Versailles and Other Adventures

So, my body is hurting allllll over! It's been a busy couple of days.

When I left off with y'all, I had just visited the sewers. Well we ended up going back to the Eiffel Tower, and got to view the city. We only visited the 2nd floor, since it's kinda expensive to go all of the way up to the top, but that was fine with me! After that we went to go visit the mini-Statue of Liberty just down the street (think National Treasure 2). It was a bit of a walk, and we had to back track a bit, but we finally got there. It was no where close to being as tall as the US one, and you couldn't really get a great picture with it since it was right by the water, but it was still nice to have a bit of home there.

Today was Versailles! I love history, especially of this sort, so I've been looking forward to going here for almost as long as I've known I've been going to Paris. Seriously, how could Marie Antoinette want to stay in Belgium instead of over there? I mean, I guess she didn't speak the language, didn't know the culture, or didn't have any of her family there... But it was so gorgeous! The chapel (which unfortunately wasn't available for entrance) was so pretty, and of course the Hall of Mirrors was amazing! It was really just so crazy to think of all of the history which occurred in those halls. I seriously would not have minded being Marie Antoinette... Well, without the head chopping I guess.

The actual chateau was nothing compared to the garden though. It was 6 euros to get in to, but that was a pretty good price for how long we stayed in there. The gardens are famous for Antoinette and the breathtaking scenery. I'm not even kidding. We explored all of the gardens which was quite large, I have no idea how many miles we walked today. There were lots of ponds which had referrals to the Greek gods and goddesses. My 2 favorite was the one dedicated to the Titans and then the Hercules ones. There were also countless statues just everywhere, and I gave up trying to take pictures of all of them. My favorite place of the entire gardens was actually the ballroom area. I could only try to imagine what it would be like to get all dolled up in their outfits, even if they were painful, and dance to live music out there. Kelley got a great panoramic photo which I may just have to steal from her. It's just so hard to believe that people actually used to just hang out back there. I would absolutely love to go horseback riding back there and get to see everything, and stop to play in all of the ponds. It's a definitely a must on my list of recommendations for France!

Living in hostels is not ideal, but it definitely could be worse. The coolest part is actually just hearing where everybody comes from. So far, I haven't heard any other Americans here. A couple of Australian guys are right next to us on the group computers, so that's probably the closest. There has actually been a lot less American tourists here than I would have imagined.

Our first night we had our dorm of 6 beds to ourselves, but tonight it's a full night which has already found for it's self to be a bit awkward. Last night a guy and a girl who came together took the 2 bunkbeds on the other side of the wall from us (the guy snored...) and there weren't too many bump ins with them. But we just got another roommate, a Frenchman, which is really weird. I know it's only 1 night, but we're not really looking forward to there being 2 bunkbeds of us and him. Thankfully Kelley and I are sharing a bed, so he's going to be with Paige!

Another thing I'm just kinda missing from America is my personal space. That bubble I've been used to? Yeah it's been burst. It's a little bit uncomfortable and annoying, but oh well, it's all part of being in Europe!

Well tomorrow we leave Paris and go to London. So instead of people speaking a funny language, it'll only be a funny accent. We'll be waking up at 6 to go to the Chunnel, and then will spend 2 hours traveling there, get to the Hostel (hopefully) around 11, and have the rest of the day to explore! I think tomorrow we're taking a Double Decker bus to explore the city. On our list is also a self-made Harry Potter tour and I believe Windsor Castle along with other things.

It's been a short time in Paris, but I really do think we've made the best of our time of it. I'll definitely be looking forward to the 2.5 hours just sitting on the train. My photo count is up to 165, and hopefully I'll be able to upload some in London. Apparently we'll have free WiFi there.

Well, love and miss y'all! Can't wait to write more!

P.S. The picture is of me posing like the Statue behind me! Thought I'd add one here!