We missed a day yesterday, so this may be interminably long - bear with me or log out - the choice is yours :) I left off on Wed. afternoon. We went to an outdoor market near the base of the Eiffel Tower. We had lunch at a cafe; Cobb, Caesar, and Club sandwich. The Cobb and the Caesar were very different than the states, but tasty nonetheless. After lunch we walked down by the Seine and decided to go to the Champs Elysees to check it out. It was really hot, about 90 degrees, so we found some sprinklers in the park and had a quick run through them before marching on.

The Champs Elysees reminded me of 5th Ave. in NYC. It's wide, commercial, and entertaining. We walked up to the Arc de Triomphe which is pretty spectacular. The reliefs on the facade are amazing. We didn't go up it today because we were planning on doing it another day, a bit earlier in the day to avoid some of the crowds. There was a band playing underneath the Arc. We weren't sure why they were there, but it added to the ambiance. We walked back to the metro and then grabbed some sandwiches and cold drinks for the evening. We knew Thursday would be a busy day; Versailles and dinner with Jack Lee's friends.

Thursday - Versailles. Our day started very early. We wanted to be at the Chateau by 9:00. We found the RER train and made it to our destination on time. A few things had changed since Rick Steve's 2008 book, so we had to make some minor alterations to our tickets, but it all worked out. It wasn't that crowded; the weather worked in our favor 90-95 degrees kept away all but the hardiest of tourists. The castle was amazing. The hall of mirrors was, well there aren't really words to capture it, um.. breathtaking. The thought of all this opulence during a time when the majority of people were living in poverty, well there's no wonder there was a revolution and uprising!

After exiting the chateau, we went down to the gardens. The heat really was oppressive and the idea of walking the grounds was depressing, so we left. No, just kidding, we rented bikes and they saved the day. We rode around the cross shaped lake and out to Marie Antoinette's Domaine and working farm. I can see why she wanted to live there. We saw a lot of field trips to the castle. Griffin was listening to the teachers and the kids, and we decided she has clearly mastered "field trip french". She said that the teachers reminded her of the TAs at Normandale. One of the man-made ponds at the farm is loaded with carp who sit right at the surface with their big mouths open waiting for food. I watched a class of about 20 4th graders come traipsing across the bridge and much to their delight discover the carp. The boys, primarily, pulled out any food they had and began chucking it into the water while the girls giggled and screamed. They were all leaning over the railing, and we, of course were laughing at the sight. The teacher turned around and said, "Cauchemare", which Griff translated as "Nightmare". I knew that when they returned to school and had to write their paragraph about Versaille almost all of them would choose the fish as their favorite part!

We found a shady spot by the large body of water that Louis XIV had made in the shape of a cross and sat down to read. Griffin and I are reading a book that we bought here called The Red Necklace. It takes place in Paris, 1789 and contains murder, magic, secrets and the blade of the guillotine. It was perfect. We dipped our feet into the water and cooled off. I dropped my sunglasses in, and nearly had to jump in to get them, but retrieved them just before they sank. I was fully prepared to go in for them, they're prescription!

We returned our bikes and walked through some of the gardens before leaving at about 5:30. We walked into town and found an Irish bar, O'Paris, with a lovely, shady outside eating area. We had a few beers and iced tea before calling Stephan Blondeau, Jack's friends, for dinner. We made one interesting discovery while at the bar. Griffin and I were playing cards and the waiter came over and asked us to put them away. It is illegal to play cards at a bar; apparently there was quite a bit of gambling going on, so they made it illegal. The waiter was a bit sheepish when he asked us to stop, clearly we weren't gambling.

Stephan picked us up and brought us to his house. He and his family live in a duplex with a lovely garden. We had a great time. It was so nice to be in someone's home, especially after a very touristy day. The conversation was stimulating and they have a daughter about a year older than Griffin, so it gave her some "kid time". They also had 4 week-old kittens who were adorable. The food, as you would expect was fabulous; lamb on the barbeque, taboulehi (sp?), ratatouille, salade, and a fruit tart for dessert. We wrapped up the evening around 10:30 and caught the last train back to Paris. It was midnight before we arrived home. It was a packed day, but really enjoyable.

Friday we slept in and then headed to a local outdoor market to buy some food. We found a great one; Marche du L'Aligre. We bought some fresh pasta, sausage, tomato, basil, and mozzarella for dinner. It is definitely cheaper to eat in at night. We will do a few nights out, but after a long day it's nice to stay "home".

We took a short walk around the neighborhood and took a picnic, falafel's, to the Place de Vosges. We spent a while lounging around, people watching, and relaxing. We were all pretty wiped out from the day before.

I think that I'm caught up. We haven't planned tomorrow, yet, so I don't know what it will bring. We'll keep you posted.