Paris - Day 6 (Sunday)

Heather was feeling a bit better this morning so we were both really happy. There was a light sprinkle of rain when I woke up, but it only lasted about 30 minutes and then the sun came out. We decided to make the trek out to Versailles, thinking that even if the rains were to return, we'd be able to do the indoor tours. I think on Sunday most of the pattisaries are closed, so the one we found open had a line out the door and around the corner. With our pain au chocolat in hand, we made our way to the RER for the long trip out to Versailles. Chuck and Coryn met up with us on the same train.
It was a great day to be out there, the sun was shining and the sky was filled with puffy white clouds. The wind was a bit strong, in fact we saw some fairly large branches from trees on the ground during or walks through the streets. We decided to do a guided tour of the King's apartments. Heather convinced me it would be better than the standard audioguides we've been doing, and she was right. Our guide was very good and the tour was nearly 2 hours long. The guides use a wireless system where they have a microphone that transmits to a wireless receiver we all wear, with a single ear piece. It a great system because you don't have to huddle in each room and can hear him clearly. During our tour the clouds collected and soon it was raining hard with the same high winds. We felt bad for the people who were caught out in the gardens with very little warning of the storm which came in quickly. By the time we finished our tour the weather had cleared up again.
One of the rooms we visited on the self guided tour had the worlds largest canvas painting. It covers the entire ceiling of the room its housed in and is very impressive. In the same room is an equally impressive fireplace. One that used logs that measured about 10 feet in length. Ever since I saw the movie Citizen Kane, I've loved huge fireplaces, the type you can walk into and you empty the ashes using a snow shovel. One day... one day. :)
We made sure to visit the famous Hall of Mirrors, which is currently finishing up a 3 year renovation project to clean and restore the artwork and mirrors, but also to do some modernizing to make it safer for visitors. Unfortunately this work requires the floor to be covered and a lot of hall was obscured with other construction pieces, so we'll have to come back sometime to see it again. We made our way out into the gardens where we spent the remaining time at Versailles. Once we descended off the upper terrace the wind wasn't as bad, and the sun warmed us up quickly. We walked down to the Grand Canal where you can rent row boats for a romantic afternoon. We opted for a more economical nap on the lush green grass instead. It didn't take long for both Heather and I to snooze off for a quick nap with our fellow tourist friends around. As I lay there entering into the lazy trance, I listened to the sounds around us: the laughs of a little garcon as he played with his papa in the grass, the crunch of the small white stone gravel as people rode bikes by or walked. This is the same gravel that is in all Parisian parks, leaving a light powdering of dust on your shoes that you must wipe clean each evening.
After a lot of walking through the gardens we decided to head back towards the train station and catch dinner at one of the restaurants. On the way out I got the following picture of a new gate they are building that is a replica of the the gate that separated the main courtyard from the noble courtyard. Nobility could ride their carriages through these gates, but everyone else had to walk. There is a third courtyard even further up that was the Royal courtyard which was reserved for only the royal family's use.
We found an Italian restaurant that we all agreed looked good, and we were not disappointed. From my pizza to Heather's carbonara, everything was really good. As we finished up our dinner a lady we had seen at the chataux came in with her little pug. She ordered a glass of wine to warm up as her little dog strolled around the restaurant and greeted each of the diners. He was a smaller pug about the size of Otis and was very friendly (like all pugs).
We said our goodbyes to everyone and then started off for the train station. The temperature had dropped during our meal, so we briskly walked to catch our train at about 10:50. It was a quiet ride home and we opt'ed against getting off at the Tour Eiffel, which we'll do tonight instead.