Paris, France April 30 and May 1

Tuesday, April 30

Spent the entire day at Versailles.  Left the apartment at 8 am, got back at 8 pm.  Whew.  Cold, cloudy, then rainy day, but still wonderful to see the gardens!    Taking the advice of a Paris travel guide, we go to Versailles early, but bypassed the long long lines for the Palace and went directly to the gardens, which we had almost to ourselves for some time.  We strolled through the parterres planted with spring bulbs (spring in Paris is about 2 weeks later than in Philadelphia this year).

We admired the orangerie with its hundreds of potted citrus and palms, then

strolled through the groves which were filled with music.  The modern fountain set to music was a delight. 

We rented bicycles to get to Marie-Antoinette's hamlet and the Petit and Grand Trianon.

The Hamlet was charming

and the furnishings in the Petit and Grand Trianon were beautiful.

We warmed up with a fabulous hot chocolate and a caramel éclair from Angelina's little café at Le Petit Trianon before our walk back through the gardens to the palace.

Still had most of the area to ourselves, relatively, until we got back to the Palace entrance about 4 pm, only to discover the lines were as long as they had been when we arrived at 9 am. 

It took us 1 hour to get to the front of the line. We think there is no one left in Korea-they were all at Versailles, pushing and shoving and rushing through the palace as if there were a reward for getting through fastest.  To top it off, the station where we had expected to take the train back to Paris was closed, so we were directed to walk to the next station, about a 15 minute walk in the rain.  Needless to say we were cold, wet and tired when we finally got back to Helene's welcome apartment.  A once-in-a-lifetime visit.  As in we'll never do that again!  The gardens, yes, but not the Palace.

Wednesday, May 1

May Day, a national holiday in France, so all the museums and sights closed, but vendors everywhere selling  lilies of the valley.   

We had arranged to meet our Intervac friend Frederique, who came to stay in our apartment in the summer of 2012.

She kindly gave us a wonderful walking tour of her neighborhood, Buttes-Chamont, including the charming Butte Bergeyre micro-village of five little streets

and then the beautiful, hilly Parc des Buttes Chaumont.

We met Sophie, her friend who also visited us in Philadelphia, for a delicious lunch.

Then they walked us to Parc Belleville, a more modern park up on the slopes of Hauts de Belleville; the modern common was created in 1988 to bring a bit of greenery to the park-deprived 20th arrondissement. We could see from the Eiffel Tower to Sacre Cour!

 They also showed us the hipster neighborhood of Belleville, with it's graffiti/art covered streets.

In the late afternoon we had tickets for a concert at Saint Chapelle which included Vivaldi's The Four Seasons, Albinoni's Adagio and Pachelbel's Canon. Ethereal!

The downpour started just as the music for "spring" started-even the musicians were smiling as they were playing raindrop music as the rain pelted against the windows of Saint Chapelle

 We finished the evening with a wonderful dinner just up the hill from us on  rue Lamarck at Au Clocher de Montmarte.  Up, as up the 150 steps.  Onions stuffed with beef cheeks and cod garnished with purple onions.  A work of art!