Versailles

Carrying on with our adventures, Philippe and I went to Ile de la Cite and Il St Louis last night, visited Notre Dame, then wandered around the Latin Quarter.

I took this on the bridge to Il St Louis (I think), and you can see Notre Dame in the background.

We went in and it was so eerie! They were playing a film, which seemed to be about the history of the church, so it was really dark with a few lights around statues.

This morning, I went on a run at le Parc Andre Citroen and found another one nearby too. I think it's time to find another park though, before I start getting bored! By the time I got back, Philippe was almost ready to go to Versailles, so I met him at a metro station and we began another journey. Our Navigo passes technically don't cover the whole trip, but the station at Versailles is undergoing construction and not making you re-swipe as you leave, perfect! We spent at least three hours there and were pretty exhausted by the time we got back on the train.

Philippe just so happens to know everything pertaining to French history, especially Versailles, and is the perfect travel companion. I learned so many little things today (did you know that the bunnies at the farm are retired show-bunnies? Or that Marie Antoinette distributed extra food grown at Versailles to the poor?), I could point at any random thing and ask a question and he'd have an answer. I was pretty jealous of the people riding around on bikes, that would be so much fun. However, I was not jealous of the people who made use of the golf carts for rent, because that is just lazy.

From right inside the entrance. Oh, by the way, we didn't actually go in. Philippe got in for free as a European, and when I showed the guard my Sorbonne student ID, he told me you have to be an art history student. How do they check that? I think I am even taking an art history course, but we decided to just do the gardens instead (but at another building when Philippe told the guy I'm studying art history, he passed it off as if it didn't matter...).

So many fountains and lakes! And gardens, at that.

Evidently there weren't originally donkeys there, but if they add random modern art, such as fountain centerpieces made of sprinkler heads and colorful hoses, why not add some donkeys for good measure? I think the donkeys were cooler anyway.

Sooo, Marie Antoinette had a cave built to see people approaching the grounds, I believe. There's a tiny hole there that I'm looking through.

And there's Philippe outside! Taking this was awkward because other visitors came into the cave as I was giving him directions on where to stand; I think they were thrown off when they walked in and heard, "Step forward a bit!"

After such a long day, watching French television with Carina was a perfect way to relax. Although there might be easier things for me to understand than mystery dramas!