And we’re back in Paris. One more day and we head home. We arrived Sunday afternoon and have spent the days wandering around Paris, doing a few touristy things as well as shopping.
Monday we actually went inside Notre Dame. When we were in Paris last year, we went to the cathedral but it was Good Friday so the queue to get in was massive. This time it wasn’t as bad and moving swiftly. But not swiftly enough for us to avoid getting caught in a sudden and heavy downpour. Oh well… Autumn in Paris seems to be all about sudden, unexpected rain.
Walked past this on the way to the cathedral. Government buildings are much more impressive in France. Well, in Paris anyway.
Notre Dame Cathedral.
My candle for Joan d’Arc. After what they did to her, she deserves them.
Joan d’Arc.
It’s worth visiting Notre Dame just for the stained glass windows.
Baptismal font.
By the time we got out of the cathedral it was all blue skies again so we wandered around looking for somewhere to have lunch and stumbled across a great bistro called Le Bouledogue. (They have a website but it’s awful so I’m not linking to it.) The food was great. I’ve discovered that I do actually like duck so I had their filet of duck in pepper sauce and wow! Soooo good!! We’ll definitely be heading back there (if we can find it again!) on any return trips to Paris. Straight after lunch we meet up with Richard’s cousin and his wife. We did the very Parisian thing of sitting at a cafe and drinking the afternoon away.
Tuesday was all about shopping. We shopped. Or rather I shopped and Richard got to watch. I finally bought myself a pair of black heels and a pair of ballet flats from Repetto. Spent a lot of money but the shoes are so pretty I think it’s worth it. The ballet flats I bought actually look like ballet shoes! Except they’re black and they sparkle! Proof I am a proper girl – going shoe shopping made me happy! I was also determined to not leave Paris without buying a stripy top. I now own three. And there’s a pair of new sneakers that also have to be squeezed into my luggage. What? There’s an Onitsuka Tiger shop in Paris and I happen to know exactly where it is! I might’ve persuaded Richard to buy a pair as well.
Today we visited Versailles. It’s big, really big but the part of the palace you can visit is only a fraction of it. Still, it does contain the Galerie des Glaces (Hall of Mirrors) and that’s worth the visit alone. Impossible to get a good photo of it though when it’s full of people but it’s still immensely grand. Anyhoo… photos!
The chapel inside the main building.
The roof the chapel.
I loved this hall. It was just astonishing to look at and it looked about a million miles long! Well, I loved it anyway!
The key to the king’s bed chamber.
I think this is Louis the XIV. Or it could’ve been Louis XV. I can’t remember!
I wish this photo captured the sheer size of this fireplace. It was massive! The pieces of wood in it are about a metre to a metre and a half long.
We had lunch at the restaurant inside the palace. These are the desserts on offer.
And we’re outside in the gardens!
I think we walked around the gardens for about two and a half hours. We got rained on. It was cold. But it was still stunningly beautiful and we’ll be back because we didn’t get to the Petit Trianon, Marie Antoinette’s retreat (but originally design for Madame de Pompadour). And we didn’t see all of the garden either.
Tomorrow is our last day in Paris. Then it’s back home and back to reality. Well, we have another week off before we have to return to work. I’m actually looking forward to being home. Can’t wait to sleep in my own bed!