Paris Day 2
We slept VERY well last night. Vicki was up early, and I made it up in time to meet Larry and Ann in the restaurant around 7:00 a.m. The buffet breakfast was great and it filled us up for the morning. Since this was Larry and Ann’s first visit to Paris, they took the included bus tour which took them around the city with stops at the Hotel Invalides (which houses Napolean’s tomb) and the Trocadero overlooking the Seine and the Eiffel Tower. 

Vicki and I wanted to do the Musee d’Orsay. It was a nice cool morning, so we took a leisurely walk down to the Seine, and then along the river to the d’Orsay. We enjoyed the museum. It’s a converted train station. There’s lots of great art with some of the best stuff hidden away way up on the fifth floor. We will confess that our nerd sides kicked in when we saw a van Gogh painting that had played a big role in a Dr. Who episode! 

This afternoon, Vicki, Larry, and Ann on a tour to Versailles. I went by myself to the Sacré Cœur (Sacred Heart) which is a church on top of a hill in the Montmartre area of Paris.  

I took the subway to Montmartre and then spent one more ticket to take the funicular up the hill to the Sacré Cœur. It’s a beautiful basilica. I couldn’t take photos inside, but it was interesting and different from the gothic churches one sees in most of Europe. After spending some time in the church I walked down the hill and walked around Montmartre and relaxed in a park for a while before heading back to the hotel. 

From Vicki:
We really enjoyed our tour of Versailles. I knew it would be beautiful, and it did not disappoint.  There were several “WOW” moments especially in the Hall of Mirrors. What was more interesting to me was the information about Louis XIV, XV, and XVI. As kings they kept the nobles close in apartments there at Versailles where they were essentially prisoners. They had nice homes but were required to live in 3 and 4 room apartments there and were at the beck and call of the king.  It really didn’t sound like a very privileged existence at all. But, I guess, better than the poor.  Our bus got back to the hotel after 5 this afternoon.

We had dinner at a restaurant close to the hotel tonight. We each shared a pasta entre and each ordered a dessert. Crème brulee was on our list tonight.  George decided on the chocolate mousse. It was pretty tasty as well.

We finished the day sitting on the balcony outside our hotel room, listening to the traffic and watching the sun set. Very nice. Well, maybe the traffic noise isn’t all that pleasant, but it is Paris