Early start this morning. Breakfast is a buffet with scrambled eggs, sausages, ham, cheese, croissants, bagettes, coffee, jams, fruit, yoghurt. We loaded up our plates, as we have decided lunch might not happen.
We were met by a local guide, Brigitte, who did the commentary for the driving tour around Paris. Although we don't get to stop at a lot of places, the information she was giving us was great and interesting. We were dropped of to wander around getting some lunch but Margie and I ended up in Starbucks, of all places, as there wasn't a lot of places around that just had coffee (and not meals).
Around the Arc De Triomphe, the cars traverse like it is a roundabout. There are 14 streets coming off it - and no lane markings. cars just go anywhere! Apparently learner drivers are taken there, and if they get around the Arc without an accident, they pass their license.
After lunch, we were off to Versailles Palace. OMG, what a place! It is HUGE!. Once again, outside the main gates, there are the Africans selling the tacky towers and souvenirs. The main gates are covered in 24 carat gold leaf. The palace has around 1000 rooms; we got to see about 20 of them. All the walls and ceilings are decorated with paintings or wall hangings. The doors are covered with gold leaf decorations - they are open and covered with glass to protect them. We saw Louis XV1 and Marie Antoinette's beds. The main room has mirrors reflecting the sun from outside and crystal chandeliers all the way along it. Brigitte gave a running commentary as we walked from room to room. We have headsets to listen to her. It was incredibly crowded and we are constantly being warned about pickpockets.
Then we were given tickets to go into the gardens around the palace. They are also huge and I only saw a small part of them before we had to go back to catch the bus again. Glad I took this optional.
Our second optional was a Welcome Dinner at a restaurant in a 12th century building. teensy rooms leading one into another - very squishy and certainly would never pass Australia's fire regulations. I thought the food was pretty underwhelming, although the profiteroles were nice. There were two musicians with guitar and accordian who sang and played for us; and people singing along.
I have lost my voice after the Eiffel trip and can't talk, let alone sing!
Some people were dropped off to climb the Eiffel Tower and the rest of us came back to the hotel to pack up for the morning and get some sleep. All this walking is tiring!
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