Paris

It was a very long trip across to France, the war in the Ukraine had caused our connection to be rerouted and leave earlier resulting in a 16 hour wait in Japan – which would have been fine to have a look around, except we weren’t allowed to leave due to Covid restrictions – no short stay visas. So there was a lot of lounging around and way too much boredom eating, before eventually reaching France.

First stop was Paris for 5 nights! Bel and I were last here in 1995. That time we had 3 young children in tow, so this visit was definitely including a lot more restaurants and bars, and less Disneyland.

We headed straight to our airbnb – a beautiful little unit in the Louvre (A2) area of central Paris. Once we had unpacked and freshened up we found a super market and grabbed supplies – including a fresh baguette from a local Boulangerie – yum.

We then headed out to explore and get our bearings. Heading toward the Seine, after only about 100m or so we came across the Palais Royal, originally the home of a wealthy aristocrat, it was only ever used as a palace by Anne of Austria when she was regent.

After walking through the grounds and extensive garden we came out at the Louvre. We had been through last time so weren’t going in, but took a quick selfy.

A bit more walking and we reached the Seine.

We crossed and started to look for a place for lunch. We found a lovely trattoria and walked straight in and got a table outside and enjoyed a beautiful (very expensive – it was much more up market than we realised when entering) lunch. The fish I had was amazing, a whole sole that had been deboned but still looked whole.

After lunch we made our way back via the Jardin des Tuileries, a beautiful garden that runs all the way through to the Place de La Concorde, linking with the Champs Élysées, through to the Arche de triumph and then on to the Grande Arche de La Defense in the CBD. It gives you an amazing sense of how large the central Paris area is with such expansive parklands and monuments everywhere.

We walked for another couple of hours, looping back to our unit. Stopping in for an occasional drink and bumping into more monuments. It had been a great way to get to know the area and settle in.

By the time we were back we were exhausted and the jet lag was really kicking in. An early dinner in a restaurant below us and we were done for the day.

Day 2 was an early start as we headed off on a bike tour of the palace and gardens of Versailles.

After a few metro hops and a train trip we reached Versailles for our tour. We started with a visit to the local market and were given an hour to look around and buy supplies for a picnic lunch later in the day. It was a lot of fun, exploring the produce and ordering in French. I used French as much as possible, but it was more Franglish. I had a fun chat with one lady comparing how bad my French was with her English.

It was a successful visit with fresh baguette, jambon bayonne, brie, grapes, nectarines and a small bottle of rose stashed in the backpack.

We then rode our bikes through and around the Gardens of the Versailles palace. They were huge! Really hard to describe the scale and grandeur. The residence was originally established by Louis 13, but the real establishment and development of the palace and grounds was by Louis 14 – the Sun King. He really knew how to spend and show off his money! Everything had to be geometrically perfect and aligned tho the solstice of the sun.

After a lap of the huge pond and gardens we stopped for our picnic. Yumm – very civilised.

Next we rode across to the Petite Trianon – the womens residence and ultimately Marie Antoinettes private place as Men weren’t allowed.

The house was much more ordinary than the royal palace, but the grounds were not. She had them all developed into her own personal Disneyland, modelled on Snow White, and would play with her closest maids here.

Finally we reached the Palace, as you would expect – huge and grande. Every room was ornately decorated and gold lined. The most spectacular was definitely the Hall of Mirrors, a ball room filled with mirrors and glass chandeliers overlooking the expansive gardens.

We wandered for about an hour and then made our way back to Paris reaching the unit at around 6.30. Another very long day.

Day 3 was a slower start as we were just doing the hop on hop off bus tour, a great way to pick up the other sites. There were so many to see around the city….

Half way around we reached the Arche de Triumph where we hopped off to grab some lunch and explore the Champs-élysées before doing the climb to the top of the Arche de Triumph. The view was amazing.

We then rejoined the bus and completed the loop, passing by the most famous of them all.

While we were doing the loop we passed by the restaurant we had lunch at on the first day – La Voltaire – it turns out it is famous as it is in Voltaires house, that’s why it was so expensive. Very funny.

Once back home we had to quickly get ready to head out – we were seeing Moulin Rouge.

It was dinner and a show. The show was great – very Titillating! ~60 mostly topless dancers performing cabaret for an hour and a half, breasts everywhere- all shapes and sizes 😂. Unfortunately due to its nature we couldn’t take photos. It was a fun night and we enjoyed the company as well. A German couple on one side, a French couple on the other – great practice for mon Francais!

We got home exhausted again. It had been a full 3 days, and tomorrow would continue the trend as we are meeting up with Matt, Bel’s brother.