City of light

Oh my gosh, I think Paris is going to kill me! We have done so much walking today I am aching all over. Today was a visit to Versailles, unfortunately we didn't get away as early as we had hoped and it was 12pm by the time we arrived. After queuing for an hour (no express entry unfortunately) it was after 1pm before we entered the palace itself. It is as opulent and extravagant as you imagine. I can understand the peasants getting a little upset that the King & Queen were out of touch with the people.

The palace is 67000 sq. m. but the entire site is 1000 hectares. The gardens and parkland are huge, they absorbed the crowds quite well. We had to pay extra to visit the main garden as on Saturdays they have a musical water show. Basically they turn the fountains ons and play music, although there is one that the water is synchronised to the music. There are water restrictions so it was worth it to see the fountains operating.

There must be a family of cats living in the grounds as the boys found a couple of kittens to play with. We never made it to the Grand Trianon or Marie Antoinette's Estate, you would need days to see everything. Anyway we have to save some things for when Tan and I come back by ourselves.

It's worth having a look at the slideshows on the official website as it was way too crowded to get any decent pictures http://en.chateauversailles.fr/

We arrived back at the apartment around 7pm and after having some dinner decided to head out again to see the City of Light. We are very close to Notre Dame so thought the tower might be a nice view. It was after 9pm when our group started its tour so the view was fantastic. We were on top of the tower at 10pm so were able to watch the light display on the Eiffel Tower which happens on the hour. 25 mountain climbers spent 5 months attaching 20,000 lights which sparkle for 5 minutes. It was quite spectacular. A girl next to Tan had tears streaming down her face while watching.

We soaked up a little street night life on the way home. On the bridge at Notre Dame a couple of young guys were doing a roller skating display, they had set up a limbo bar but were jumping it rather than going under. It would have been about 2.5 metres high.

It was a late night and a full day but some of the magic of Paris has started to have its effect.

Paris Day 3