Versailles & More

TWO posts tonight, so don't miss the previous one!

Today turned out to be another active day.  Unfortunately, tomorrow (Friday) is our last day here, so we are trying to wrap things up and determine what's going to make the cut and what is not.  But, for today, we headed to a chapel called "St. Chapelle" which is just down the street from Notre Dame.  It is not very big, but what is incredible is the amount of stained glass.  The walls of the "upper chapel" which was reserved for the king and his nobility, etc. is stained glass all around.  It is truly unbelievable how much detail there is, and how each "panel" of stained glass tells a story.

One of 12 stained glass panels going all around the border of the church.  Each panel is roughly 12' x 50'. 

From here we hopped on a regional train to Palace de Versailles.  It was similar to, but larger than, the local metro trains that run within the city.  For example, the cars were double deckers, to we got to sit upstairs.  Fun!  Versailles, of course, was very impressive.  It is not as big as the Louvre, but the detail is just over the top.  I failed to remember exactly how impressive it is, and furthermore exactly how expansive the gardens are.  They just go and go and go... unreal.

Wow, beautiful.

"King" size bed.  hahaha...

We got back from Versailles around 5, and went to the Musee d'Orsay to see some impressionist artwork.  The Louvre was great, but we felt we wanted to round out things a little more.  For example, the Louvre doesn't have any Monet stuff, which Beth has always liked.  I don't have any pictures for you, as this museum doesn't allow pictures, but I highly recommend it.

After the museum we headed to what was our favorite French cafe so far.  Our waiter's name was Randolph, and had great fun interacting with me in French.  He was super friendly and enjoyed teaching me some things.  But, our meal, wow.  We started with French Onion soup, which Beth had never had.  She was IMPRESSED, as was I.  Wow, the hot, savory soup was so welcome on this very cold day (it's unusually cold in Paris right now -- colder than it was on Christmas).  We also had a plate of serrano ham as our second appetizer.  Then (Kristin, you may want to skip this part), we had veal with cream for our main course, at the encouragement of our waiter.  We've put our stake in the sand and not tried Foie Gras, despite the fact that it's offered everywhere, but thought we could try the veal.  I must say, it was very delicious, and went so well with our bottle+ of wine.  We finished up with a plate of cheese and headed back to the room to have leftover dessert from Beth's cooking class. 

Beth's first of some number of glasses of wine.

French Onion soup and a plate of Serrano ham

Tomorrow should be a more laid back day.  Lots of shopping, lunch at a place where Thomas Jefferson used to frequent, and maybe a little clubbing in the evening  :)