Day 13

No pictures today. Was a day to focus on enjoying Paris instead of peeking through a camera. Last real day in Paris, we catch a plane back home tomorrow morning.

We wanted to get in a few more sites, so when we woke up and headed once again to the cafe on the corner, where we have become regulars, and enjoyed another delicious breakfast, emphasis on the giant espresso. Then we wandered around for a bit and got lost while searching for the musee d'orsay. We had no desire to wait forever to be crushed by tourists in the louvre, but we could wait 20 minutes to see the famous impressionists, in the smallish and beautiful museum. Was so stunning to see so much gorgeous art that is normally forgotten about in the rush to see the louvre. After a few hours spent eyeing art we went out in search of our favorite panini shop, with a stop for a double espresso, and to pick up a few macaroons. Our little walk to find lunch became a food binge once we realized we had nearly forgotten a french staple, crepes! So we also stopped by a great little crepe stand and enjoyed a nutella crepe. So with bellies bursting we hobbled back to the hotel, to rest and drink water and plan our night. We ventured out towards the eiffel tower once more, as it became dark and took a seine river boat cruise, and got to see all the greatest monuments, building, and bridges lit up, and a breif explanation of each, while we sat and enjoyed the slow, and cool cruise. The perfect way to say goodbye to Paris.

See you all tomorrow afternoon,
Erin&Will

Day 12

Little bit late for our day 12 post! We were just exhausted after a long day. Atleast theres lots of pictures!

So we woke up on a mission, ready to see the palace, and gardens of versaille, as well as Marie Atoinette's estate. We knew food would be scarce so we stopped by one of our new favourite cafes on the corner to load up on breakfast. And i must say it was the best yet. Fresh orange juice, eggs, cured ham, toast and a triple espresso. Far too good, and the coffee helped us wake up before a lot of sight seeing. Since we have been in Paris we havent actually partaken in too many touristy things, much preferring to eat and watch. But versaille had to be an exception. We had the advantage of researching tips for avoiding lines so as soon as the train stopped we pushed our way to the front of the stampede, sprinted across the street, and bought our tickets at the tourist office instead of waiting in hour long line ups at the palace. Versaille is too beautiful and decadent and luxurious to describe properly, so we have provided many pictures, first of the palace, then the petite trianon, followed by the Queens hamlet, and then the grande trianon before heading home. We managed to spend six hours exploring versaille and did not get to see everything, but we did have a fantastic day. Like i said earlier, impossible to describe, so please look through every picture (excuse any blurriness, thousands of people moving simutaenoulsy have a tendency to jostle elbows) its the only way to come close, and we will not even try to paint a picture. There would be even more pictures had our point and shoot not died 4.5 hours in. Then we came back to Paris, went to a nice italian restaurant since we missed out on italy, then back to the hotel, after picking up muffins berries and beer. Great day.

Today is our last day in Paris, trying to make the most of it.

Erin&Will

Day 11

Officially out last hotel change in europe and we are glad of it. No more waking up early to throw all our stuff into a bag and catch the metro. We checked out of our hotel a little bit late in the day, and ate a croissant on the run and took a metro straight to the district of the eiffel tower! We arrived too early to check in, but we dropped off our bags and decided to spend a few hours in the luxembourg gardens, after an apple from the market down the street of course. The gardens were stunning, and enormous, we spent hours just walking the paths and admiring the beautiful statues and fountains. Literally hundreds of statues and acres of perfect grass, trees, and flowers to wander. Just seeing the highlights took a few hours, seeing every detail would take days. We did get to see the exterior of the Luxembourg palace, but most of it was closed off so we decided not to venture in, but we did get a fellow tourist to take our picture in front of it. On our way out the back gates we did get to witness a marriage proposal,of an extremly happy young couple (she said yes). We then headed back to check in, and were happy to find both an elevator, and a slight view of the eiffel tower from our room. We ventured out to get a snack, one chocolate tart and one fig/raspberry tart, and a 3.8€ bottle of wine (which the shop keeper opened for us). After our snack we did a bunch of laundry in the sink, and it is currently hanging all over the room to dry. Once it started to get darker we went down the street to a little cafe and enjoyed espresso followed by a club sandwhich and a couple gin and tonics. Once we paid our bill it was off to the eiffel tour, which is a ten minute walk from our hotel. We needed to see it up close at night. It was worth it to stick around for the light show. One of the most spectaculor sights in the world. A very good day. And Versaille tomorrow!

Erin&Will