After the tour, went back to the hostel, repacked suitcases and tried to get to the airport. Took the wrong train. Oops. Finally boarding the right train, we only barely made it to the airport. Security took my cellphone and took forever checking it. Apparently my turned of American phone instigates security concerns (good knowledge for future flights of which we still have a number). Ran for the gate. Literally. Took off my shoes and everything for a full on run to the gate. Made the flight no problem and had a short jump talking to an adorable French boy who giggled a lot.
The hostel was just off the Place du Republique, which looks like a beautiful little square. The hostel was just a little bit ugh, and one of my doormmates was a little bit of a bitch when I came back later to go to bed, but the lock has to be locked.
Had pizza and wine at a cute little place. "Minced meat" on a pizza is essentially a meat sauce (i.e. pasta meat sauce), good though. There was a nice man Oliver who sat at the table next to us (after a couple you girls who had a depressing conversation about marriage, which we picked up post their departure). Oliver was able to tell us how to get to Versailles, so that we could get there even if we didn't have wireless to look it up. Then we had a nice little chat about the benefits of a city such as Philadelphia vs. New York. Philadelphia was winning, btw.
Day 2: Bright and early, my roommates all started departing (between 5:30 and 7). I wasn't due to wake up till 7:30, lack of sleep *sigh, oh well. Grabbed a roll (more like a mini baguette), our bags and headed for Guard de Nord to leave our bags (also grabbed a chocolate croissant at a tiny little place just before the metro). Then on to St. Michelle to pick up the RER C to Versailles.
Versailles is huge, massive. Not the main palace, which is essentially only the royal family, that's decently grand of course. I always forget that the "wings" are also several large buildings to either side of the building, which housed the court. We didn't tour those. But the gardens were the killer. Seriously, they never ended. Pictures show the canal disappearing into the horizon. Can I have a backyard like that please? Grand Trianon is pink. No one told me this. It was adorably pink. And had an open walkway between the two sides of the building. The weather was absolutely perfect for the whole thing and they sold ham sandwiches (read: ham, butter, bread) and San Palagrino, which cost the same as a bottle of water. A nice lunch. Hit all of the estate except some of the massive gardens and the village (it was already a v. long day at that point and all we could handle was the v. long walk back to the chateau and the train station) Fell asleep on the train, because I do stuff like that. N. woke me up to tell me we missed our stop and would just get off at the next one. The next one was our stop. Lol. :)
Back to Paris (and Guard de Nord) to grab our bags and get over to Andre-Gill where we stayed last night and will stay tonight. It's an adorable budget place in Montmartre. Went to a bar on the corner to get internet. Was convinced into buying a mojito that was so filled with mint I really couldn't even be bothered to fight with it to enjoy the actually good taste of the drink itself. Internet at the bar is good though, I charged up, did research, freaked about funds, and headed back to the room for a mini-nap while N. got lost in the neighborhood just a bit. (Tons of cute little souvenir shops, will have to buy some pictures and a scarf, good prices, lots of market competition around here).
The neighborhood is still awake enough that we could go out for a "traditional" French meal at 10:30 or so (got back to the room close to 1, so possibly later, but people were still being seated at 1). A small bottle of wine, some escargot and a lovely little salad made for a good dinner.
Day 3: Good morning. It is now 8:14. I've been up for a while (time for a shower and getting dressed). Our window overlooks a lovely start of a road thats been cut off from road traffic. The building connects all around and the apartments across the way seem pretty nice. Stood at the window for ages last night and took a few minutes to enjoy the crisp air. The air definitely smells and feels different. It feels wet without being humid (I'm convinced there's a ton of water in the air, since my shoes just really wouldn't dry).
Back to the bar for a cafe au lait and some internet access. I now understand how they do the artful designs in the milk froth. Will grab breakfast at an adorable bakery, and maybe a bit of the complimentary breakfast to put in bags on our way back past the hotel.
Plans for the day: I'll be going on the free tour of Pairs, then running over to the Louvre to see the Mono Lisa (non-debatable). N. and I will meet up near the Eiffel Tower maybe, to do a bit of window shopping and wandering. I'll pick up our pub crawl tickets, because awesomely, besides free tours, this company offers pub crawls in all cities for a cheaper fee than buying drinks ourselves. Already got tickets for our return to London. Lol.
Places I'd like to hit:
- Notre Dam
- Champs d'Elysee
- Bike rental (get lost on a bike for a while)
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