PARIS ON OUR OWN

After staying in such a nice hotel for the previous 5 nights, even the very best of hostels was going to be a letdown.  Unfortunately, the 'Peace & Love Hostel' was anything but the very best of hostels, in fact it was a dump.  Walking into our dorm-room for the first time was like walking into a bomb site, there were bags and rubbish everywhere and 4 TRIPLE (!!!) bunk-beds crammed into the small space.

Anna and I take it in turns to take the top bunk bed if we don't both get bottom ones, however in this instance Anna got the bunk on the 2nd level and I was on the 3rd level which may as well have been a coffin it was that close to the roof.

What is even more disturbing is the fact that I stayed there last time and remembered it being quite good.  Guido was very upset with himself.

We had gone from luxury to the slums in the space of an hour, but we had to get over it and move on with the day, we had a big session of shopping ahead of us!

Galeries Lafayette and Printemps are Paris' version of Myer and David Jones, except they are about 4 times the size and 4 times as good, but also 4 times as expensive haha.

Anna and I split up for a few hours because it's really not productive to shop together and plus we usually drive each other nuts haha.  Both department stores were like nothing I have ever seen before.  About 4-5 floors each, the higher you went, the more exclusive the brand names got.  I paid 60 euro for a Lacoste scarf on the 2nd floor and that floor was pretty much my limit.  Of course I went higher up to have a perusal, but I almost felt out of place walking along side the best dressed people I have ever seen on the top floor!

We met at 'Paul' which is a massive cafe/patisserie chain (there are over 400 in France alone) and although I tried to branch out and get something different, I ended up with an apple pastry for about the zillionth time on this trip!

Anna had some luck on her shopping escapade as well

in front of the Paris Opera House

I was anticipating doing nothing that night as I had been up since 5am for the AFL Grand Final, but we were in Paris (!!!) so I couldn't just go to sleep on a Saturday night!  We had eaten a lot of French food over the past few days with M & D, so we decided to go for something different and get Japanese.  Lonely Planet put us on to the 'Japan World' area and we stumbled upon a great place that presented us with a superb meal for a really decent price.

It was getting late, but we still hadn't seen the Eiffel Tower at night time, so we made the call and got out there about 11:30pm to see the tower in all its glory.

It took us about 25 minutes to walk the length of the Champ-de-Mars because we were hassled by every illegal immigrant in Paris trying to sell us cigarettes, champagne, beers, wine and even a cheeky whisper "hey you want cocaine?"

Luckily we made it under the tower and across the river in time to see one of the most spectacular night-time sights in the world; a 292,000-watt lighting system illuminates the tower for 5 minutes each hour into a giant sparkling christmas tree, it was awesome!

We ended up getting home around 1am and then not only did we have to contend with the shitty sleeping arrangements, but also the two drunk Aussie girls who were doing their best to keep the whole room awake. So understandably we both slept in a little the next morning.

Once we arose we got ready pretty quickly and were out the door by about 11am.  There are plenty of markets in Paris, but we decided to go back to the Mouffetard market which is supposed to be the best one on a Sunday.  We were both really glad we did because it was so much better than when we went there a few days earlier; it was absolutely pumping with people, there were heaps more stalls open, cool jazz bands were doing their thing and even the sun was out!

We stumbled across a great little coffee shop, had one of the best coffee's we'd had in Paris and then continued walking around, lapping up the great atmosphere.  The roast chickens that we had eaten a few days earlier were at the front of our minds, so we bought a full one, along with a big baguette and an avocado and headed for the Jardin du Luxembourg.

The centrally located Luxembourg Gardens are a real treat and are obviously loved by Parisians because the huge 60-acre park was absolutely packed.  These formal gardens are set around the Palais du Luxembourg, which Marie de Medici (2nd wife of King Henry IV of France) had modelled on her childhood home, the Pitti Palace in Florence.

The park has tennis courts, table tennis tables, petanque pitches, cafe's, puppet shows, donkey rides, playgrounds, basketball courts and even a bee-keeping school.  But perhaps the most popular is the Parisian pastime of sailing miniature boats in the fountain!
It was just a really cool place and something that I would definitely spend a lot of time at if there was something similar in Melbourne (the Botanical Gardens just don't cut it).

this petanque pitch even has a row of coat hangers in the middle for the oldies to hang their jackets hah!

these boats are rented for about 10 euro per half an hour and are available in many different countries

The smell of the roast chicken was so good we couldn't hold off any longer, so we found a spot on a crowded area of grass and sat down to make some chicken and avocado sandwiches, the perfect lunch!

the weather was so good there was even a guy sun baking, in October!!

We spent the rest of the afternoon back in the Saint-Germain area which is just a really cool spot, full of cool shops and cafe's.  Amazingly we bumped into Clayton, a guy who we had met in the South of France, so we organised to have dinner with him that night.

the Abbey of Saint-Germain des Pres; the restaurants and cafe's across the road are a popular spot for the rich

one of the many street performers in Paris - this Michael Jackson impersonator was pretty good!

That night we organised to meet Clayton at a pizza joint called the Pink Flamingo in the Canal Saint-Martin area which was ideally located about a 10-minute walk from our hostel in the 10th arrondissement.  The Pink Flamingo is popular for its use of pink balloons; in summer evenings, both sides of the canal are lined with lively picnic parties, only they don't have any food with them, instead they have bottles of wine and pink balloons with a number on it.

So what's with the balloon?  Well, they give you one in exchange for your pizza order and then use it to locate your group for delivery.  It sounded like an awesome idea, so we decided to give it a go.

We got the bottle of wine and then went to the "Pink" to order our pizza's.  Unfortunately we forgot to take one thing into consideration; it wasn't summer anymore and therefore they weren't proving their infamous pink balloon service.  We were a little disappointed, but we got over it and sat down in the dining room to order.  Thankfully they let us drink our bottle of wine without paying any corkage and the pizza's themselves were dead set the best pizza's we have had in Europe.

my pizza - filleted duck with goats cheese and apple, so good!

It was a Sunday night, so Clayton had to work in the morning and so we parted ways and went home after we had polished off the bottle of red.

outside our hostel, the Peace & Love, which we called the War & Hate, such a crap hole

We had spent the majority of our time so far in the southern and middle area of Paris, so the next morning we got up after another average nights sleep and headed north to the Montemarte area.

breakfast = more pastries!

The area's name comes from "Mount of Martyr's", commemorating the first bishop of Paris, St Denis, who was decapitated there by the Romans in AD 250.  However, these days Parisians refer to it as the "butte" as it is the highest point in the city.

Each day throngs of tourists climb the hill to visit the Sacre-Coeur, and we joined them.  The Sacre-Coeur is another one of Paris' icons, its spectacular white outline can be seen from many points around the city.

it was pretty warm up on the hill, even the statue was sweating it up

We didn't spend much time around the Sacre-Couer as we had both been there before, but what we did come for was all the cool winding back streets, small squares, boutique shops, cafe's, restaurants, street performers and a plethora of artists painting typical Paris scenes and trying to scam a portrait out of the next sucker tourist.

That next sucker happened to be me, as I was easily coerced into paying 20 euro to have my caricature done.  In fact if I'm being completely honest, I actually sought out someone to have it done haha.

Within about 8 minutes, old mate had done a pretty reasonable job and provided me with a pretty cool memento!

We walked around the Montemarte area for a while longer, passed the Bateau Lavoir (an art studio where Picasso lived from 1908 to 1912) and headed back down the hill to the neon-lit Pigalle area which is home to the Moulin Rouge and Paris' main sex district along the Boulevard de Clichy.

We then hopped on the metro and headed back to the Champs Elysees for a look at some of the big shops.

There was none bigger than the Abercrombie and Fitch store that had an entrance that a King would be proud of, with big golden gates, a gravel path and beautiful gardens, it was amazing and like nothing we had ever seen before.

It only got better though as we walked through the doors at the rear of the building and were presented with a 31-square-foot four level megastore of fashion.

The dark interior, bright lights and loud music made you feel like you were in a nightclub and the super pretty models they had just purely dancing on each floor gave you an idea of how much money the company must have.

There was so many things I could have bought, but I felt like I would rather wait and buy something American when we get to New York.  Anna on the other hand couldn't resist buying something as it meant getting a photo with the shirtless model waiting at the entrance haha!

We then continued walking down the Champs Elysees before turning left, walking past the Grand Palace and the Petit Palace until we reached the Pont Alexander III.

Named after Alexander III of Russia who laid the foundation stone, its gold decoration, views of the Eiffel Tower and its splendid thoroughfare from the Champs Elysees to the Hotel Invalides makes it quite clearly Paris' most beautiful bridge and one that I remembered fondly from my last trip to Paris.

We crossed the bridge and headed for the area around the Boulevard Saint-Michele area, and in particular, the best known makers of macaroons in the world, Laudree!!!!

Laudree is known as the inventor of the double-decker macaroon and currently sell around 15,000 each day around the world.  We have had our fair share of macaroons over the years (especially this year!!) and we can both say with 150% confidence that the Laudree macaroons will never be outdone.  There is something about them that whether you are biting into a lemon-lime, green-apple, mint-strawberry or just the plain old chocolate, the taste explosion in your mouth is just magic!

After taking years to decide what flavours we wanted, we finally bought a handful and then headed back over the river to the Louvre, but didn't actually go in because we had both been there before and couldn't really be bothered!

We hung around like tourists for a while, taking photos in front of the ugly (well I think it is anyway) glass pyramid and then hopped on the metro and called it a day.

Anna's cousin Rachel and her husband Vincent live in Paris and we had been painstakingly trying to organise to catchup with them for dinner (our phone only has the ability to use wifi, so we can't call or text).

We finally teed up a night and met at a really cool restaurant in Paris' east, only a few metro stops from our hostel.  The food was excellent, we had plenty to drink, including a few 'digestives' after dinner and even smoked a cheeky cigar!

Unfortunately we stayed out a little longer than we had planned and missed the last train home and as cab prices in Paris are absurd, we had to walk home in the spitting rain and freezing cols which took a solid 30-40 minutes.

The next morning we had to wake up pretty early and were a little dusty from the previous nights festivities, but we had no chance but to get on with the day as it was going to take us an hour and a bit to get to Versailles, France's grandest and most famous royal residence.

We managed to skip the major queues by buying tickets near the Versailles train station and decided to visit the monumental gardens first as it meant a much quicker entry.

We have seen some pretty amazing gardens on our trip this year, but compiling them all together would not prepare us for the gardens of Versaille.  Covering a massive 800 hectares of land, the landscaped gardens are filled with canals, pools, fountains, statues and the neatest of trimmed hedges.

There was one special area where they had classical music blaring out from the speakers and the fountain in the middle of the pond was performing some sort of dance that was perfectly accompanying the music, it was like water ballet or something and it was bloody brilliant!

The 1,600m Grand Canal was built as a setting for numerous boating spectacles.  Many types of craft were sailed on it, including rowing boats and reduced models of ships.  In 1674, the Republic of Venice sent the King two gondolas and four gondoliers who lodged in the building at the head of the canal and since then the area has been known as 'Little Venice'.  In the summer the King's fleet also sailed along it, whilst in winter it was not uncommon to see skates and sleighs whizzing over the frozen waters!  Ahhhh the life of a royal!

We ventured further north-west until we reached the 'Grand Trianon' which was built at the request of King Louis XIV as a retreat for himself and his main mistress of the time.  It was also used as a place where the King and invited guests could take light meals away from the strict etiquette of the Court.  Geez these people spoiled themselves!!

During the French Revolution of 1789, the Grand Trianon was left to neglect until Napoleon made it one of his residences and fixed it up accordingly.

Interestingly, in 1920 the Grand Trianon hosted the negotiations and signing of the 'Treaty of Trianon', which left Hungary with less than 1/3 of its pre-WW1 land size.  To this day, the word "Trianon" remains the symbol of one of Hungary's worst national disasters!

Within the same park area is the 'Petit Trianon' which was constructed between 1762 and 1768 by King Louis XV for his long-term mistress, Madame de Pompadour.  More interestingly, upon King Louis XVI's accession to the throne, the 20-year-old gave the chateau and its surrounding park to his 19-year-old Queen Marie Antoinette for her exclusive use and enjoyment.

Marie Antoinette had the stair railing altered to have her combined M & A insignia included

I am yet to see the movie, but it's right at the top of my list after learning all about this major part of French history!

Supposedly MA hated the King so much that she basically spent all of her time at the Petit Trianon and not even he was allowed to enter.

Marie Antoinette's pool table.  Not sure who she played with though as it seems like she didn't have many visitors.

Our feet were getting really really really sore as we had been on them for a solid 3 hours and still had the actual Versailles Chateau itself to visit, so we made a bee line for it.

Grand Canal way off in the background

Château du Versailles in the background

Built in the mid-17th century by King Louis XIV to protect the French monarchy, this stunning palace is overwhelming in its opulence and scale.  At 580m long, it is split into several wings, each with its own array of grand halls, sumptuous bedchambers and lavishly decorated corridors.

Probably the most amazing room in the whole complex is the 'Hall of Mirrors'.  This spectacular 70m long ballroom had the most ridiculous amount of decoration in it, none more so than its chandeliers and its huge mirrors that are exactly the same size and shape as their corresponding windows!
It was in this very room that the Treaty of Versailles was signed in 1919 to formally end WW1.

the Hall of Mirrors

the Grand Apartment du Roi (King's Suite)

the Queen's bedroom saw 19 royal infants born and was last used by Marie Antoinette in 1789

The King & Queen bedrooms were also astonishing and weird to think that a so called married couple would sleep in different rooms, but that's how it was back in the day.  I guess that sort of thing still happens today, but more so because of snoring.

The private rooms of the King and Queen overlooked the inner courtyard, known as the marble courtyard.  This was a really cool spot, but it reminded me of a house in Martin St. Brighton that is so completely over the top with its gold furnishings that it just looks stupid.  However, being a royal palace it's all good.

After 5 hours we had basically seen all there was to see of the Versailles complex.  We had heard a lot about it and weren't quite sure what to expect, but it definitely exceeded our expectations, it was just the most awesome place.

Walking down the vast open forecourt, you could really imagine the scenes that took place in 1789 when an angry mob marched onto the palace and forced the King & Queen - Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette - to return to Paris.  The turbulent events that followed became known as the French Revolution and in 1793 both Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette were executed by way of the guillotine.

I can't believe how interested I am in this, I am so pumped to see the movie now!!

Our last day in Paris was drawing to a close.  We had seen so many wonderful sights, eaten so much wonderful food, drank plenty of wine that was oh so good, but there was one last box that required a tick.......a visit to Cafe Angelina for their notorious hot chocolate called Chocolate L'Africain (named so for its Ivory Coast cacao beans).

Anna didn't want one, but I had to have it, and I am oh so happy that I did.  The remarkable concoction was indeed the most potent chocolate taste I think I have ever had.  It was hot chocolate to the zillionth power.  It was as if I was tasting the chocolate flavour with my whole body.  I was in a cloud of cocoa delirium.  I couldn't get over it, my face felt tingly and ecstatic*.  It was just unbelievable and I was flabbergasted.  As soon as I get back on home soil I am going to find out if I can order it online, and if you are reading this I suggest you do yourself a favour and do the same.

* This is not an overreaction

We got back to the hostel around 6pm and had an hour and a bit to kill before we had to head to the station and catch a train into Belgium.  I used the free time to catch up on some blogging and Anna got stuck into the macaroons she had bought the previous day.  This was mainly due to the fact that she was sick of hearing me go on about the hot chocolate for the last 45 minutes haha!