This is the final installment of the Paris When It Sizzles series - which was never meant to be a series but I had WAY too much to write about and way too many photos to include to fit all in one post!
Day 4:
Our final day was dedicated wholly to the palace of Versailles. We woke up early, grabbed some pastries on the way from a gorgeous bakery right opposite our hotel called "Oh Mon Cake!", had a quick look at all the amazing skincare in French pharmacies (woooah) and hopped on the train to Versailles! On board the train there was the sweetest, smiliest, loveliest old man playing a piano accordion.
Upon arriving at Versailles, the town alone was teaming with people. When we got to the palace itself, we joined the end of a gianormous queue (in the sweltering heat - we used the umbrella to shield ourselves from sunstroke). We somehow managed to pass the time and got into the palace itself, decided against the audio tour (those things take a lot of patience to listen to). We strolled around the beautiful rooms and grande halls - my favourite parts were the most amazing old-fashioned French interior designs and the decor in every single room, and the Hall of Mirrors.
After we had seen all we wanted to see indoors, we tried to find our way back out but got lost - finding ANOTHER Angelina's café! The excitement was immense as we sat down for our second helping of the world's most amazing hot chocolate. SO GOOD. When we eventually did find our way out, we also found a Ladurée Macaron shop on the way.
When we eventually got out to the gardens, they were absolutely breathtaking - and so vast! We queued up to get on this little tram that takes you around the gardens (beware of that word 'around' - it was literally around, not through!) and although the queue took almost 2 hours, by the time the tram came we were just so relieved to be able to sit down! It was quite a bumpy ride and the heat and exhaustion made us quite giddy, which resulted in us giggling and bouncing along with the bumpy road at the back of the tram. Although it didn't go through the gardens themselves, it did take us around pretty much the whole of the Versailles property - showing us other various buildings and churches on the grounds.
After our giddy tram adventure, we decided to head back to the train station as there was one more place we knew we wanted to see before we left Paris the next morning. We fell asleep on the train back from Versailles and woke up just as it was pulling into the station. We whipped out our trusty map once more and found where we were headed - Paris' Left Bank, the Latin Quarter specifically, home of the infamous Shakespeare & Co. bookstore. The original haunt, not too dissimilar to the regular customers at Les Deux Magots, was known as a gathering place for writers such as Ernest Hemingway, Ezra Pound and James Joyce (who used it as his office) in the 1920's, - the original store is mentioned in Hemingway's 'A Moveable Feast." However, unfortunately the original store closed in the 1940's and never re-opened, thus giving way to the opening of the current Shakespeare & Co. (opened in 1951 - originally named Le Mistral, later re-named) that stands there today.
George Whitman, who opened this second bookstore, created it as a bookstore but also as a reading library, where people could come to buy and sell books or simply just sit and read. He himself branded it, 'a socialist utopia masquerading as a bookstore.' It is a wonderful and welcoming place with an amazingly olde-worldy vibe - definitely a must see if you are interested in books, literature and the wonderful writers the original store loaned itself to. Truly an amazing place.
We strolled around for another few hours, stopping for a bite to eat and soaking in every last piece of Paris that we could before we would be torn away from it the next morning.
It was an amazing trip - I would go back there in a heartbeat! If you are ever considering taking a trip to Paris, absolutely do it, you will fall in love with the city. I hope you enjoyed these installments of our trip to Paris - I really enjoyed writing them and sharing our experiences.
Thank you again to GG for sharing some of her photos so they could be added too.
Thank you for reading!
Síofra
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