREAT.
There was a room that had glass cases which held what looked like garden tools w/ fancy ribbons/fabric tied to them. I laughed & said, "Look! It's a royal hoe!" Guess you had to be there. :)
We found some neat things at the gift shops & headed on our way out. It was such a grand place to be. I'm so thankful Kim wanted to stay!
On the way back to the train station-guess what? CHOCOLATE CREPES!!!! Ooo la la~
We got back to town no problem. Rested in the apt for a tad then went for dinner at the Louvre which is about a block away.
Kim said it was one of her favorite restaurants-Cafe Marly. It was very nice & the food was great. It was a beautiful place located in the surrounding perimeter of the Louvre courtyard. I ate dinner with a view of the Louvre & the glass pyramid. AAGGHH! It was another "pinch me!" moment.
There were pretty frosted glass candle holders on the tables that Kim loved. She said "I wonder if I tell them it's my birthday if they'll give it to me". So, on we went w/ our meal & conversation. There was a little stress at the end when the waiter didn't understand "seperate checks" & charged me for sparkling water when I asked for tap water.Anyway, we had a nice time & started walking back to the apt. Then her aunt pulls the candle holder out of her purse & says "Happy birthday"!!! OH MY WORD- we were dying!!! We laughed all the way home. She swiped it off the table next to us & nobody knew it. Too funny!! Kim was thrilled.
Tomorrow is Kim's actual birthday. I can't wait to surprise her!
All 6 of us headed out for a day trip to Versailles. It's not close so we had to take the Metro, then get on a train, then walk to get to the palace. 4 of us needed train tickets, so Kim & I went to a kiosk at the metro station to buy them. It was a touch screen-we started off by hitting the English button & figured out to press this, that & the other thing to get a round trip ticket to versailles. Please enter credit card. Not valid. WHAT?! Maybe it goes in the other way. Nope, not valid. Upside down? Nope, not valid. Try typing everything in again. Enter credit card...nope, not valid. Let me try...nope,nope,nope. It says it takes Visa! What the heck? The other 4 were waiting for us by the train station turnstyles (which was a looong walk away). Kim walked to them & got their credit cards. We tried 6 different cards about 3 times each & it never would accept it. RRROOAARR!!!
To get us even more stressed, the machine only took coins-no bills! Well, we didn't have enough coins. It figures! Of course, there's no human being around (employee) to help us.
So now we were on the hunt to find somewhere to get change for a bill. We found a shopping center connected to the metro & went there. It was about 9am & nobody hardly was open yet. We asked at a coffee shop & they said no & pointed upstairs. Then we went to a concierge. They had no money & told us to go to a store & ask. We laughed. He was good about helping us & even wrote down how to ask for change "en francais" for us. So we went to another coffee shop. The poor girl was so nice about it but she was reluctant to give us all her change cuz then she wouldn't have any for customers.
Guess what? After all that, we were 1 euro short. Kim goes ALL the way back to the others & asks for all the change they've got. Then, praise the LORD we FINALLY got our tickets after about an hour. Let's GO!
Luckily, the others in their time waiting for us, figured out how to get on & transfer on the train to get to where we're going. Sheesh.
Versailles-
it was just a short walk up the street to get to the palace. HOLY COW- there it is on top of a hill, immense!!! HUGE!! Unbelievable. It was so exciting!! We got through the line quickly & into the courtyard. It's so vast...elegant, impressive, gorgeous.
Inside, we got a free audio guide that tells about the rooms as you go. We shuffled our way through the different rooms w/ the crowd looking at the incredible furniture, paintings, trimwork, moulding & murals on the ceilings.
I kept falling behind cuz I wanted to listen to all the blurbs about everything. After a short while, the others started getting impatient & punchy. Kim said they'd meet me in the gardens if I wanted to linger.
I saw them up ahead of me at one point, then went down steps & lost them entirely. There were about 4 different exits they could have gone. After a few minutes of trying to find them I said "forget it, I'll meet them in the garden somewhere" & went on to look around. Kim was waiting for me when I came out. They changed their plans & wanted to eat first instead of the gardens. I'm so glad she waited for me to tell me that. I started realizing that maybe I don't travel well with a group. ;)
Lunch was fine, then we all toured the gardens together. Not long after the others wanted to leave. There was so much more to see! Kim & I stayed together & took our time seeing everything we wanted to see. It was fantastic!!!
Past the gardens (22 acres) we walked to Marie-Antoinette's domain & the Grand Trianon where the kings went to "get away from it all". It was so much nicer cuz there were barely any crowds. We could look at stuff without being rushed, it was GREAT.
There was a room that had glass cases which held what looked like garden tools w/ fancy ribbons/fabric tied to them. I laughed & said, "Look! It's a royal hoe!" Guess you had to be there. :)
We found some neat things at the gift shops & headed on our way out. It was such a grand place to be. I'm so thankful Kim wanted to stay!
On the way back to the train station-guess what? CHOCOLATE CREPES!!!! Ooo la la~
We got back to town no problem. Rested in the apt for a tad then went for dinner at the Louvre which is about a block away.
Kim said it was one of her favorite restaurants-Cafe Marly. It was very nice & the food was great. It was a beautiful place located in the surrounding perimeter of the Louvre courtyard. I ate dinner with a view of the Louvre & the glass pyramid. AAGGHH! It was another "pinch me!" moment.
There were pretty frosted glass candle holders on the tables that Kim loved. She said "I wonder if I tell them it's my birthday if they'll give it to me". So, on we went w/ our meal & conversation. There was a little stress at the end when the waiter didn't understand "seperate checks" & charged me for sparkling water when I asked for tap water.Anyway, we had a nice time & started walking back to the apt. Then her aunt pulls the candle holder out of her purse & says "Happy birthday"!!! OH MY WORD- we were dying!!! We laughed all the way home. She swiped it off the table next to us & nobody knew it. Too funny!! Kim was thrilled.
Tomorrow is Kim's actual birthday. I can't wait to surprise her!
1 comment:
Hey Jes,
I just had a minute to catch up on all of your posts. I am SOOOOOO excited for you. Despite train hang ups and normal travel blunders it seems like you are having an amazing time and eating a lot of great food. I feel the need to run to a cafe. Maybe I'll attempt to make some chocolate crepes.
Enjoy the rest of your trip...keep writing.
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