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France & Italy 2021 {Day Two~Paris}

December 14th was Day Two in Paris and also Mom's Birthday!  We got a little breakfast delivered to the room, but then decided to stop for some fresh and warm Pain au chocolat on the way to the train station because WHY WOULDN'T WE?!?

Then while having our wonderful Pain au chocolat, I decided to skip the train/walk to our first destination and just take an Uber instead.

The Uber got us to Versailles a few minutes before they opened.  I know it looks like we are there in the middle of the night, but our tickets were at 9 a.m.
For the record, Mom was "trying not to over smile".  
Later in the trip I finally said "try for I'm not torturing you".







This was Marie Antoinette's bedroom.  If you look closely you can see a cut out for a door to the right of that gold piece of furniture.  This was the door she used to escape the mob (for the moment at least) when they came for the King and Queen during the revolution.

The famous Hall of Mirrors.  I have to tell you that when I first visited in 1996, I specifically recall this being the most crowded space I had ever been in.  We were literally shoved from one end to the next and could hardly see anything.  This is what (1) early ticket time and (2) Covid travel gets you...





I remember the grounds being so pretty from the Summer of 1996, so it's a bit of a bummer that you don't get to see the fountains and splendor during the winter visits...
I mean, it's STILL pretty great...
...but I wish they were going all the same.




We decided to Uber back into Paris and had the good fortune of getting a Tesla because when we drove past the Eiffel Tower we got quite the view!

We had the Uber let us out at Musee d'Orsay, and then found a place to eat nearby.  We settled on a great little place across the street from the museum called Paris Orsay.  We couldn't decide what to get, so we settled on two different things that we split between us.

The ham and cheese Galette...
...and the croque madame.  Both were so good!
Next we went to the Musee D'Orsay to look at their impressionist gallery.

We didn't actually have tickets until 3:30, but they let us in way early 
(almost every place did this through the trip)


After the museum, we headed back across the street to Paris Orsay to hit up their Crêpes window
We split a salted caramel crêpe (again.  dumb.  why didn't we each get one?)
We took an Uber over to Le Bon Marché in Saint Germain.  
I love their holiday decorations

Their windows are always a treat too
This ended my two day quest for macarons from Pierre Hermé
(I had walked to one the day before that was closed!)
We also hit up City Pharma and then walked to the Saint Germain Christmas market before taking a taking a taxi to....
Galleries Lafayette!  They always have the TREE that you HAVE to see!

Plus some great windows and other decor...
I also took us to Galleries Lafayette because they have a roof top deck where you can look out over Paris


We walked back to the hotel through Place Vendôme and looked at all the Holiday decor...

We rested  few minutes and cleaned up for dinner.  Before heading to the restaurant, we walked to the Tuileries to wait for the top of the hour show...
...when the Eiffel sparkles!

For Mom's birthday dinner we went to Le Grand Colbert....
It had been recommended to me after my first choice fell through, but you might recognize it from "Something's Gotta Give"...
Something's gotta give - Picture of Le Grand Colbert, Paris - Tripadvisor

We had Onion Soup (because when you are in France it's not French Onion Soup, it's just Onion Soup)
Chateaubriand
with pommes frites and green beans
We were so full we actually skipped dessert (I mean we did and we didn't... macarons and a small fortune worth of nougat were waiting in the hotel room), but they brought Mom a little something with a candle and sang Happy Birthday.

We walked back to the hotel to pack up and get some sleep before heading to the airport early the next morning.  Oh.  Turns out I did take a pic of the outside of our hotel!

Stay Tuned for Italy!
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Comments

Abby said…
So fun! I’ve never been to Versailles! It’s so pretty!!
January 4, 2022 at 10:25 PM
Suzanna Cooper said…
“Try for I am not torturing you.” 🤣 beautiful pics.
January 29, 2022 at 9:51 AM
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