Shona woke up this morning with a head cold so today's plan went right out the window. We were planning on a day trip to Versailles which is the palace where King Louis XIV and Marie Antoinette lived. It is apparently really beautiful and opulent and you can see why the French people
revolted against the royalty and church. Note: when Marie Antionette famously said "Let them eat cake" she wasn't meaning cake as we have today, she meant the burnt crust on the bread, which in those days was called cake! The new plan meant Mike went to breakfast and brought back some baguette for Shona while she slept in. By the time we left it was 1pm and while we may have 'wasted' a morning in Paris our late nights and early starts had to catch up with us sometime. To make the most of the afternoon we caught the metro out to La Defense to see the grand arch. It's a modern arch built in alignment with the Arc de Triomphe which is at the other end of the street (several km away). As we got high yesterday we didn't feel the need to go to the top, but Mike gave it a thumbs up anyway (with the nearby thumb
sculpture). La Defense also has a shopping mall, where Shona purchased a denim skirt which is in preparation for more hot weather (hopefully). We were once again baffled by the army men complete with machine guns who seemed to patrol around in groups of three. We've seen them all over Paris and wonder what situation they would need to fire their machine guns? Back at the Champes Elysee we wandered along the shops (just window shopping this time) and stopped for a coffee at a place with waiters dressed as sailors. They were very good and the coffee was almost as good as back home. Plaza de Concord was worth a stop too. It's a massively wide intersection
with two fountains and a huge obelisk which was gifted by the Egyptians. One fountain had had dish washing liquid added to it, which resulted in foam on the water and reminded Mike of the Octagon prank pulled by students. Back at the hostel we watched a bit of the US Open Federer vs Hewitt (YAY Federer) before having a pizza , packing our bags for travelling tomorrow and getting an earlier night.
revolted against the royalty and church. Note: when Marie Antionette famously said "Let them eat cake" she wasn't meaning cake as we have today, she meant the burnt crust on the bread, which in those days was called cake! The new plan meant Mike went to breakfast and brought back some baguette for Shona while she slept in. By the time we left it was 1pm and while we may have 'wasted' a morning in Paris our late nights and early starts had to catch up with us sometime. To make the most of the afternoon we caught the metro out to La Defense to see the grand arch. It's a modern arch built in alignment with the Arc de Triomphe which is at the other end of the street (several km away). As we got high yesterday we didn't feel the need to go to the top, but Mike gave it a thumbs up anyway (with the nearby thumb 
sculpture). La Defense also has a shopping mall, where Shona purchased a denim skirt which is in preparation for more hot weather (hopefully). We were once again baffled by the army men complete with machine guns who seemed to patrol around in groups of three. We've seen them all over Paris and wonder what situation they would need to fire their machine guns? Back at the Champes Elysee we wandered along the shops (just window shopping this time) and stopped for a coffee at a place with waiters dressed as sailors. They were very good and the coffee was almost as good as back home. Plaza de Concord was worth a stop too. It's a massively wide intersection 
with two fountains and a huge obelisk which was gifted by the Egyptians. One fountain had had dish washing liquid added to it, which resulted in foam on the water and reminded Mike of the Octagon prank pulled by students. Back at the hostel we watched a bit of the US Open Federer vs Hewitt (YAY Federer) before having a pizza , packing our bags for travelling tomorrow and getting an earlier night.
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Had just commented to Dad that early mornings would have to catch up with you eventually - glad you had the chance to recharge (Versailles not that great anyway - though K may disagree!)
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