Versailles

I just saw that my post for yesterday never actually posted. What you see under "Paris" and dated today - Wednesday - was actually what should have been posted on Tuesday. It's what we did on Monday. Hopefully that makes sense.

Yesterday we gave Flo a headache. We checked out of our hotel and should have made it to Versailles (Louis XIV's castle) in 15 minutes. It took 2 hours. We thought driving In Paris was bad on Sunday. That was nothing compared to a weekday! Flo has no accent at all - which I'm sure is done on purpose. She's hard to understand. The word avenue should be clear as a bell. However when Flo says it, you have no idea what she's saying. Throw in all the French street names and it's a muddled mess. Add the traffic - like we've never seen before - and getting around is almost impossible. Our favorite street is "crazy don will sawn". We have no idea what the real name is. No matter how many times she says it (we seemed to be near that street a lot), Dave and I both break out laughing . It never gets old. :)

Flo was constantly "recaculating". There are 2 lanes for cars but there are actually 5 lanes of traffic - two for cars and 3 for mopeds/scooters. The mopeds are very popular. They go between the lanes of traffic so 2 lanes become 5. They rule the road, jumping into the smallest of spaces. After going back and forth over the river a few times, we were able to get to the roundabout (they're everywhere here) at the Arc du Tromphe - the one with 6 or so lanes of traffic and 12 streets coming off of it. The streets are so narrow and there are cars everywhere (parked wherever and moving) that we often can't even see the streets. So I'm trying to count streets and Dave is trying to get to the outer circle of traffic so we can get out of the circle. It's a mess. There's lots of loud taking, pointing, "watch outs" and laughing. Stressful but a aloof fun.

We get out of the city. I had looked up directions to Versailles before we left. We needed to take exit A13. Flo told us to take A13 but Dave thought A14 was the way to go. 30 minutes later and $15 spent in tolls, Dave decided Flo and I were right.

We got to Versailles about 2pm. We stood in an incredibly long line for awhile - until we found out it was the line to go through security - AFTER you had bought your tickets. We changed lines. Did I mention the employees were on strike and so were working with a skeleton staff? After awhile, Dave went back to the first line we were in and I stayed in the ticket line. It took about an hour just to get inside the front doors. The number of people was unbelievable. Words can't describe the castle. Incredibly beautiful, over the top, every square inch covered with marble/paintings/tapestries/gold, massive, etc etc. There were so many people that we literally shuffled along as a pack. Dave and I became separated almost right from the start. He was waiting for me at the end. I got in trouble for leaning on a marble fireplace.

We had a a quick snack about 5 pm - the first food since breakfast at 9. (Our meal schedule is almost none existent.) We drove to the Loire Valley to the bed and breakfast we had reserved. You wouldn't believe this place! When you think of a cottage in the country in France you'd picture this place. You'll have to wait and see the pictures. In the 1700's, this was the gardener's home for the castle across the street. There are flowers and vines everywhere. We have two rooms that are decorated so beautifully. A fireplace. I wish you could see it. We were going to only stay for one night but as soon as we saw the place, we decided to stay for two nights.

We went into the village and had supper. Meals take a long time here. We had wine from a local vineyard. We were done by 9:30 and then drove around a bit.

The weather. Since we arrived, it's been cloudy with sprinkles - everyday. I have yet to wear any of the new clothes I bought for the trip. It's too cold for them. Yesterday we saw the sun for the first time. This morning it's raining. Well Dave wants to get going so I need to wrap this up.

(Several times yesterday I thought "I wish the kids were here to see this". Hopefully someday you'll be able to. :) )

One thing I learned today - King Louis XIV became deeply religious after his wife died. therefore had a chapel added to his home (Versailles)
One new thing I experienced today - ordering off a French menu and trying everything I had ordered (even the cheese that smelled like dirty socks!)
Most powerful moment of the day - putting my hand on the door to the chapel at Versailles where kings and queens had probably put their hands
One pleasurable experience - seeing our cottage