Au Revoir Paris

Wow! Our last day in Paris! Kind of hard to believe. We have had a really amazing time.

We woke up this morning, grabbed some baked goods, and hopped on the train to Versailles to see the chateau built by Louis XIV.

I still remember going to this when I was younger and so I was excited to get to take Darcy.



The inside of the chateau is truly incredible. There is gold and marble wherever you look. Everything is just so grand. (Sorry for the blurry pictures. The lighting was poor and the camera operator (mostly me) failed to adjust...haha)









It is also set in really beautiful countryside.


After our tour of the chateau we started to walk around the really gorgeous garden. The problem was that today was the absolute worst weather we have had since we were here. It was REALLY windy...

...and on top of that it was raining and cold. We were not properly dressed for this weather (the weather we looked up before we left said it would be warmer and dry). So unfortunately, we did not get to fully enjoy the garden. But we enjoyed what we got to see.





(Darcy showing that she doesn't like ALL European clouds)
We then strolled back...

...and hopped on the train back to Paris.

We went to a little cafe near our apartment for a very late lunch.

After that, we went and got the appropriate attire and headed out for our last ice cream at Berthillon. It was VERY yummy again...


...but also sad to have it for the last time...

We then took our last stroll across the Seine.


I think this is my favorite part of Paris so it was a little sad to go there for the last time. But I am sure we will get to come back some day.

We headed back home to our apartment to get ready for our dinner. We are going out to a nice restaurant for our last dinner here and then we are going to sleep.

**UPDATE--Dinner was FABULOUS! Our best dinner in Paris. I had cream of spinach, followed with roasted chicken and mashed potatoes. Darcy had a caesar salad followed with duck and baked apples. We both had great desserts! I had a rich chocolate cake with warm gooey filling and Darcy had a fluffy cheesecake with raspberry sauce! Mine was better...haha. Anyway, just thought you people might want to know**

It has been so much fun here in Paris. I think it is less sad because we know that fun adventures are in front of us for the next month when we get back. We will wake up tomorrow morning bright and early and will have a LONG day of travel ahead of us, but by the end of the day we will be back with our doggies, and two days later, on the road with them.

I don't think we will post anything else on here until we hit the road again in a few days. Thanks to everyone for reading along and for the encouragement! I hope it has been worth your time so far!

Fine Art....

We woke up Tuesday morning with a plan for lots of art...We headed out first thing towards the Musee d'Orsay.

(Tuleries)

(That is the Musee d'Orsay in the background)
We got up to the line though and it was the longest line we have seen for anything since we have been here.

My best guess -- the Louvre is closed on Tuesdays so people tend to flock to the closest museum which is the Musee d'Orsay. We waited around for a little bit and took a picture.

After waiting for ten minutes and the line hardly moving...

We came up with a new plan. We went southwest a couple of blocks to the Rodin Museum, figuring that by the time we were done there, this line would be much shorter.

The line for the Rodin Museum was MUCH shorter...

...and so we went inside and began exploring. He made some really incredible works of art, and of course, we had to try to imitate one in particular...







After exploring the gardens, we went inside the museum.

(Showing the process of casting)
There were some other really cool works inside the museum, but for some reason I got distracted apparently and failed to take any other good shots of those pieces.

We then walked back towards the Musee d'Orsay. While walking back, we stumbled across a church whose spires we had seen several times from several high places, but we could never find.


(That is me jumping for joy because we found it)
We went to the Musee d'Orsay and were greeted by a MUCH shorter line.

We went inside and enjoyed the fabulous art. This was definitely our favorite museum in Paris, but unfortunately we weren't allowed to take ANY pictures inside. It had Monet, Manet, Gauguin, Degas, Van Gogh, Cezanne, Pissaro, Matisse, and several others. It was great; although, unfortunately, fifty of the Monet pieces had been loaned out to another museum outside of Paris, and a large portion of the museum was closed for renovation. We loved what we got to see though.

We then headed to Laduree to get some macaroons.

We walked over to eat them by Notre Dame so we could people watch at the same time.

Aren't the macaroons pretty?

(chocolate, orange blossom, pistacio, green apple, raspberry, coffee)
We enjoyed eating them out there and watching people. Darcy enjoyed hers a little more than I enjoyed mine...haha...

These people were letting this flock of pigeons climb all over them.

I thought that was pretty nasty, but to each his own.

We realized we hadn't had ANY ice cream in two days, so we walked towards Berthillon.



YUUUMMM!! I wish I could take some back with me.

We then walked around the area a little bit.

That is a picture overlooking the Seine. Darcy loves the "European clouds."

After walking around for a bit, we sat down for an early dinner.



(Darcy's favorite part about the dinner)

(the one thing we will NOT miss about Paris)

We then headed back to our apartment to get dressed up for the REAL art of the day.

(more "European clouds" outside out apartment window)
You see, when I talked to my mom a few days ago, she told me that my grandparents said there were two things that we had not done that we HAD to do. One was go to the Musee d'Orsay...check...The other was to go see what my grandfather would deem real art...a show at Moulin Rouge. Only my grandparents would recommend this, which is what makes them so great. So we got all dressed up and headed out.

We hopped on the metro line close to us and it was not crowded at all. But when we got off to transfer to the other line, we encountered a mob of people waiting to get on the train. Apparently one of the trains was shut down or something, because according to the sign, a train was coming in 3 minutes and then there wouldn't be another one for 23 minutes. Normally the trains come about every 4 minutes, even into the night. So that is why there was such a big crowd. I told Darcy we HAD to get on that train, with the mob, or we would miss our show. When the train arrived at our station, it was almost empty, and we were able to cram in...





This started off being a funny experience. We were crammed into a hot and somewhat smelly (thanks to the b.o.) train car. We only had to ride for a few blocks and we were laughing about it. But then things started to get a little crazy. You see, at each stop, very few people got off, but ten more people would try to cram into the car. We were getting smushed. It was so crammed that at each stop the train wouldn't be able to go because the doors couldn't close. Just too many people. By the last stop, I was nearly knocked over by the crush of people. Also, we were in the middle of the train and I wasn't sure how we were even going to get off at our stop. When the stop came, I grabbed Darcy's arm and elbowed our way out, pulling her along behind. We made it out, barely, as twenty more people were trying to cram on as we left.

We were glad that we made it out. We then headed for our show.


We weren't allowed to take any pictures inside, but the show was a lot of fun. We are thankful that we have grandparents to suggest such things for us...
Now, off to Versailles (and at some point our final Berthillon). Can't believe the last day is upon us...