Honeymoon: Day 3

We began day three with the same breakfast as the day before.  Warm croissants really are wonderful.  The yogurt was a bit different than what you get at the store here, but it was not bad.  The weather outside was great, and we were out for an early start looking for the RER line C train station.  This was the day we were heading to Versailles!

The RER line was not easily found.  We had a map and gps, but it took about an hour to locate the station.  The train ride was about 20 minutes.  We saw areas of Paris where people had homes and yards, and it wasn't all apartment living.

When we arrived, we spotted McDonalds across the street, and decided it was time to stop for a quick lunch.  It was our one fast food meal while we were traveling, and I must say that it was really pretty good.  Jtl went with the Royal with bacon and I had the McChicken sandwich.  We attempted to place our order using the touchscreen kiosks, but had technical difficulties.  When ordering, you get a choice of ketchup or mayonnaise with your fries.  I went with mayo.  Yum!  Before leaving, I did get yelled at by an employee.  It seems it is not possible to use the restrooms at McDonalds while they are mopping in France.  Oh well.....

The road that we followed up to Versailles was probably the most beautiful road I saw while we were travelling.  The fall leaves were absolutely beautiful, and there were wide sidewalks with little roads off to the side that were narrow and twisty.  The cars actually had room to park in this area without being bumper to bumper as well.

The palace was amazing...... so much detail and so beautiful and so BIG.  I wanted to get a picture in front of the gate, but after waiting patiently for this one girl to finish taking her gazillion pictures it became apparent that an off center picture with her in the background was the only option.

Jtl wasn't a huge fan of the crowds inside of the palace.  I would get carried away taking pictures, and then turn around to find that he had moved on to the next room.  Have I mentioned that the lack of personal space that the people we encountered on our tours allowed us?  Well, it was worse in the tiny roped off areas that you have in the different areas of the palace.

Palace chapel

ceiling of palace chapel 

Most of the areas seemed to have been restored to pre-revolution style, but some of the first ones that we walked through had some of the tackiest Brady Bunch-ish furniture I've ever seen.  The bright yellows and avocado greens just didn't have the right feel for these elaborately decorated rooms.

Detailed carvings in window arches

Us in the Hall of Mirrors

I had to throw some elbows to get this bedroom pic

Just your typical French dinner service

We finished walking through the palace, and headed through the garden towards Marie Antoinette's estate.  This was quite a distance from the main entrance, and we walked past several fountains and lovely garden areas on our way.

Game room at Marie Antoinette's estate

Fireplace in kitchen of Marie Antoinette's estate 

After we had seen all we could see, we decided to head back to the train.  On the way, we decided to look for a place to stop for a snack down one of the side streets.  We quickly abandoned this plan when a loud crazy man began following a woman and yelling at her right behind us.  Instead, we stopped at Lelyautey for an afternoon snack of Diet Coke and onion soup.

As with every afternoon, wandering back to the hotel took longer than planned.  It was our last evening in Paris, so we really didn't mind too much.  We were still soaking it all in.... there was still lots we hadn't seen.

We had dinner at Au Roi Du Cafe that evening.  I had a steak with wonderful fried potatoes.  Jtl had roasted chicken.  The restaurant was really pretty, but there were fruit flies everywhere.  I opted for a glass of white wine that evening, but the waiter brought me a red.  We were having a bit of trouble communicating with him as it was, so I stuck with what he served me...... which ended up being the most expensive red wine served by the glass.  Oops!  For dessert, we ordered "tarte coco, sauce chocolat & glace coco".  This is not a chocolate tarte.  This is coconut.  It was served warm, and it was wonderful.

After dinner, we called it a night.  The shuttle to the airport was scheduled to pick us up at 6:15 the next morning!