Waking up at 8:30 this morning, we went downstairs for a breakfast of croissants and buns. Mom and I had slept about 11 hours the night before, and though she said I didn’t squirm a lot (I used to when I was younger), she did note that I talked in my sleep around 1:00, something my roommates from last year were quite accustomed to.
We took the Métro to the Palace of Versailles, where we were met by gold-gilt glory and Roman gods on the ceiling. The place was packed with visitors, though I’m sure it would have been even worse in the summer when everybody usually comes to visit. We walked through the King’s Chambers, the Queen’s Chambers, the Dauphin’s Apartments, and the garden outside. In Louis XIV’s time, the palace covered 43 square kilometres, all walled in, an impressive plot of land. We all agree that it was neat, but that we wouldn’t go back. I personally like the simpler grandeur of Edinburgh Castle and Holyrood Palace, but I think I’m biased.
From there, we got back on the Métro for our half-hour journey back to Paris. I started nodding off on the train, and had to use Dad’s shoulder as a pillow. The ladies across from us apparently laughed at me, but I had a good little nap. Back in Paris, we stopped for tea (but they were out of croissants) before going on to our next destination, the Arc de Triomphe.
When we initially arrived, Dad was engrossed in his map and the rest of us were looking around a little confused. Finally, we noticed it, standing tall above the Champs Elysées. We took a lot of pictures, then walked under the road to go under the Arc. Before finally leaving it behind, we asked a fellow tourist to take a picture of the four of us in front of the Arc, which provides complete proof that yes, we were in Paris.
After dinner at a small pub-like restaurant, we began to walk down the Champs Elysées. Expensive brand names shouted at us from every direction. Cartier, the first store we saw, was my favourite store because everything in the window was sparkly (and “très chèr,” Pépé adds). We saw €950 for a fountain pen, and a necklace for €39,500. I think the diamonds were more impressive than the gilt walls and doors in Versailles.
As the sun fell behind the 6-storey buildings, I went to grab two crèpes chocolat from a street vendor, one each for me and Mom. By the time I got back, Dad was walking toward us with two people, one wearing a hat with a maple leaf. We found out that they were tourists from Minnesota, that they had once lived near Wooster, and that, shock of all shocks, the woman is a distant cousin of Pépé’s. Her great-grandmother was a Côté from Quebec.
After a quick chat with them, we continued down the Champs Elysées. Dad and I took a chance with our lives and ran to the middle of the street between two cement blocks, where we took pictures of our starting point, the Arc de Triomphe, all lit up. Turning around, we took pictures of the Obelisk with a Ferris wheel in the background. It was pretty cool, and another “EEE!” moment for the both of us – probably because the risk gave us a huge jolt of adrenaline. Mom just shook her head.
At the end of our walk, we had arrived in front of the Jardin des Tuileries (the Tuilerie Gardens), standing in front of the Obelisk. I found the Rose Line, the original Prime Meridian and an important part of The DaVinci Code, so we took pictures of the brass plates marking that as well. The area in front of the Obelisk was marked with a brass plaque stating that Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette had been guillotined at that spot, which was the first really cool bit of history that I learned about while in Paris.
We finally found our way back to our hotel, where we sat in Pépé’s room to write this entry as a family. (Enough corn for you?)
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