Since I didn't post yesterday, here's how our last full day in France went:
We took a bus to Versailles, Louis XIV's palace, and had a guided tour. As I said with the Louvre the other day, I swear every tourist was there yesterday. While the crowd wasn't ideal, it was still impressive to see it and admire the grandeur of it all.
Then we walked in the gardens, tried to find Marie-Antoinette's hamlet, took a wrong turn and ended up way far out. Whoops. So, of course, we had to turn around and hike back to civilization... we think it was a total of about 6 miles - you know, just an average day's walk. Ugh, my calves are cramping up just thinking about it.
So that made us a little late getting back into the city for our booking at Musée d'Orsay. We grabbed sandwiches for lunch and was in the museum by 3pm. This museum is home to the best collection of impressionist art including masterpieces by Monet, Manet, Van Gogh, Degas, Renoir, Cezanne... just to name a few. It also is the home to my favorite polar bear sculpture. Many of the kids told me they were excited to see it since I have been telling them about it since French 1. And many mentioned that they enjoyed Orsay better than the Louvre because the Louvre was overwhelming because of its sheer size and number of tourists.
Dinner was flammekueche, which is hard to explain - kinda like a flatbread pizza with crème fraîche, onions and thick bacon/ham chunks. But DELICIOUS! Yum. Then for our last night in Paris, we thought it would be a waste to take the métro back to the hotel and just sit there so somebody (Mario, the Parisian tour director who's used to this kind of travel) said we could walk back to the hotel. For the record, between our surprise hike at Versailles, other city walking and our after-dinner stroll, someone clocked our mileage yesterday at 15 miles. (my calves are cramping up again...) Even though we were tired and worn out, I heard many comments while walking back that they appreciated the walk because it got us away from the tourist traps and allowed us to see how the real Parisians live, where they shop, where they hang out and what they do on a typical Wednesday night. And we still made it back in plenty of time to repack our suitcases and hopefully get a good night's sleep before our flights this morning.
So now that our big adventure is over, I just wanted to thank all of you for your encouragement, kind words, prayers and support. The trip really did go smoothly and we all had a great time. For those of you that allowed your children to travel with me, thank you so much for giving your child this experience. They learned so much, they experienced so much and these stories and memories will not be soon forgotten.
So that made us a little late getting back into the city for our booking at Musée d'Orsay. We grabbed sandwiches for lunch and was in the museum by 3pm. This museum is home to the best collection of impressionist art including masterpieces by Monet, Manet, Van Gogh, Degas, Renoir, Cezanne... just to name a few. It also is the home to my favorite polar bear sculpture. Many of the kids told me they were excited to see it since I have been telling them about it since French 1. And many mentioned that they enjoyed Orsay better than the Louvre because the Louvre was overwhelming because of its sheer size and number of tourists.
Dinner was flammekueche, which is hard to explain - kinda like a flatbread pizza with crème fraîche, onions and thick bacon/ham chunks. But DELICIOUS! Yum. Then for our last night in Paris, we thought it would be a waste to take the métro back to the hotel and just sit there so somebody (Mario, the Parisian tour director who's used to this kind of travel) said we could walk back to the hotel. For the record, between our surprise hike at Versailles, other city walking and our after-dinner stroll, someone clocked our mileage yesterday at 15 miles. (my calves are cramping up again...) Even though we were tired and worn out, I heard many comments while walking back that they appreciated the walk because it got us away from the tourist traps and allowed us to see how the real Parisians live, where they shop, where they hang out and what they do on a typical Wednesday night. And we still made it back in plenty of time to repack our suitcases and hopefully get a good night's sleep before our flights this morning.
So now that our big adventure is over, I just wanted to thank all of you for your encouragement, kind words, prayers and support. The trip really did go smoothly and we all had a great time. For those of you that allowed your children to travel with me, thank you so much for giving your child this experience. They learned so much, they experienced so much and these stories and memories will not be soon forgotten.
As one of my favorite travel quotes says: "travel is the only thing you buy that makes you richer."
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