Paris: Days 4 & 5
Shabbat in Paris was fun-- we didn't do much, at all, which was exactly the point. Friday night dinner and Shabbat lunch were both at the same restaurant and the amount of food we got was huge. I was so full, I couldn't really eat dessert, which is truly a rarity (who doesn't have room for dessert?? Well, I guess my husband doesn't, but that's another story).
On Saturday morning we had every intention of making it to synagogue, but then Andrew kept on falling asleep, so we never made it. We left the hotel room at around 12:15, ate lunch, returned at 2:30pm, and read. We read all day. And didn't leave again until after havdalah, at 9:15pm, when we left for a nighttime cruise down the Seine River. The cruise was fun-- it was the first time we got up close to the Eiffel Tower at night, which was beautiful, and seeing Paris from the water offered a different perspective on the architecture, geography, and general sites. The cruise lasted around one hour and then we headed back to our hotel and found a surprise on the way back-- the pizza joint around the corner from our hotel was open! So we had a midnight pizza and were both quite happy.
On Sunday, we woke up early to pack our bags, pick up food, pick up the rental car, and head to Versailles. The plan was to spend the day in Versailles, grab dinner, and then drive to Chatres for the night.
Versailles, in one word, is gorgeous. French King Louis XIV basically turned Versailles into the beautiful place it is today-- he transformed it into the seat of government, re-made the castle, and built the amazing gardens. The chateau itself is huge-- we got a free audioguide with the pass that we bought, which was a good deal, and walked slowly around the palace. The history of each room was nice, but we were both pretty disappointed that the narration neglected to mention the modern-day historical significance of the Hall of Mirrors, which is where World War I ended. In general, to me at least, the palace is more wonderful from the outside than from in. And the gardens-- just wow. There are around two miles worth of gardens and various sized fountains, with lots of walking paths and two large canals of water in the middle. It's just immense and beautiful. The place was packed with tourists, as it always is on the weekends, since that's when they turn on the fountains during the day and play classical music in the background. We walked. And walked. And walked. We brought a picnic lunch which we ate in the gardens and just took in the beauty of it all. Lucky for us, the weather was terrific.
We left the palace grounds at 5pm, both tired and exhausted from a full day outdoors in the sun, looking forward to dinner and the 1.5 hour drive to Chatres for the evening.
On Saturday morning we had every intention of making it to synagogue, but then Andrew kept on falling asleep, so we never made it. We left the hotel room at around 12:15, ate lunch, returned at 2:30pm, and read. We read all day. And didn't leave again until after havdalah, at 9:15pm, when we left for a nighttime cruise down the Seine River. The cruise was fun-- it was the first time we got up close to the Eiffel Tower at night, which was beautiful, and seeing Paris from the water offered a different perspective on the architecture, geography, and general sites. The cruise lasted around one hour and then we headed back to our hotel and found a surprise on the way back-- the pizza joint around the corner from our hotel was open! So we had a midnight pizza and were both quite happy.
On Sunday, we woke up early to pack our bags, pick up food, pick up the rental car, and head to Versailles. The plan was to spend the day in Versailles, grab dinner, and then drive to Chatres for the night.
Versailles, in one word, is gorgeous. French King Louis XIV basically turned Versailles into the beautiful place it is today-- he transformed it into the seat of government, re-made the castle, and built the amazing gardens. The chateau itself is huge-- we got a free audioguide with the pass that we bought, which was a good deal, and walked slowly around the palace. The history of each room was nice, but we were both pretty disappointed that the narration neglected to mention the modern-day historical significance of the Hall of Mirrors, which is where World War I ended. In general, to me at least, the palace is more wonderful from the outside than from in. And the gardens-- just wow. There are around two miles worth of gardens and various sized fountains, with lots of walking paths and two large canals of water in the middle. It's just immense and beautiful. The place was packed with tourists, as it always is on the weekends, since that's when they turn on the fountains during the day and play classical music in the background. We walked. And walked. And walked. We brought a picnic lunch which we ate in the gardens and just took in the beauty of it all. Lucky for us, the weather was terrific.
We left the palace grounds at 5pm, both tired and exhausted from a full day outdoors in the sun, looking forward to dinner and the 1.5 hour drive to Chatres for the evening.
Labels: Paris
posted by elanit | 2:44 PM
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