It was really cool to walk through the grand apartments and see where the Kings and Queens of France lived. My favorite room was the famous "Hall of Mirrors". I loved all the chandaliers - so gorgeous!
The views of the gardens from the various apartments were great, too.
This was quite the place to live! Although, I don't know how "comfortable" it would be to live here since it's just, well, SO grand... It was interesting to see that they had billiard tables, though. I don't know nothing about the history of that sport but I guess I was surprised that it was something the royalty did?
After touring the apartments I headed outside to check out the gardens. The gardens were MASSIVE!
I would love to come back here in the spring or summer when everything is in bloom. It was fun to walk around, though, and the gardens are beautiful even during winter! It's so odd to me that everything is so green over here - back home, everything is covered in snow!
I kept thinking about how this whole area is considerably larger than the area of land that my hometown in North Dakota occupies. It seriously took me about 20-30 minutes just to walk to the middle of the gardens!
I also toured Marie Antoinette's apartment but I do not have any photos of this. I kind of got to a point where I OD'd on taking photos...
I got back to my apartment and rested a bit before heading out for dinner. Tonight I went to a place that had a set menu where you could choose an appetizer, main dish, and dessert. Interestingly, appetizers are called entrees over here. I think maybe because entree means enter, and an appetizer is how you 'enter' the meal? I don't have any pictures, but I tried something new tonight... I had rabbit for the first time. My friend Nora's mom had told me that I should try this while I was in Paris. It was actually really good! It was in a mustard sauce. I had mussels for my appetizer and creme brulee for dessert. Yum. That sounds like a lot of food, but the portions were small.
Tomorrow is my last full day in Paris. This vacation went by WAY too fast. Usually, but the end of a vacation, I am anxious to get home and return to my usual schedule. I really don't feel that way this time, though... A large part of that probably has to do with the fact that I took this week off from studying for the CFA (which has totally consumed my life) - so knowing that I have lots of studying to return to is not all that appealing...
Tomorrow my plan is to go for one final run in the mroning, head to the Eiffel Tower area, and then do a guided walking tour of the Latin Quarter. I'll cap off the day with mass at Notre Dame and one final meal out, which will probably be a gallette. Oh how I j'adore gallettes. :) They aren't gourmet or anything but that's probably my favorite thing that I've eaten here!
Au revoir - I am off to do more reading. I'm on book #4 of my vacation!
