7/23/11 Paris

We woke up really early to visit the Palace of Versailles.  It was very fancy.

Even the part under construction was beautiful!

King Louis XIV made the palace.  I especially liked the stairwell. 

stairwell

It had a design on it and was marble.  Everything was so decorative.  I was surprised to learn that king built the palace during a time of debt and crisis for France.  It's so exciting to actually experience part of  history and not just read about it.

Lunch today was duck.  It was my first time having it and I really liked it!

After lunch we toured a bunch of areas.  We went to the part of Paris called Hemingway, saw Notre Dame Cathedral, and found a new spot to take pictures of the Eiffel Tower.  Savannah and I were trying to pose for a picture that looked like we were trying to lift the Eiffel Tower, but we ran out of time.

Bob wearing his pink clog pin

Next we went to the Montmartre district which is basically an artists haven.  While walking down the street a bunch of artists would ask, "May I draw you?".  I finally agreed to one of them.  I haggled the price down from 15 Euro to 10 Euro.  The drawing didn't really look much like me, but it's cool to say it was dawn in Paris.  In the Montmartre district I bought a sweatshirt that I had been wanting.  It says, "J'Adore Paris".  I also got a beret which was the one thing I wanted to buy in Europe!

Dinner was escargot.  All but six kids in our group tried it.  I was a little nervous about it, but I am an adventurous eater!  There was a pool of butter and garlic inside the shell.  I poured that onto my French bread (which is 100 times better in France!).  The snail was black.  I had heard that they tasted like clams so I gave it a try.  It was wonderful!  I wish we had been able to have more than one!

Paris is the city I was most excited to go to, and the place I most want to return to.  One day I will come back and eat more escargot, get a better drawing of me, and take that picture of me holding up the Eiffel Tower.  Maybe I'll even do all of this while going to college there!