Paris Part Two 7/6 & 7/7

We drove on the coach bus to Versailles, and on the way, we saw this pillar of smoke, which turned out to be a car on fire. This was the talk of the day for the rest of the day. To be fair, it was a towering inferno, but I’m still not sure why it was on the top of my list of things to blog about today.

The line at Versailles was outrageous, curving four or five times through the courtyard, but it moved fast. Still, the place was packed. The place was really interesting, I saw the Hall of Mirrors and the room of Marie Antoinette, but the press of people had me moving quickly. I took the time to look at the gardens and compare them to Peterhof in Russia. I have to say that Versailles was prettier, but, as Peterhof stressed, they aren’t able to always run their fountains, like Peterhof does.

When we got back to Paris, we tried going to the catacombs, but they were closed by the time we got there, so we went to the Paris Hard Rock for dinner. Then  we went on a quest to find the Arc de Triomphe, which was successful, though we saw it from a distance.

We ended the day with an evening cruise on the Seine. It was amazing, with the warm breeze and smooth ride. It was a fabulous way to see sites like the Eiffel Tower. All along the river, Parisians just sit and hang out with wine and friends. Apparently, they do that all the time. We saw impromptu dance parties, and just

hundreds of Parisians sitting out and drinking along the Seine. It was a very cool atmosphere.

The next morning, I tried to get to the catacombs again, but failed. I did get to see an adorable puppy on the Metro, though.

The bus back from Paris was unbearably hot, to the point where at the back of the bus was stifling. After a couple of hours, Sean managed to figure out that a skylight could be opened, to get some fresh air. I swear it saved us.

We left from Calais, which really made me think of The Scarlet Pimpernel. When we went into France, there was no border patrol, we just passed in our passports, but on the way out, we had to pass through the French border patrol, UK border patrol, and then had o

ur luggage checked by customs. It was a really strange difference, but it meant we got our passport stamped.

The ferry ride back was really nice, since the sun was blazing, and we could watch the water as we went. I have to say that we were all really grateful to get back to London.