Paris Day Five

We woke up super early this morning because we were going to Versailles. I was really excited because the main reason we went to the grocery store last night was to get awesomeness for our sack lunch picnic in the gardens. We got on a train and headed out of the city to Versailles. We made it on time to sit and wait for forty five minutes for our tour guide, rat tail Sid. He was late and we were cold and tired so we moved up toward the entrance gates and then stopped again and waited again. We love our tour guide Sid! We finally make it into the Palace and he starts the tour. We saw like 7 rooms I am not kidding. Yep. In a Palace as big as Versailles we saw 7 rooms. Awesome. Next on the list was the gardens. This is what I was really looking forward too. We started off with the Apollo fountain. It is supposed to represent Louis XIV, who referred to himself as the sun king. In the fountain Apollo and his chariot of fire is coming up and raising the sun. It is very cool. It is all gold and shiny…creating great reflections on the water…oooooo Sparkly.
We continued our tour by walking around Little Venice. There is a large Grand Canal that runs through part of the property and you can rent a boat to row around on it Hence the name. Well we all sat and picnicked on the banks of the water and enjoyed the cold and rainy ish weather.
We headed over to what I was looking forward to most. That is the Grand Trianon and the Petit Trianon. The Grand Trianon was built for Madame Pompidou who was the lover of I think Louis XV. It is really pretty because it is cased in Pink Marble. Its really pretty. It is still pretty big. We walked past and the past the Petite Trianon which was my favorite, and into the Hamlet. The Hamlet is a little mini Austrian looking town with beautiful landscaping and ambience. Marie Antoinette had it built, because she missed her home and what it was like. It was a real working little village where people actually lived and worked. There are beautiful gardens and animals and a little pond with a little river that runs through the town. It is so quaint and so beautiful I could have stayed there forever. I cannot tell you how pretty it was it seriously looked like it had just been plucked out of a painting and even though I hate this artist….Thomas Kinkade, due to the fact that he is ridiculous and I hate that every third Mormon family has his work….it was like that and it was beautiful. I walked around with Susie…my partner in crime and we took model shots and explored the grounds. No one lives there now, the grounds are just maintained by the Landscaping staff. We hung out there for r quite a while because it definitely deserved the attention.
We headed back down the adorable little path through the natural gardens and explored the Petite Trianon. This is a little tiny palace that Louis XVI had finished and decorated according to Marie’s Tastes. It is all soft tea cup blue and bright whites and soft sea foam green. It is so beautiful and refreshing to the normal heavy and overly decorated feel of the Baroque and rococo periods….thanks to Marie for daring to be different and pushing Neoclassicalism along. One of the coolest things about the Petite Trianons is that it had a in house theater and a room where if they eanted to have a play or a card game there were moveable walls to cover the windows in the room. Very technologically advanced.
The Grand Trianon was pretty and at one point had been the apartments of Napoleon, therefore the Empire style populates the décor, it is interesting to see. Very pretty. I enjoyed seeing the difference in the two styles.

Susie and I walkied back up through the gardens with Susie to the entrance and like every other tourist we got stuck in the gift shop. Which has started to be come the bain of my existance. Seriously. I hate it. At the same time I love it. I am an addict. I want to go in and buy things and then I dont because I know I have to tell husband later that night how much I spent and why...stupid responsibility.

So Susie and Kylee and I got on a train and headed out to Sacre Couer. It was quite a trek. I mean really. I almost thought twice about it. BUt I am so glad I went it was really cool. There are 5 domes on the church and they are in the shape of onions. It was really cool. We were not allowed to take photos. So I have no pics to show how beautiful it is inside but it is and you should do it. best part abour Sacre Couer is it is on a hill and has great views of Paris. We tried to climb the dome but it was closed and so we were not able to. But next time we will! Sacre Couer is in a great little neighborhood with really really great shopping. Especailly if youa re into a more artsy scene of an area. I got a necklace that is huge and yellow and mine and a dorothy ring..it feels so good on my skin!
Next wa laundry or so we thought. It did not pan out. Instead we got all our stuf together to do laundry and then had to put it all back again becasue all the laundromats were closed.
By this point it is nine o clock and we still have not eaten so what do americans do ina time of need? Re turn to Mecca. Mcdonalds to the rescue. Don't worry I paid 8 euro for my burger and fries and Mc Flurry. Thats the equivalant of 12 U.S. Dollars. Which the Mc Flurry was not flurry-ed. It was ice cream with the stuff poured on top. On the side of the cup it said flurr it yourself and had a picture of a spoon swirling things together. Lame. I paid like 3 Euro for a non mixed McFlurry. Not to mentiont here was def a girl who has pyschizofrenia. She had thre different meals in front of her and ate them at different times while talking amoungst herself and herself and herself....she was creepy and jumpy. She stared Kylee down when she mentioned how weird she was...it was like she could hear us across the room. It was seriously creepy and I like ran home for fear of being shanked. That is the end of my very long day. Now look at the pictures that correspond.