Versailles...

Versailles. What can we say about this massive building? First of all, it is massive. Like, ridiculously massive. Yet even so, the throngs of people waiting to get in seem to dwarf it. Erica and I waited in line to buy our tickets for two hours (in the rain!), before being told that we now had to wait in another line just to get in. We were in this line, which included a security check, for about 20 or 30 minutes, and then we waited in another line to get our handheld audio guides of the chateau. It was at this point that we were just ready to be done with the whole experience. But it was only just beginning.

The exhibits were not very well organized, and the audio guides left much to be desired. Consequently, we spent a lot of time just looking around the rooms trying to figure out what the significance of everything might be. To top it all off, the rooms were absolutely packed with people. There were many times when you simply couldn't move from one room to another, and the atmosphere was suffocating. All these things together took all of the enjoyment out of the experience for us, and when it was all over we were just so glad to be out of the place.

While the building was a chore to get through, the gardens that extend out behind it were a different story. By the time we got outside, it had stopped raining and the sun was shining. And it was free to get into the gardens after 5:30 pm (they turn off all the fountains and close off many of the areas). It reminded me a lot of the Schoß Charlottenburg gardens (which were an imitation of Versailles's gardens), but a lot bigger with tons of fountains and sculptures. We took a bunch of pictures, but I'm not sure it is possible to convey the expanse of these gardens in pictures. It was nice to just stroll around this beautiful area and enjoy the centuries-old ornamentations. I even think I fell asleep for a little bit when I laid down by the large lake.

When we tried to enter the metro (subway) on the way back home, Erica had to be let through the turnstiles by a French woman who very nicely let her go through with her. This was because Erica's metro ticket has been malfunctioning ever since she got it. We bought 5-day Paris Visité passes at the train station when we first arrived, and we have to insert them into a turnstile at the entrance to every metro station we enter. Mine always works fine and the doors open, but Erica's hasn't been letting her through. It says her ticket is invalid. We're going to have to talk to a metro person tomorrow and see if we can't get her a new one. Hopefully she won't have to buy another one!

Tomorrow is a big day. In the morning, we're going to visit Sacre Coeur, a church that sits on one of Paris's highest hills and overlooks the city. We're hoping to catch a choir rehearsal at 9:45 am. I read online that this is open to the public, but we'll have to see if this is actually true. Then we're off to the Louvre! We're going to spend tons of time in there, and probably spend the evening in the Jardin des Tuileries, the main garden that extends out from the courtyard of the Louvre, and touring the Champs-Élysées, one of the world's most famous streets. We're very excited!

Goodbye Berlin, Hello Paris!

Erica here. Let's see...where did we leave off? It seems like DAYS ago when we were in Berlin but really it was only yesterday.

Yesterday morning, we had "breakfast" as usual at the New Zealand cafe. After that, we headed out to the Berlin wall memorial. We walked alongside the wall, took some pictures, and uh...promoted its deterioration. We visited a really, really cool multi-media exhibit just across the street from the wall. It consisted of old photos, audio, and video. There was a lot of textual information as well, but it was usually an accompaniment to some other form of media. The images and the video were especially helpful in painting a picture of the life of the wall and the lives it affected. (The audio was all in German and Russian so...that didn't really hit home for us as much.) We did get to see some video of John F Kennedy and VP Johnson. All the Berliners were really happy to see them so that was neat to see.

After the wall, we headed back to the hostel to pack up and wait out the rain that had just started up. The New Zealanders had already left. At some point, we were hurried out by one of the hostel dudes. And when we went to check out, the New Zealand guy at the counter sort of "joked" about our late check-out, which wasn't fair - we had asked the previous day when we needed to be out and one of the dudes at the counter said it didn't matter. So there! So we headed out to the train station to wait and wait and wait for the train. The station was actually pretty cool, though. It's practically a shopping center, like a lot of the really cool airports.

Boarding the train was a little confusing, but we got it all figured out thanks to another seasoned traveller who just happened to be in the cart that we had initially boarded (the wrong cart, as it so happens). We rode 2nd class couchette. We both had the two top "beds" in the tiny little "room," which had its ups and downs. We sort of got to take over the luggage rack because we were the only ones who could easily access it, but getting up and down the ladder was sort of a hassle...and I bet annoying for the people trying to sleep below us.

I slept through most of the ride. (I'd get woozy if I stood up for too long while the train was moving.) I hardly took pictures at all. Chris was up for much more of it and perhaps can comment more on the ride later.

When we arrived in Paris this morning, we headed straight for the tourist office to buy our rail passes. The line was moving ridiculously slow and these two really annoying kids were bumping into us, pushing us and making all sorts of racket as they rough-housed. Where were the parents? They were taking an excruciatingly long time talking to the ONE GUY who was working in the tourist office. Ugh. I almost lost it when the little girl started crying and pushed past us to run to mommy. It's all fun and games until someone goes too far. She was wearing a beret too, which also irritated me.

We took the metro to our hostel (le Montclair Montmartre), which was relatively easy to find. Even though we had signed up to check in at noon, the front desk lady said that check-in doesn't start until 3pm. Ugh. Fine. We asked her where we could do laundry and she pointed us up the road. So we did some laundry. It probably cost us about $8 each to wash a week's worth of clothes. After laundry, we headed back to the hostel to drop off our bags. The nice front desk lady decided to go ahead and see if our room was ready...and it was. So she let us in early and we headed straight for the showers...

Showering here is difficult. I miss the awesome shower that we had at Schlafmeile. The showers here...you have to keep turning the water on. It automatically shuts off after about 5 seconds - no exaggeration. It's also really hard to navigate because the shower space is tiny.

After showering, we headed out to buy groceries. We spent 20 euros total for about a week's worth of lunch & snacks. A great deal, considering that we had each been spending close to 20 euros on dinner every night. I just wish I had known that the grocery store didn't give you bags for your items. I had to pack a bunch of stuff in my purse and Chris had to carry a bunch of stuff in his hands! We came back to the hostel with our groceries and fixed us some sandwiches. Then, we started the day.

First we headed out to Notre Dame cathedral, which was free. (That surprised me.) We took a lot of pictures there and bought a cute little token (sort of like our pressed pennies at home) as a souvenir. The only downside to the cathedral was the crowds. Every time I stopped to snap a photo, I felt like I was getting in the way of the meandering herd of people taking the suggested route through the building.

Then we headed out to the Arc du Triomphe. Which was big. There was some sort of ceremony going on when we got there. A lot of military personnel was present and everyone was barred from entering the center of the arch until the drills and ceremonial bits were done. Still don't know what was going on, but suspect that it has to do with the tribute to the unknown soldier.

After the arch, we headed out to the Eiffel Tower. Just before sunset, because we are awesome. We were able to snap day shots, sunset shots, and night shots of Paris from the tower. We stuck around long enough to capture photos of the tower while the millennium lights were twinkling, something that people here (mainly tourists) get really excited about. On the way back to the metro station, we dodged about a billion gypsies selling tiny little eiffel towers (some which lit up different colors...cheesy but also really cool...to me, anyway) before passing by the wonderfully-fragrant Iolanda restaurant. Chris had a ham omelette and I had some Tagliatelle aux eggplant. Mmmm

And now we are back here. Chris is sleeping because he was just not into doing this long blog and I am doing this long blog basically because Chris didn't want to. Well, my wrists hurt from typing so I am going to go to bed now. Check back soon for more of our adventures. Tomorrow, we head to Versailles.