Paris! (and the end of the Intrepid Trip)

Day one in Paris... we were excited to have our guide Monica show us around. We went on an all day walking tour of the city. We walked up the step steps to Mont Marte where they were preparing for Pope Benedict to come just two days later. We got a great view of Paris from so high up and then we walked down into the red light district to see the famous Moulin Rouge.

We took the Metropolitan (subway) to the center of town to see Notre Dame. Inside is a piece of wood from Jesus’ crown and also a piece of the cross. We heard the organist practicing for the Pope’s Mass.

We stopped for pictures outside the Louvre and then down into the park that leads to Cleopatra’s needle. We then walked all the way up one of the most famous shopping streets in Paris to the Arc de Triumph for some unbelievable views. Walking next under the Eiffel Tower was so cool. We went for dinner in a small french restaurant off the beaten path. What a nice way to end the day!

On day two of Paris, we rode a train out to the beautiful countryside where we enjoyed a full day at the famous Palace of Versailles. When we arrived at the Versailles train station we walked out and saw a beautiful building. As we walked closer Matt was being quiet and then eventually said in a disappointed tone, “Is this it? I thought it would be bigger.” Shortly after that we walked around the corner and realized that we had the wrong building. Thankfully, the palace from was fifty times the size of the first building we saw!

We took a guided tour through the palace. We learned so much and it was neat how the rooms were named after the planets (of course, rotating around the king’s room which was the sun). We saw Marie Antionette’s room with the secret hidden door that she escaped through when people were storming the castle to get her. FYI - they caught her and she was beheaded...

The most beautiful part of the palace, besides the hall of mirrors, was the gardens. These gardens stretched for miles and we walked around in the hedged labyrinths, past roman statues and columns. Ponds stretched forever and kids could sail toy boats in them while older people rented row boats. We ate lunch in a great cafe on the palace grounds. What a grand place!

Later that night we met up for our final dinner with Monica. Scotch and Phil never showed which was interesting...but we had a blast with Monica, ate at a really nice French restaurant, and drank some nice French wine.

On our third day we spent our time in the most famous museums in Paris (and the world really). The Louvre and Musee D’Orsay were well worth it. The Louvre is enormous - and there too much to describe - but we took a lot of pictures and we posted some of the highlights. We had a blast and got to see most of both museums.

We left Paris on the 4th day--on our own now that the Intrepid trip was done. We headed to the train station and hopped onboard our train to Caen!