Paris, Part Deux

We made it to Paris! The group of friends I was traveling with had never been to Paris before. During this trip I was able to re-visit some places, but also discover new ones. Of course, my friends had to visit the Eiffel Tower, The Louvre, The Arc De Triomphe, and I was grateful to get to spend more time at these places. I also saw places I did not have time to visit on my last trip.

We went to the palace of Versailles. It was magnificent.

 Although it was packed with people, it was so grand, the crowds did not take away from its appeal. 

We had to wait for over an hour to get in, but it was worth it.  

After walking through the rooms of the Palace, we then went to the gardens. 

Classical music was playing throughout, I felt like I had gone back in time! 

The day we went to Versailles, it was a heat wave! 

It was extremely hot, so by the end of the day we were drained. See picture below.

One night at dinner, we met a group of French people.  They said they liked practicing their English, as long we would practice our French! So they would speak in English, and we did our best to reply in French. They ended up being our tour guides, giving us a walking tour of Paris, along with history lessons throughout the city.

We also visited the Monmarte neighborhood in Paris. I was looking forward to visiting Monmarte, since this was where the movie ‘Amelie’ was filmed. It is also where the ‘Sacre-Couer’ church is.  Monmarte sits on top of a hill, over looking all of Paris.

Though, I did have a bump in the Parisian road. One night when we were eating dinner, my iphone was stolen.  I had just taken my phone out to check the time, and a man appeared at the table. He was holding a piece of paper with writing on it, and put it down on the table.  I said ‘Non merci’, hoping he would leave.  He then picked up the paper and left. Moments later, I realized my phone was gone.  He snatched up my phone under the paper, in front of all of us, and no one saw! The hostess at the restaurant came  to me apologizing for what had happened.  She also warned us that Paris is infamous for pickpockets, especially at restaurants. 

I was mad that he got me, but wasn’t going to let it ruin the trip! 

Paris, I still love you.

The last stop of our trip is Barcelona. We found a reasonable flight here, so I decided I would return.  With all of this touring, I am looking forward to relaxing on the beach!