I haven't appreciated being off my feet and resting this much in awhile. Whew, we had an exhaustingly busy day in France!
First we took a guided bus tour around Paris with our tour group. Our local tour guide was excellent and very helpful. Unfortunately there were scattered rain showers all day today so I didn't take as many pictures while on the bus. However, we did make a couple of stops so that everyone had a chance for photo opportunities (and to us the toilets which are NOT free in France, ugh).
Of course one of the photo stops was the Eiffel Tower, which is even more magnificent in person compared to in pictures. :) Tom and I were able to get a fairly decent photo together in front of the Eiffel Tower. Huzzah!
We ended our morning tour of Paris shortly thereafter but most of us stayed on the bus to head to Versailles. Now, I have to admit that my knowledge of French history, culture, etc is a bit limited. However, going to Versailles showed to me that French history is beautiful yet rather complex. After we explored the gardens of Versailles (which were gorgeous with the daffodils, hedges, and statues), our tour guide showed us around the rooms open to the public for touring. I took way too many pictures but they only captured a fracture of the breathtaking architecture and artwork within every room. Basically, no words can ever describe the beauty of places with such deep, rich history.
Anyways, on our way back to our hotel, our tour director (Tini) asked everyone on the bus if they'd like to go to The Louvre with our tour guide. Although Tom and I were considering to the Opera/Ballet in Paris tonight then going to The Louvre and Musée d'Orsay tomorrow morning. However, we were inclined to go with a tour guide we had already known seeing as The Louvre is overwhelmingly humongous. Apparently if you only spent a minute at each piece in The Louvre, it would take you 24 days to go through the entire museum. Oy vey.
So our tour guide took us around to all of the really important pieces of art or sculptures or rooms to admire their beauty. This included the Mona Lisa (she's very famous, haha) and Cupid & Psyche sculpture that Tom really wanted to see. Similar to Versailles, everything within The Louvre was beyond amazing. I opted to not take any pictures and to just soak in everything I saw around me because there was just too much to see. I did take pictures of the outside of The Louvre which is fantastic on its own.
By the time we were done our tour at The Louvre, we were exhausted and our feet hurt. I tried a DELICIOUS macaron while Tom looked around for souvenirs before we grabbed a quick dinner at a nearby food court in a connected mall. One thing that I sort of like about Paris is that most shops close by 7 or 8pm, which gives us a reason to get back to our hotel room early before it gets too dark outside. This gives us more time to relax too!
It may not seem like we did much today but we did a ton of walking! I'm completely exhausted now. I can't imagine how I'll be tomorrow and Sunday though. Our trip to Giverny was cancelled unfortunately but our tour director, Tini, is offering to take the tour group to Montmartre. Then we'll be free to do what we'd like at noon until our evening with the tour group around 5pm. We have two personal missions to accomplish tomorrow: 1) try a crêpe and 2) buy a French cook book for my mom. Our food adventures thus far have been me trying bœuf bourguignonlast night (which came with French fries, haha) and Tom having an omelette du fromage (he asked me to share this tidbit in the blog).
Until next time, au revoir!
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