My husband brings me fantastic news! We were 200 Euro under budget :) Money to spend on another vacation, yippee!!
Our first two nights were spent at the Ibis Budget in San Cyr, which is quite close to Versailles. We had a huge room with 5 beds but everything else was very basic. There was a micro-wave oven in the lobby area and we took our kettle with us. In fact we traveled with a whole heap of food because we prefer to take sandwiches for lunch and have cereal for breakfast in our room. This decision is two fold. Firstly, of course, it is cheaper to take your food with you than to eat out and secondly it is way faster. We've spent many a lunch time trying to find a restaurant within our budget that serves vegetarian food, and other than in China we've been mostly unlucky. That's why after we vacationed in Barcelona 2 years ago we always take our food with us. Then when ever we are hungry we sit down and eat our lunch. This time we also carried two IKEA bags with us so we could sit down even when the benches were damp!
Here is my Google map in case you find it useful:
Day 1:
We drove into Versailles on our first morning and found ourselves some parking under the Cathedral. We wanted to park on the street, as one website suggested, but the meters would not take our debit cards nor cash for more than two hours. That was certainly not going to be enough. I had pre-purchased the tickets so we didn't have to wait in line but that was not such a problem because it was POURING WITH RAIN! On the one hand we were totally bummed out that we might not get to see the gardens, on the other hand we were overjoyed that the lines were not too long. We first visited the palace which was amazing. So extravagant and shiny but on the other hand sad that there were so many people going hungry while the kings lived in such luxury.
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| Inside Versailles. Notice the Crowds! |
We took a couple of hours to see the main palace and despite the rain it was still packed. The tour groups pushed and shoved to get the best places and to keep up with their tour guides. Our kids even got shoved which was really annoying. This is the down side of Versailles. I can but imagine what it must be like on a beautiful summers day.
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| The Gardens after the Rain |
After our picnic lunch we headed towards the gardens, because guess what, it had stopped raining and the sun was poking through. We had a lovely walk down to Marie Antoinettes little palace. No crowds or tour groups down there. Wonderfully calm, lots of time to enjoy. I really loved her kitchen, but then I'm a kitchen person. I wish I had a nice sturdy table like that and so much space. Oh and I think I'd like the maids that go with it to do all the chopping and stirring! This palace/house was our favourite place. We think it was mainly because of the lack of crowds.
We were amazed at the pulley system that was designed to cover the windows of Marie Antoinetts parlour with mirrors. I'm guessing it was for privacy. You can see the system from the room adjoining the kitchen, and the mirrors in the room above. Quite ingenious.
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| Notice the Lack of Crowds! |
Then we headed back to the hotel to watch TV and have some instant noodles for dinner.
Day 2:
Early the next day we headed out to our next hotel which was closer to Paris and very close to a RER station. Then armed with a 3 day train/metro pass we headed towards the Eiffel Tower for which we had bought advanced tickets for 2 pm.We got to the Trocadero metro station and walked through the Jardins du Trocadero. My oh my what mayhem! There were people everywhere trying to take the perfect picture of their friends with the Eiffel Tower. Some supporting it, some holding it up by the tip. We had such fun watching them and since our girls didn't quite understand what their parents were cracking up over, we took a picture of them supporting the tower from either side! Oh it was such fun!! Then of course there were the people trying to sell Eiffel Towers. There were so many of them. 3 for a Euro, 4 for a Euro, 5 for a Euro! Why would I want so many Eiffel Tower key chains? Lord only knows.
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| The Eiffel Tower and Rain Clouds! |
What we really wanted to see were the fountains but they were not sprouting much water. We sat down beside them and had our lunch. We were in for a treat! The fountains don't all go off at the same time. They are synchronized. We got to see the whole cycle and took a lot of pretty pictures (of which only one is here).
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| The Tower Behind the Fountain |
But even with all this we were too early for the tower so we went to investigate the Quai Branly Museum. Truely a gem. The best place to while away your time while waiting to see the Eiffel Tower. And guess what... they had 3 (or was it 5) Sri Lankan masks on display. Although I must say they were very poorly carved specimens. Yes, they were over a 100 years old but the art of carving back then was highly developed. It looked like what they used to sell the tourists on the streets in the 80's.
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| One Facade of the Quai Branly Museum |
No problems leaving the museum and coming back in, just hold onto your ticket! Back at the tower the kids bought some small Eiffel towers just before the vendor got chased by the police. That was a lot of fun and excitement!
Up the tower we went all the way to the second floor and then on to the top. Although we missed the line at the bottom we still had to line up for the elevator to the top. There is more than one line so take a look around before you join one, it could just save you a whole heap of time. Once at the top we looked out on the whole of Paris. It was a wonderful view. I'm so glad that the city decided not to allow buildings to be too tall. It would have spoiled it's charm if there had been high rises everywhere. Round and round we walked pointing out all the points of interest to the kids.
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| Where We Came From |
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| Arc de Triomphe |
On the first floor we again found nothing much of interest except maybe the glass floor. The girls were first scared to walk on it but then they decided to jump up and down on it and scare their mother! And finally after another long wait for the elevator we found our way to the bottom. I do advise that unless you have a problem with your knees or a heart condition you should really try to walk down. You will save a LOT of time!
We were so battered by the wind that we craved for a hot cup of tea. Remembering that the museum had a cafe we headed back to it. Oh my were we in for a shock, 5 Euro 10 for a cup of tea! You must be kidding me. It cost the same as a cup of hot chocolate. And you're thinking well it must have been really good tea but I can assure you it was probably just a tea bag. We walked one block back towards the tower and checked out the prices in a couple of cafe's there. Nothing under 4 Euros. That would mean for us to sit down and drink something would cost a total of 16 Euro, now that was way beyond our budget so we popped into a small supermarket (corner of Rue de l'Universite and Avenue de la Bourdonnaise) and bought some biscuits and string cheese instead. Still over priced but affordable.
By and by we discovered that tea was just that expensive in Paris. The cheapest tea we found was at Starbucks for 3 Euro 25 but that was after we bit the bullet and sat down in a cafe to have a cup of tea (Lipton tea-bag nonetheless for over 4 Euro).
The rest of the afternoon/evening we spent in the museum after which we had dinner at one of the cafe's just by the supermarket. Nothing spectacular, but it was getting late and we wanted to see the illuminated Eiffel Tower, which we managed to do. Unfortunately, I missed the flashing fairy lights. The girls saw them from the restaurant but I didn't bother to turn around to see them because I thought they would continue flashing. But as it turns out they don't and from logical deduction we deduced that they only blink on the hour.
Day 3:
The Louvre, one just has to go there. I'd read everywhere about the crowds and the lines but maybe because of the weather or because it was October the lines were not that long. We did take some advice and enter through the subway and there was hardly any line getting through security. To buy tickets you just need to keep your eyes open. There were 4 counters, in the four corners of the room selling tickets and one had a long line. The others had no line at all. Everyone just tends to follow everyone else. So we got our tickets immediately.
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| Under the Glass Pyramid |
Our first stop, the Mona Lisa. I remembered the stairs going up to the exhibit from when I was 8, that was kind of cool. The hall was packed. We felt like we were back in China. Not only because it was packed but also because it was mainly packed with Chinese tour groups. We watched the Mona Lisa's roving eyes as they followed us from one side of the room to the other and then went on to see some other paintings. My youngest and I were rather bored with the paintings which were either violent or with nude people. I like more scenery and my daughter more animals, flowers and fruit. So we walked rather quickly through the exhibits.
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| Crowds Around the Mona Lisa |
Then we walked down to see the statues, in particular that of the slave by Micheal Angelo, and then out to have a picnic in the shade of the great glass pyramid. Back inside we decided to go to the Egyptian section with the intent of seeing Mesopotamian as well. This area of the museum was void of tour groups and in some rooms we were the only people. We managed one level of the Egyptian section and then were pooped. It was 2:30 and we could not go on anymore. The input was just too much. I think you could spend a whole week at this museum and not see everything in detail.
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| A Mummy |
We dragged ourselves back to the metro station and on the way one child announced that they had to pee! We followed the signs in the underground mall to the toilets and found that it cost 1.50 to pee! You must be kidding me, I would not let my child go alone to the toilet so I'd have to spend 3 Euro just to pee. Well I gave the guy 2 Euro and pretended to be confused so he gave me the mother/child deal although my kid was pretty big. The toilets were spotless with little displays of all the things you could buy in the little toilet boutique. Like the coloured toilet paper and the toilet paper stand that would set you back by 155 Euro!! An experience well not worth paying for.
We metroed over to "Le Jardin du Luxembourg" to get some fresh air and relax. There was a huge playground that I can totally recommend even though my kids found it beneath themselves to play on it. Instead we sat on a park bench, munched on chocolate croissants and watched some amateurs play tennis. Then we headed over to the statue of the statue of liberty and watched some teenage girls taking pictures in front of it posing with pink plastic Disney cups as the flame and handbags as the book! Was amazingly entertaining.
After this we went back to our hotel, ate some instant mash potatoes with a spinach paneer curry, watched a movie and ate popcorn.
Day 4:
Time for the churches. We first went to Notre Dame where it didn't really feel like a place of worship. It was huge and the sculpting was amazing but there were just too many people. Too many people ignoring the signs of "silence", "no flashes" and "devotees only". We opted not to go to the treasure chamber and I over heard a guide telling her flock that they should not waste their money to go inside. The only things of importance in there were the body of some saint and the thorn crown that Jesus wore when he was crucified and that could only be seen once a month and hundreds came every month to see it. So I guess we did the right thing. We also didn't climb the towers. For one, the main bell could not be viewed due to renovations and two I was not doing very well with the stairs and would have had to stay at the bottom while the other three went up. These things together made my husband decide that he didn't want to go up either. And yes it might have also had something to do with the crowds and the drizzle.
Although we had Sainte-Chapelle on our itinerary we decided not to visit it and opted to catch the nearby RER to Sacre-Coeur. At the very bottom of the hill we stopped at a playground to have lunch and then headed upwards. There was a market at the top which was nice but it did take away any churchly atmosphere from the exterior and it turned the church steps into a garbage dump. But inside it was very nice. Nice and calm and not too many people jabbering. However, many people were ignoring the signs not to take pictures. But that made it easy to get to see things because I don't have any qualms walking in front of someone who is taking a picture in a place where they are not supposed to!
Outside the church we bought some macaroons and stared at the people eating snails! It's the first time I've tasted shop bought macaroons. They are always so expensive so we thought we'd gotten a deal at 10 Euro for 12. Unfortunately, I must say, that I was not impressed. I thought they would taste different. And they certainly don't warrant the exorbitant pricing.
Then we found ourselves a cafe to sit in and had a cup of overpriced tea. Lipton at that, the same tea bag that was provided by the hotel for free! Oh well at least we got to use the toilets!! A quick walk down the hill took us past the Moulin Rouge whose dinner tickets were selling for 200 Euro and up. No, we were not going to go in there, just take a few pictures.
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| Moulin Rouge |
We had so much time left over that we decided to go to little Africa to catch some dinner. It was most interesting. It reminded us of the China town in San Francisco but with an African atmosphere. Unfortunately the restaurants didn't open until 7 pm and it was only 4 so we decided to go back to the hotel and get some food around there, taking in La Defense on the way. Now that is some big, crazy building. We sat in it's shadow and snacked on twix bars and oreo cookies (or at least generic versions of them!).
Then we headed back and waited for the restaurants to open. The girls voted to eat Indian food so we went to this place http://restaurant-indien.miam.fr/ the food was delicious! It was extra creamy just like we love our Indian food and reminded us of the food we used to eat in East Lansing when we went to Sindhu's. The service was great and the tea... well it didn't cost 4 Euro's and it was BREWED. No tea bags here!
Day 5:
It was Sunday, time to pack up and go home but not without first driving round the Arc de Triomphe.
Yes, we drove one and half times around the Arc and pretended to be stuck in traffic! Given that it was Sunday morning and raining there was no traffic to speak of, but one can always pretend! And we even found free street parking so that we could go walking down the Champs-Elysees. We didn't find the Champs-Elysees too interesting. My husband said it had changed since he was last there (don't ask how long ago that was!). There are hoards of tourists and over priced cafe's. Yes, tea was even more expensive here. And I really don't see the point. Most people were carrying bags from places like H&M and Gap. Really, you don't have to go to Paris to shop at this type of store. I thought Champs-Elysees only had expensive stores and although I did see the stores I rather think that any decent Parisian would shop elsewhere for their expensive attire.
We drove back home, stopping on the way at a rest area to have our baguette with the left over spreads and junk food. And oh my! Look at the price of tea... it's only 2 Euro!!!
