Paris - Day 6 - Part Deux

Today's activity was Versailles.  M and K were back from up North, so the four of us headed out.  Versailles is about 30 minutes west of Paris and is an easy train ride.  The train ride is nice and it is neat to see life outside the city limits.  Once we arrived in Versailles we headed toward the Chateau, but we were stopped dead in our tracks. [A little back story here, M is allergic to, well he is allergic to everything.  I think he might even be allergic to the air, but his main irritants are food, mainly dairy.  So in France it is somewhat hard for M to know if he will get to eat.]  So, there in front of us, right there across form the train station was that bastion of French culture, McDonald's.  I would venture to say that there are more McDonald's in Paris than  in the whole State of Florida.  And if you think getting a reservation at Taillevent is hard, try making your way through the line at the McDonald's on Blvd. Raspail.  So right there 500 meters away form the most opulent Chateau in the whole world the four of us sat down at a Mickey D's.  I am here to tell you that a Royal with Cheeses is a damn good burger.  Thank God for American capitalism.

After dining on the nectar of the God's we walked along the Plane Tree lined path to Versailles.  I am not one for revolution and I generally feel that Monarchies are a cool form of government (as long as I don't have to live under one), but after seeing Versailles I can understand why the French got a little ticked off.  The place is absolutely amazing. The place is so big it has it's own church in it, which of course they call a chapel, but trust me it is probably bigger than the church you go to. The hall of mirrors is unbelievable and when you look out on the gardens you think you are looking at some kind of Hollywood set, it is all almost to beautiful to be real.

The best part of Versailles was our tour guide. This guy was more French than the most French Frenchman in all of France.  This guy looked exactly like the museum curator in Ghostbusters II and he kept referring to the Kings of Versailles and their Court as his ancestors. At the end of the tour he said in his ultra thick accent (as if to get a dig at us) that the reason there was a French Revolution was that King Louis had spent all of France's money bailing out America.  It was then that I didn't feel so bitter about losing a war in 1865.

We took the train back into town and got ready for dinner. We had reservations (a must in Paris) at a place called Benoit. This place was French Cuisine at it's finest. I tried to get M to order Tete-de-Veau, but he was skeptical, and our English speaking waiter explained to him what it was. We had a great meal and bonded with the two French couples siting next to us (which in American terms means right on top of us) over our distaste of this loud fat obnoxious American salesman sitting at a table behind us.

Everyone filled up on great food and great wine and we then headed out to the famous Moulin Rouge for the 11:00 show. What a great show. It is a mix between a broadway show, Cirque du Soleil, a comedy routine, and a topless bar. Possibly one of the best nights out one can ever have.

CE