July 1, 2015 (Wednesday) – After our day at the Chateau de Versailles, we headed back to the RER train station to grab a train back into Paris. We were looking forward to doing some extra stuff when we got back into Paris. However, things did not go smoothly for the end of this hottest day of the year so far.
July 1, 2015 (Wednesday) – After exploring the Chateau, we ventured out into the gardens at Versailles. The fountain was unfortunately not running that day, but the gold-gilded statues surrounded by golden frogs was an impressive sight on its own.
Being a scorcher of a day, we decided to not walk the gardens. We didn’t have time to walk the whole grounds. So we decided to splurge on renting a golf cart to get us around. On a day where temperatures reached 38C, we were more than willing to pay in order not to sweat buckets. And trust me, we were still sweating buckets without all the walking.
July 1, 2015 (Wednesday) – This past Canada Day was spent in Paris. More specifically, we headed out to the famed Chateau de Versailles just outside of Paris. We got up early in the morning and grabbed a quick breakfast at the nearby Atelier Jules. Then we were off on the Metro and then onto a RER train to head out of town. It was already very warm and it would be sweltering record temperatures for the rest of the day.
June 28, 2015 (Tuesday) – We managed to pack a lot in this day. Morning at the Musee d’Orsay. A quick visit to the Rodin Museum. Paid our respects to Napoleon Bonaparte. Walked through the history of French military. Grabbed gelato on Rue Cler. We were now making our way to the Champs de Mars and the Eiffel Tower.
If you haven’t figured out by now, Paris is a walking city. We walked everywhere. After visiting the Musee D’Orsay, the Musee Rodin, and Les Invalides, we continued to walk towards the Eiffel Tower. We were really ahead of schedule and made sure our route to the Parisian landmark would take us through Rue Cler.
I had read about Rue Cler in a Rick Steeves travel book. Mr. European travel guru, Rick Steeves, highly recommended spending time along Rue Cler for several reasons. Rue Cler is home to a compact collection of local epiceries, fromageries, boulangeries, and more. It is a cleaned up microcosm of every aspect of French daily living.
We made our way across the wide Parisian boulevard and found our way to foot of the dome. This dome was originally the Royal Chapel. In 1840, it was designated to become Napoleon’s tomb. However, the required modifications to include a crypt took over 20 years to complete. The Dome in its current form was completed in 1861.
metro babel 