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Our new breakfasy buddy Gabrielle (you know…with the yummy pastries) stays home on Wednesdays, so the shutters were drawn on her shop. The replacement shop down the street was filling, but left us wanting. At least the little produce grocery where we've been buying fresh O.J. was open. (This O.J. contraption is worth a quick diversion. The O.J. is squeezed right in front of you in a device resembling a gum-ball machine. Whole oranges sit in a wire basket on top. When a button is pressed, the oranges drop in one-by-one, where they are split and then gauged out. Juice rains down on a strainer and into a bottle.)

With our O.J. sugar buzz going, we trotted off to conquer the confusing RER train service to Versailles. We were confused by this system last year with Chris, and were determined to get it right. Well, we still went to the wrong platform (again), but stopped short of boarding the wrong train.

Thirty minutes later, we de-trained at Versailles Rive Gauche, and a light rain began…an ominous repeat from our drenched visit last summer? Fortunately no. The rained cleared up and the sun even made a brief, colorful appearance right before it set.

Even though we had visited Versailles just last year, we were treated by with a new billet office, one simple main tour thru the principle rooms including some new rooms, and a very good audio tour in English. Coincidentally, we had just watched Sophia Copola's Marie Antoinette on the flight to Paris, so the images and history were fresh in our minds. The movie was filmed at Versailles, so it was fun trying to place scenes in the appropriate rooms.

A highlight of our visit was the newly refurbished Opera–entirely made from wood cleverly fashioned to resemble marble and plaster. The result is a lush opera house fit for a king. It was built by Louis XV in honor of the marriage of the Dauphin to the young archduchess of Austria, Marie Antoinette. We also took a new tour through the Dauphin's private apartments on the ground floor. Jeff was a little dismayed that large sections of the Chateau were not included on the regular tour. Inquiry at the ticket office did not answer how one would see those rooms. One area that was supposed to be open, the apartments of Mesdames, was closed, but no one bothered to post a sign or warn when buying our ticket. We're getting used to this 🙂

The gardens were a little barren compared with last year, but a fun walk nonetheless. We made our way to the Jupiter Fountain and the Grand Canal. The highlight, however, was almost getting attacked by two agressive swans…yes, we have pictures.

The trip back into the city was FAR simpler! Finished the day with dinner, wine, walking…and tonight an ice cream sundae…and more walking.

As we had done yesterday, we started our day today with some amazing pastries from Gabriele’s. This kicked everything off in grand style.

Our first activity after breakfast was to climb Notre Dame’s dual circular staircases to the top of its famous bell towers. Even though the visibility was limited by weather on the verge of drizzle at any minute, we climbed to the top of Quasimoto’s perch. The views (and architecture along the way) were amazing. We also did a repeat stop-over into the stunning Sainte Chappelle.

We grabbed lunch on the way to our next destination. Lunch was a hearty galette followed by a chocolate covered crepe. This fueled us up for a colorful museum of the history of Paris itself–the Musée Carnavalet.

A light drizzle cut our walk-about short…but only briefly. We still headed out for dinner: fusion Italian food at Caffe Boboli–Jeff’s pesto pasta was particularly good. We ended the day with a walk and drinks.

No sun today. We awoke to a slight drizzle, so we decided to keep close to the apartment. Grabbed two filling pastries from a patisserie (Pastry Gabrielle) on the island. Our furnaces stoked, we trotted off in the chilly air across the Seine to the Left Bank. We decided that the Louvre would be our indoor activity of the day, so we wove along some Left Bank streets, crossed the Pont des Arts, and descended into the Louvre’s giant pyramid.

We discovered that the day AFTER Free-first-Sundays (and in the middle of winter) is CERTAINLY the way to guarantee the fewest visitors at the Louvre. This left us with no lines and more personal space to enjoy the myriad of galleries. We were even able to get close enough to the Mona Lisa to discern details in her face. We stopped long enough to enjoy an unmemorable lunch at a Louvre cafe. Lunch was saved by a warm Nutella and banana crepe for dessert. We stayed in the Louvre until we were shooed back out at 5pm. Dusk had just settled in, so we were able to snap a couple pictures of the Louvre pyramids illuminated.

We rested briefly back at the apartment and then headed out to take some nighttime photos of Notre Dame. We ate a hearty, traditional French dinner on our little Isle at a cozy place near the apartment, and then we walked over into the Marais for a couple of mojitos at Open Cafe.

To bed… To bed… Our eyes are droopy. I am sure we have another fun day ahead.

We emerged from United’s Made-in-the-USA cocoon and stepped wearily onto French soil. Well, French soil covered by Charles de Gaul’s sixties-era Terminal 1. It would seem that a surge of flights arrived just as we did, causing an extra-long line at Passport Control. French efficiency at its best!

All troubles were soon washed away as we were greeted by Victor–our friendly driver into the city. A 30-minute, traffic-free drive later, Victor crossed the Seine–halfway–to enter Isle Saint Louis. This tiny island sits in the center of the city alongside the Isle de la Cite, which houses Notre Dame Cathedral.

Unlike our previous European itineraries, this trip will be based in one place, so we decided to rent a cozy apartment to get a sense of Parisian life. We’re at 52 Rue Saint Louis, Paris if you want to Google Earth us. The apartment’s most dramatic distinguishing feature is its painted wood-beam ceiling. (Our thanks to Brooks for this fantastic recommendation.)

We shut our eyes for an hour, freshened up, and headed out to find lunch. The low-40s air was nippy, but no complaints…not a cloud in the sky. (From what we hear, that will change.) Today, lunch was in honor of our friend Chris and our brief visit in June: croque monsieurs from a cafe next to Notre Dame. After lunch we walked and walked with no particular destination in mind: we strolled out to the Pont Neuf and along the Seine, wandered through the Marais, people-watched at the Palais Royal and Centre Pompidou, and daydreamed in the Tuileries gardens by the pond with little boats sailing across.

We decided to return to a familiar restaurant in the Marais for dinner. Afterwards, the walk back to the apartment was chilly, and the starless sky foretold the end of our one-day sunny day streak. Nevertheless, we are hitting bed satisfied and exhausted.

Jeff finally got to cash in on his Christmas present as we boarded a crack-of-dawn flight to Paris. Our first leg was from SFO to Washington Dulles. The air over Virginia was a bit bumpy for our taste, and our layover was too short to unwind. But some leftover Christmas magic was in the air, and our upgrade to business class came through as we approached the gate. Amazing how a little Champagne before takeoff takes the edge off. (The rest of the edge left with the bottomless wine.)

We landed at CDG in the early AM to begin a relaxing week. Stay tuned.