Paris continued...

I'm really enjoying this city, even if it is just humongous (it would take weeks to have the time to see much of it, without breaks).

July 9th - Versailles... what can I say, this was just spectacular. It's easy to see how the ostentatiousness of the place was in part the reason for revolution - while the vast majority of the populace lived in squalor, the Royal family lived like ... well, kings! On the train out to Versailles some buskers came on board with a guitar and an accordian to play some traditional French songs - very Paris!

July 10th - This was probably our longest day yet - a full 10+ hour day on our feet, seeing the Louvre, the Jardin de Tuileries, walking up the Champs-Élysées, under the Eiffel Tower (the lineups were way too long to see it), and then over to the Mouffetard Marché on the Metro to get some fresh food for dinner. Insane!! The funniest part of our day happened at the beginning when we were seeking a particular road near the hostel to use as our main route to the Louvre (a mere 45 min walk). We asked a police officer sitting in a police van for directions but she could not speak English, so she was yelling to get her partner's attention (he was nearby on his cell phone). After a few failed attempts, she decided to turn on the siren to get him over!! Hysterical!

July 11th - today we hit the Musée D'Orsay (which I liked better than the Louvre) and Saint Chapelle. Ironically, the longest wait by far (for the whole trip to date) was to get in to see Saint Chapelle, mostly because you have to also enter the Palais du Justice and the army is there in force checking everyone thoroughly. Saint Chapelle was completely overwhelming - another "stopped in our tracks" moment. Tonight we are going back to the Eiffel Tower to perhaps go up, but at least see it lit by night.

Tomorrow we move hostels to live in Montmartre for a day, then Toulouse on Sunday... Still not homesick (yet).