Paris - Day 33

Just couple more days till London. Our plan was to load up on food items to bring home. We went to gourmet Lafayette. We chose this place instead of Le Bon Marche because they had lots of buy one get one free deals. We spent quite some time picking out food items. We also went to Longchamp to get a bag for a friend. Everywhere in Paris, women are carrying the Longchamp Le Pliage bag. We started a game where we would punch each other every time we saw a Longchamp bag. We were able to get the VAT refund on the items we got, saves around 15%. We carried everything back in our suitcases. We also wanted a saute pan, but figured out we couldn't get one because once we put all our stuff in our 4 small suitcases, there was no more room for anything else. This included 6 wine bottles.
Got lunch at the grocery store, sandwiches and salad.

Blood sausage.

For dinner we went to Benoit. This place has a Michelin star, but I didn't think it was that great for being a Michelin star place.

Escargot.

This was an extremely overpriced salad. I had better salads at other restaurants that were cheaper.

The rest of the dishes were good.

Paris - Day 32

We headed to Versailles in the morning. We missed the first train, so we hopped onto another train that we would have to transfer later. The train was running more than an hour late. The weather was cold and rainy. I bought a Belgian waffle from a vending machine.

When we got to the Palace, it was closed and no one knew whether it would open or not. There were bus loads of tourists and some have already left. We stuck around to see if they would open.

Outside the gates.

We had some morning breakfast at the cafe nearby.

We then walked 5 or 6 blocks to a market to kill some more time.

It was a nice market, lots of fresh foods for sale.

We bought some pig ears and octopus at the market and walked back to the cafe to eat it. It was already lunch time.

After lunch we walked around the palace gardens.

If we came on the weekend, we would be able to see the water fountains in action.

The palace did open in the early afternoon. There were lots of rooms with their own specific use.

We then walked to Petit Trianon, Grand Trianon and Marie-Antoinette's estate.
Feeding the goat. So much walking. Bike rentals were closed.

Walking back. So much walking.

Head back to Paris. Another good dinner.

Paris - Day 31

We woke up early and got to Saint Chapelle. Lots of stained glass windows.

We paid another visit to Notre Dame, but this time to go up the bell tower since we had our museum pass.

Steak and frites.

Club sandwich.

We also paid another visit to the Arc of Triumph because they let visitors go to the top if they have a museum pass. When we got there, it was closed because of threats. Police were everywhere.

A mass of student protesters.

Military museum.

 Napoleon's tomb. The tomb looks small in the picture, but it's quite large.

We went back to the Louvre to look at the other exhibits. I found 20 euros on the floor. Score!

Snack time at the food court. A McDonald chocolate muffin.

We went to the gourmet area of Gallerie Lafeyette and ate dinner at a salmon/caviar place. It was good.