Let Them Eat Cake & Maybe a few Macaroons

The day had finally arrived for the long awaited Palace of Versailles! I was beyond excited, partially because my entire research project was on the gardens, and I could not wait to see it for myself! Ok yes so I am sort of a nerd, but hey, my mom constantly had fun facts about Versailles at her disposal. 

The whole waking up early and seeing Europe without the crowds had worked thus far quite flawlessly but not so much in Paris. We got to Versailles around 9 am and it was packed! The line was like  Disneyland on steroids with no fastpass option... We were in no rush so we along with the 100's of other people hopped in line. While waiting in line for an hour we witnessed all kinds of people trying to cut. The Academy Award for best cutting technique goes out to two elderly Swedish ladies- around 75 years old- who thought if they had a confused enough look on their faces and a map upside down they could cut. Granted it didn't work on us, but they still managed to cut half way through the line and it was entertaining to say the least.

Cutting aside we made our way through the line and up the stairs to the main Palace. I had seen countless pictures but everything was so grand in person I was in complete awe. The tour was absolutely amazing even if you were confined in tight spaces with sometimes, actually a lot of times, stinky people. Quick side note, I find that Europeans are very classy, well put together people and often times much more presentable then Americans when doing their simple every day tasks. So it baffles me that some completely disregard their body odor... Like hello I did not sign up to be bombarded by BO. Believe me when I say this I am not exaggerating. But don't take my word, see for yourself and let your nose do the talking.  So after a quick sandwich we continued out into the gardens. For those that have been to Paris it is usually cloudy, but the sun was out in full force and the gardens were absolutely breathtaking!

We even were able to navigate our way to Marie Antoinette's Estate- p.s. prepare yourself it's much farther then the map makes it look. Although we hadn't anticipated such a long walk it was so worth it. The estate she created was straight out of a story book it almost didn't look real!





As quickly as our feet would allow we left Versailles and made it back to the city center to get in line for Notre Dame. I honestly don't know how we lucked out because we were the last people allowed in line. Two years ago we were sadly too late and couldn't go to the top, so finally we had timed it right! I must admit Paris has some of the best skyline views and you can never really get tired of them. I mean who doesn't need 100 different pictures and angles of the Eiffel Tower?
So after a quick photo op at the Love Lock bridge we cleaned up and made our way to the Champs-Élysées.  When in France one must enjoy the local cuisine, so we thought we should go to the restaurant we had eaten at two years
ago. All we had to go off was what it looked like- not even a name. Let's just say in Paris more restaurants look like each other then you may think... To our surprise we actually found it and indulged in the buttery garlic Escargot and some french onion soup! Tourists be warned, as soon as you step off of the main trafficked areas, English may not be your waitress's first language- let's just say we did a lot of pointing for this meal considering neither of us knows any French!

Continuing on our food journey we walked down to Laduree and bought some macaroons and sat down for some dessert. We had a rose tart with chantililly whipped cream garnished with raspberries and a berry compote, and a coffee ice cream with almond flakes, chocolate and whipped cream. Expensive? yes. Delicious? Very! So with our sugar high we thought why not go to the top of the Arc de Triomphe- well within a minute of walking there lightning lit up the sky and winds had every girl holding their dress, so the Arc was no longer an option. I guess that angle of the Eiffel Tower would have to wait till next time. Considering we were headed to the Louvre in the morning we headed back to our B&B to catch some shut eye.