Yesterday we went to the palace of Versailles, which is about 20 minutes outside Paris. The lead up to the palace was not quite as grand as we expected; it was basically a parking lot. Certainly grand, but we were hoping for better once we went inside. We were not disappointed. Inside was room after room of absolute luxury and extravagance: Paintings the size of a house, sculptures, ornate furniture, and remarkably detailed architecture. My favorite room inside was the Hall of Battles, which was a long hallway of sorts (but much wider) that housed paintings that depicted French wars from the 400s to the 1800s. We have pictures of both the first and last battles shown in the hall. However, the highlight was the outside area of the palace. By outside I mean acres upon acres of lush gardens and grass, with hidden paths, statues, and fountains. If we had two days it would not have been enough to see it all. As it was, we took a long walk around a secluded pond with a large statue of Louis XIV. Versailles looked just like I thought it would in the light Paris mist. Its inauspicious start was dramatically outweighed by its rear view and gardens. I may offer to buy it.


We then made our way back to the city where we spent time in the Latin Quarter. Specifically, we stopped at the bookstore Shakespeare and Company, which is a quaint shop on the river that is just how you would expect a perfect bookstore to look. Writers can stay over night on the small beds upstairs as long as they read one book, write a one page autobiography, and help stack shelves. The whole place just smelled like old books, which is a good thing in my opinion. Next, we passed by the Sorbonne, a college founded as part of the University of Paris in the 1100s, then strolled through the Luxembourg Gardens, outside the building that houses the French Senate.

Of course, all of this was in pouring rain, which had increased significantly since we got back from Versailles. The rain didn't slow us down at all, and we saw everything we wanted and more.