Katherine's Next Trip!

We arrived in town armed with our 2-week Navigo transport passes (the previous week we were one day early to use them, sad) and hopped on a train to get to our apartment in the Ile de St. Louis in the middle of the river.  It was already seeming less crowded than our first jaunt through town, and we were armed with our “Pass Jeux” which was a pass to gain access to areas close to the river in the days leading up to the historic staging of the Opening Ceremonies along the Seine River.  The Pass Jeux was restricted to only people staying within the security zone along the river or those who lived or worked there.  Each access point was staffed with a HOST of gendarmes looking stern and foreboding where everyone had to show their passport and pass to go beyond the barriers.  

For the days leading up to the games, many people stayed away from town and with only a few people allowed inside the secure zone due to either living, working, or lodging there, it was a GHOST TOWN.  Even the zones with less pedestrian restrictions but still vehicular restrictions were uncharacteristically empty for a summer’s eve in Paris. I took so many photos and videos of a perfect summer day in Paris with almost NO ONE around.  

Knowing that we didn’t want to start off our time in Paris with a bad meal, we had arranged for dinner at the famous Polidor restaurant which has been serving artists, students, intellectuals and politicians on the left bank for over 175 years with one of its most notable patrons being Ernest Hemingway.  This was our second restaurant where we spoke entirely in French to our server!  I was even more proud of us that our tablemates spoke to her completely in English!  It was a classic French bistro with typical French food and atmosphere, a perfect way to start our time in Paris.  

After dinner, we went for our first stroll through Paris to get the lay of the land and to take advantage of the almost non-existent crowds.

Since our apartment was on Ile Saint Louis, the island behind Ile de la Cite, almost any time we went anywhere we had to walk past Notre Dame. We savored these first few days of walking past such an iconic cathedral without being jostled or dodging other tourists.

We headed home to our cozy apartment to rest for the true start of our Paris adventures, the next morning in Versailles!

Versailles

One of the sites at the top of our list was the Palace of Versailles.  With Casey loving French history and all things Marie Antoinette and one of my favorite rooms in the WORLD being the Hall of Mirrors, it was a must do.  We decided to get a closer look and visit the King’s Private Apartments which are only accessible by tours and we also got to step inside the Royal Opera which still holds performances to this day.   

After our tour, we were released to explore the rest of the public rooms, and finally to the Hall of Mirrors!  As regular tourists were staying away from Paris this summer due to the “supposed crowds,” we were astounded at how EMPTY it was, which was a real treat!

After wandering through the ENORMOUS palace, we headed out to the gardens, which I was unable to visit last time I visited because it was the dead of winter and would have been no fun. 

Strolling along the hedges and beneath the shade exploring such a vast estate and even going over to the Trianon and Petit Trianon, palaces in their own right, had us walking MILES and MILES to see all that there was.  

Even the Queen’s Hamlet where she used to pretend to be a villager made me think I had been transported into Belle’s town from Beauty and the Beast.  

We headed back to town to try a typical dish of Brittany and Normandy, the galette at Breizh Café, a famous and delicious café where we replenished our energy before heading home (but didn’t forget to try their special cider and dessert!), still strolling along deserted streets ready for another big day.

Normandy

The next item on our must do list was a visit to the region of Normandy to tour the WWII D-Day sites.  History really comes to life for me when I go to a place and see where history happened, I understand and feel it more.  With that in mind, I knew we needed to do it right, so I researched the best tours of D-Day sites and ended with Overlord Tours, who have both full day tours (if you arrive on the earliest 2 ¼ hour train from Paris) or half day tours (which we opted for because there were no other people wanting to do the full day from Paris sadly).  

We went with the earlier train from Paris just in case the opportunity arose for the full tour (we literally walked into the subway station as they were opening the gates at 5:15am!), but we ended up using that time to visit the Museum of the Battle of Normandie (which outlined the actual MONTHS long campaign in the area) and the famous Bayeux Tapestry which stretches 69 meters as it tells the tale of William the Conqueror’s English invasion.  

We grabbed a sandwich (a jambon-beurre for real this time! Casey got more stuff on hers) and a delicious Paris-Brest (another pastry I was wanting to try while in France) and ate on a bench before our tour.  

The Overlord tour was very thorough for the 4 hours we had.  We managed to visit Omaha Beach to picture the events that took place on June 6, 1944, standing on the sand and looking towards England.  We then visited the American Cemetery to pay our respects to the sacrifices those people made as well as Point du Hoc, the cliffs that were strategic to control the inland roads and what they thought was a crucial stronghold (it was less crucial than they expected due to previous bombings from the springtime, but definitely helped in the occupation of the area over the summer).  

A quick stroll through a town festival and a visit to the Notre Dame Cathedral of Bayeux, and then we had a relaxing train trip home.  We made it back to the station needing food after 9pm and passing a Carrefour (the official supermarket of the Olympics, meaning souvenir reusable bags, score!), we decided to get some French frozen dinners to take home.  They were DELICIOUS and we were ready for bed after our 16 hours of travel.  

Then it was off to sleep before the excitement of the Olympics was to start the next day!