We can't find a place to stay in Versailles for less than $300 a night, so we move a bit west to another suburb of Paris, Plaisir. Nothing special about the town, just a suburb, but the girl at the desk recommends a restaurant "just down the street" which turns out to be a fabulous place for dinner, the Restaurant de la Ferme. Traditional French cuisine, very nicely done.
In the morning, it's on to Paris, but first I need a little nourishment. I thought a pain au chocolate "maxi" would be about right.
Unfortunately, it's mostly hollow
Today is our last day on the road, and it is a short one.
In less than an hour, we have reached Paris.
Jayne's sister Susan is working in Paris for Boeing and has invited us to stay with her. She has a fabulous place in the 7th arrondissement, a great base to work from.
We meet Susan, drop our luggage and return the trusted Mini Cooper S. It's been a great car for a great road trip, but we certainly don't want a car in Paris.
Our plan is Paris is to not have much of a plan. We have one appointment, on Friday night at Le Cigalle. We're going to get our Parrothead on.
The fans have taken over a traffic island in the middle of a traffic circle on the Blvd. Rochechouart.
If we weren't all crazy, we'd all go insane
The island
Champagne glass, anyone?
Jacques Monte
The Parisians thought we were bonkers. The Japanese tourists in the tour buses thought we were cute. "Click-click". We didn't have a corkscrew, so we drank champagne.
The venue was fabulous at La Cigalle, only seating 954 people. It has been around since 1887.
Jimmy Buffett and the Coral Reefers
Manifique!
And now for a love song. But first a story. On our honeymoon on the lovely island of St. Martin, at a bar on Orient Beach, we were having a fine evening. Perhaps there was a bit of overindulgence. At any rate, we had a French bartender who Jayne was in love with. She's flirting with him and asks him for a glass of water. He replies and asks "Why, are you drunk? She indignantly drew herself up and said, "Maaaybeee..." I had to ask "Comment dit on 'drunk' en francais?" He replied, "bourré". If you listen carefully you'll hear Jimmy use the word bourré at the end of the song.
We enjoyed visiting with Susan and getting to know her boyfriend Victor better. Great people.
We had a couple of carnets of Metro tickets and we put them to good use. Sometimes we would just pick a line and take it until we got to a station, get off and wander around. We probably averaged walking five or six miles a day.
Le Jardin du Luxembourg
Concert in the metro
Fashion week at the Salon Louvre
Arc d' Triomphe at the Tuilleries
Alexandre Dumas
Nightshade at the Montmartre Cemetery
Notre Dame
Some of our family friends have been traveling through Europe at the same time as we have, but we've never been able to connect. It worked out in Paris. We had a fabulous day with Toolie, Jadyn, Darik and Brittany.
Jayne and Toolie at the Orsay
On the Pont des Arts
Sacre Coeur
Clock at the Orsay
Typical French staircase
On the Batobus
686 steps to the 2e etage
Le Seine from the Eiffel Tower
Weird sensation looking through the glass floor
Child's armor at Musee de l'Armee
Chevalier
Dome at Les Invilades
Napoleon's tomb
Place de la Bastille
Place des Vosges
The Kiss
Caryatid with Sphere
Hotel Biron
We wind up the trip with a spectacular dinner with Susan at Le Chardenoux des Pres, a bistrot in the Saint-Germaine. It is owned by Cyril Lignac, who has his own cooking show and a Michelin star for one of his other restaurants, Le Quinzieme. It is the perfect ending for a perfect trip.
We're getting closer to Paris now, and our next stop is the royal palace at Versailles. It is a magnificent edifice, and today it is filled with people.
Hall of Mirrors
Versailles is the palace of the Louis', starting way back with a hunting lodge built for Louis XIII in 1624. It is most closely associated with Louis XIV, who built much of what we see today and Louis XVI who was married to this lady, one of the Medici:
Marie Antoinette liked the palace, but apparently disliked much of the politics, and so spent as much time as she could further out on the estate at the Grand and Petite Trianon, as well as her village.
A Malachite bowl from Czar Alexander I to Napoleon
Napolean also used the Grand Trianon as one of his residences.
