The Passineau Family: Pittsburgh Edition: Day 6: France 2013, our last day!

For our last day in France, we got rainy weather :( No seriously guys, like soaking, misty rain! I wore my poncho the entire day. Luckily, we only had Versailles left on our list of things to see before our departure. We headed to the nearest pastry shop & fueled up with our last pastries in Paris. We took the RER--light rail train from our hotel out to Versailles. One thing I never knew about Versailles is that is was once a hunting lodge in the middle of the woods. So, even though, it is only about a 30 min. ride on the train to get to Versailles & still seems very much like it is still inside Paris city limits, it was once a secluded area. When we arrived at Versailles, there were long lines to purchase a ticket & a long line to enter. After obtaining our tickets for the very basic tour, which included the main chateaux & gardens, we grabbed yet another coffee before heading inside. Everything about the chateaux is over the top, from the golden fencing, to the art, and even the bed linens. One thing I will always remember is seeing the machine-gun armed military presence around the golden fence of the chateaux. Obviously, that made me do a double take...didn't really expect that; however, with such a priceless, historic place I guess security is essential. Once inside, we received a headphone set & digital recorder, which would play a recording of details about the various rooms in which we explored. Louis XIV(the Sun King), was the monarch whom greatly influenced the appearance of Versailles. The over-the-top, ornate rooms were very much part of how he wished people to see him. He united France during a tumultuous time & became a symbol of the grandeur of the country. Of course, his wife, Marie Antoinette, was also a famous part of the history at Versailles. They have matching apartment spaces on two different sides of the palace. Later, Napoleon, his heirs, & Louis Phillipe...he was the monarch who saw Versailles as an important historical emblem for France, called Versailles home. It took about 4 hours to get through the palace & gardens. We truly did not get to enjoy the gardens due to the rain, but you could certainly see where in full sun they would have been quite grand. One of the 1st things we saw as we entered was the chapel. Apparently, all of the monarchs were quite insistent that everything in the chateaux halt at 10AM & everyone attend mass. From there we saw many other impressive rooms, but none, quite as grand as the "Hall of Mirrors". This was used to receive royalty & dignitaries from other countries. Again, I marveled at the ceilings in this most grand of chateaus. The art was amazing! After finishing the gardens, we headed back to our hotel to get ready for our last dinner in Paris. We didn't have a reservation for that night & truly, didn't know how it would go due to the bad weather all day. Around 5PM, the rain began to subside & we decided to take a walk along the Seine. I didn't take my camera that night as I wanted Michael & I to enjoy some time to ourselves without any distractions. We walked through some interesting alley ways in Paris & ended our journey at a cafe near Notre Dame...oddly enough, where we had began our adventure the previous Sunday. As we ordered our last meal in Paris & toasted 10 happy years of marriage, we saw Notre Dame light up across the Seine. It was a picture perfect ending to a magical trip! Thank you to Michael for giving me a wonderful life & for marking our 10 year in such an extravagant way. Thank you to Michael's mom for caring for our girls while we were gone & for making this opportunity possible for us. I am incredibly grateful for all that God has blessed me with in my life & hope that you enjoyed a glimpse of our French adventure. Au Revoir & Merci for reading :)

P.S. The usual overload of pictures of the girls will resume next week!

One last pastry shop