Oops

Day 7 in the books: Versailles

Today's the final day of what has been a glorious trip.  Spending it at Chateau de Versailles was such a great way to wrap up our week.  There is no way to convey the opulence of the Palace of Versailles.  It is considered the most beautiful royal household in the world.  Not only is the palace itself massive, ornate and impossible to adequately describe, the gardens, fountains, statues and perfectly manicured grounds surrounding the palace are breathtakingly beautiful as well.  We downloaded a Rick Steves podcast which we listened to as we moved through the palace and surrounding properties. (Thank you, Sheree, for finding that podcast!). The best decision we made today was to spend 7.50 euros for tickets to ride the Les Petits Train which enabled us to explore the other parts of the estate beyond the palace--the Trianon, the queen's garden & hamlet, the farm, the grand canal, etc. Being able to hop on & off that little train saved us not only time but gave us more stamina to walk the 12.8 miles we covered today.  Yes, 12.8 miles today!  So glad we had Chateau de Versailles on our must see list for today!

And in case you're interested in knowing how many miles our legs have taken us in the past 7 days here's the grand total: 74.72 miles!  I'd say we've made the most of our time in France!  But we're ready to head back to Texas tomorrow and anxious to see our family and friends!

Hall of Mirrors 

Queen's Bedchamber

Le Temple de l'Amour

The farm

Day 6 in the books: Last Tango in Paris

We left for the airport in Nice at 7:00 this morning to catch our Easy Jet flight back to Paris. Throughout our stay on the Riviera there wasn't a day that went by that we didn't comment to one another about how incredibly fortunate we have been to visit this spectacular region and to experience such picture perfect weather.   But we were eager to return to the City of Lights today and continue our exploration of this beautiful city...we still had much to see.

We walked another 10.7 miles today, and we feel fairly confident that at least half can be attributed to climbing the steps from the bottom of the hill to the top of the butte Montmartre as we made our way to Sacre-Coeur Basilica, a beautiful shimmering white church that overlooks the city.  It was worth the effort to get there!  

Next on our list was Notre-Dame Cathedral.  We got there in time to catch a tour and learned so much about the history of this magnificent cathedral.

 Awe-inspiring!  Even found Point Zero, 

the point from which everything in the city is measured. 

From Notre Dame we walked to La Sainted Chappelle (Holy Chapel). The whole chapel is lined with 13th century stained glass with each window depicting a Biblical story, starting  from Genesis.  You'd think two C of C gals would be able to recognize at least ONE scene depicted from the Bible, but alas we could not. Still ... A beautiful chapel.  

While in the area we located Shakespeare and Company Bookstore, a nod to Todd Womble, avid reader and soon to be Todd Womble, PhD.

We strolled along the Seine waterfront and saw New Bridge (Pont Neuf), the oldest bridge in Paris. Don't ask us why the oldest bridge in Paris is called New Bridge--It just is! 

And to top off our day: the Louvre!

Seeing the works of world-renown artists--paintings, sculptures, ancient pieces was too much to take in.  First, let me say that the Louvre itself is so beautiful. 

We had a list of our "must sees" so for the most part that helped us keep our focus.  (Note: We won't talk about the hour it took us to find the last 2 sculptures on our list and how many Louvre attendants we stopped along the way to locate those masterpieces). 

It is easy to see why the Louvre is the most visited, most famous museum in the world! Spectacular! Love, Love!!

Bottom line....At the end of the day we were two tuckered out Texans. 

Day 5 in the books---back to Monte Carlo

We went back to Monte Carlo on this last  day on the French Coast and logged an additional 6.8 miles.  Yes, we walked.  We shopped. Nuff said! 

Even the train station is pretty in Monte Carlo.

More beautiful grounds 

Back in Paris

Day 4 in the books: 1 day--2 cities

This morning we took the 30 minute train ride to Cannes, a city west of Nice.  For those of us who love movies, Cannes is known worldwide for it's famous film festival held each May.  We stopped at a sidewalk cafe along the Boulevard de la Croisette and enjoyed the people watching as well as a leisurely breakfast (freshly squeezed orange juice, cafe latte, croissant & omelette). We walked across the street to the Palais des Festivals to get an up close & personal look at where the celebrities gather during the film festival and to check out the hand prints embedded in the sidewalk outside the festival hall.  We made our way to Le Suquet, Cannes' historical old town, walked up to  a castle (now a museum) and took in the beautiful views of the bay, city, mountains and islands.  We also strolled through the marketplace which was lined with everything from antiques to crafts.  As is our "MO" on this trip we did lots of walking and thoroughly enjoyed this city.  

We decided we could fit in one more town today--Antibes.  A short train ride later and we were in this quaint little town with a totally different vibe.  We shopped the square, strolled along the harbor, made friends w/a shopkeeper  and called it a day!  11.8 miles walked. 

Our home away from home

The Nice Excelsior Hotel has been a great place for our stay on the French Riviera. It is a small boutique hotel with helpful, friendly staff and a location that can't be beat.  We're just a short walk to the train station so it is extremely convenient to catch the train each morning as we set out to explore another coastal town. And did I mention that great shopping is a 10 minute walk away? Gotta love it!

Th FAMOUS Casino Monte Carlo

CANNES. yes we CAN!

Day 3 in the books

Today was our trip to Monaco, a 25 minute train ride from Nice. It didn't take long for us to realize just how spectacular Monte Carlo is.  The harbor was filled with more yachts than we could count, and we walked along the streets where the historic Grand Prix De Monaco is run.  The famous Casino de Monte-Carlo is the centerpiece of entertainment for the uber rich of Monaco and its guests from around the world.  And there's plenty of high-end shopping for those who tire of gambling.  We walked through Fontvielle Park where there's a beautiful rose garden planted in memory of Princess Grace.  Our absolute favorite part of the day was seeing the Prince's Palace of Monaco, a fortress which sits atop a hill overlooking Monte Carlo and the entire region. It is the official residence of the Prince of Monaco.  (Did I say it sits atop a really tall hill with lots of steps?)  We didn't see the prince but we did see the changing of the guard.  The Cathedral de Monaco where Prince Rainier and Princess Grace were married is also within the walls of the fortress along with fun shops and cafes.  A great day in Monte Carlo!  

Overall we've been pretty successful in navigating our way around the Riviera with perhaps one minor (or not so minor) exception.  A supposedly leisurely 3.6km coastal walk from Monte Carlo to Cap d' Ail called the Mala Footpath turned out to be the hike that never ended.  Our plan was to walk the path and ride the train back to Nice.  Sounded simple enough. We're 2 reasonably intelligent adult women.  We can do this.  No problem. Well, not quite.  We found Cap d' Ail but could NOT find the train station.  We asked several people along the path how to get to the station, and they graciously gave us directions, albeit DIFFERENT directions.  And all of them involved going uphill, climbing stairs...lots of stairs!  Some of them the same stairs we'd already climbed, then descended, and climbed again!  Well...you get the picture!!  We FINALLY found the train station at Cap d' Ail for our trip back to Nice only to discover that we'd just missed the train and the next one wouldn't come for another 2 hours. So we set out to find a bus stop for the bus that runs along the coastline.  Fortunately a nice young man helped us find the bus stop.  And you guessed it...it was uphill from where we were.  But soon our very tired bodies were on a very crowded bus but very grateful to be headed back to Nice.  Exhausted. Weary.  11.4 miles walked.  Sense of humor intact.

The walk that never ended