Happy Bastille Day!
Ruth and I are sitting in the hottest internet cafe known to man. Hence, this might be short.
Ruth and I had a glorious time yesterday- at IKEA. We traveled out into the suburbs to visit an IKEA, because we thought it would be fun to go to an IKEA in another country, and it also provided a little taste of home. We wandered around the display floors and saw all of the interesting products that they carry only in Europe, and then we had a delicious and cheap meal in the restaurant. Everything in Paris is super expensive, so it's nice to find something a little cheaper every now and again.
After IKEA, we got started on our real sight-seeing: Versailles. We toured the Chateaux and the famous Hall of Mirrors. The palace was so grandiose and everything was gold-plated, and it is hard to believe that people actually lived there once. We took a break from the heat on a shady bench in the garden and watched tourists in golf carts fly by and tractors hauling palm trees to who-knows-where. The weather suddenly decided to get nice- sunny and hot- all of the sudden yesterday, so it was the perfect day to see Versailles. We also toured Marie Antionette's house and some of the gardens, but we couldn't see it all before it closed. Versailles is massive- to see it all in one day would be an accomplishment. The gardens were very beautiful, and the fountains in the garden would be something to see when they are actually working, which is only the weekends...
On our way home, we had another interesting subway experience. A homeless man got on the train and started pushing (quite hard) some of the women who were in his way. He spent most of the ride cursing and yelling, until he decided to pull out a knife and brandish it at some of the passengers and then stab the door. Once he pulled out a suspicious-looking bottle and took a pull he was a little happier and put the knife away, but it definitely was... interesting. We were glad that he didn't get off at our stop.
This morning Ruth and I were kicked out of our room by our landlady, who made us move up to the 6th floor for our last night. That was a little exciting, but we have a better view from the 6th floor, and we don't have to listen to her yell all day long.
The Bastille Day parade down the Champs-Elysees was this morning. Ruth and I have been so exhausted from all of our adventures, so we didn't get up early enough to watch it live, but we did watch it on TV. It was quite the military display- I think every single person in any branch of military, as well as all of the military equipment was on parade. There were even cement trucks!
We went to Montmartre this afternoon and saw the Sacre-Coeur church and enjoyed a beautiful view of Paris. We also took a saunter through the Luxembourg Gardens, which are very pretty and flowery.
This evening we're hoping to see the fireworks by the Eiffel Tower- we'll have to go pretty early to make sure that we get a spot. Tomorrow we're going to a World War II museum in Caen and touring the D-Day beaches, and then Monday we head off to England. We're going to be in small-town England and Wales for a while, so we're not sure when we'll get online again. I wish you a happy Bastille Day!
