We started the day with a lovely breakfast in our hotel — lots of croissants, meat, cheese, toast, yogurt, hot drinks (chocolate, cafe,tea), cereal,  and fresh-squeezed oj for 11 euro.

Then we went to Versailles.

Our Paris apartment is tres joile! (et grand!)

I’m going to be a bit of a downer here, but I wasn’t all that impressed. Now, factor in the huge numbers of crowds and how much I hate that, becuase that was definitely a problem. But even with that, I just wasn’t impressed. For some reason the fountains were turned off, and that didnt hep the grounds, which were basically just lots of fountains and hedges. Few flowers, nothing wild. Meh. (She shrugs.)

I did love the dragon fountain.

Lunch at Angelina’s however, was fabulous. Best quiche I’ve ever had, with a lovely salad alongside. The tea was tasty, and the desserts were . . . amazing. I don’t often take pictures at a meal, not wanting to be one of ‘those people’, but  I couldn’t resist. Look for yourself!

Our Paris apartment is tres joile! (et grand!) There is a huge living room with a dining table big enough for six to one side. A full kitchen, two bedrooms and baths (one with a lovely bathtub!), and a washer and dryer. The ceilings are high, the floors hardwood . . . it is just lovely.  (Here’s the AirBnB listing: “Chic & cosy Paris 6 appartment“)

Brasserie Balzar

We took the opportunity to sleep in today and had breakfast in our house. It was going to be a driving day and we didn’t have anywhere to be except Versailles in time for dinner.

We did add in the Bayeaux Tapestry — a 210-foot-long embroidery from the 11 century depicting William the Conqueror’s ascension to the throne. It was an amazing piece of work, and the audio guide was great.

Afterwards we had lunch in town, at the eminently forgettable Tapestry Garden. Microwaved, reheated food all around. Blech.

Driving in France, especially on the big roads we were taking was really no problem at all. For one thing, they drive on the right. For another, they are speeders. But they are rude, maybe its a European thing?

Our hotel, the Hotel des Roys, was literally down the block from Versailles, we could see the steps from our front door. Parking was a bit tight — it was crowded! Apparently it was a holiday weekend and a lot of people were seeing the sights. We couldn’t get into the restaurants I’d planned for, so we took our hotel manager’s advice and went down the block to O Comptoir.

This was a typical ‘bistro’ style restaurant with chalkboard menus and very little english spoken. We got by pretty well,partly because there wasn’t a lot of choices for the menu — 4 starters, 5 entrees, 4 desserts and three wines. But the food was good, very good and we had a lot of fun.