We were picked up by our tour guide, Gwendolyn, right on time and joined four others for a tour of Versailles. It was very cold this morning, well below freezing as a lot of cars were coated with ice. However, the sun was shining and the wind wasn't blowing nearly as hard as yesterday, so it didn't feel quite as cold.

Once we arrived, we were guided through the King's side of the palace and our guide pointed out and explained a lot of interesting artifacts.

We spent about two hours inside, then she gave us our restaurant vouchers and told us how to get there. It was about a 10 minute walk through the gardens and even though it's winter, it was beautiful (and all downhill, so even better!) The guide had gone to get the car so we wouldn't have to walk back up the hill! Nice!

We ate lunch at La Flottille--a delicious three course gourmet meal that was included with our tour. And, of course, wine was served, although since I'm taking antibiotics, I didn't drink much of mine.

Gwendolyn was waiting for us at the entrance to the restaurant after we had finished eating, and after we hopped in her van, we took off for the Grand Trianon. This was a get away palace for Louis XIV and his family. We only did a drive by of this, which was fine by me as I've toured it before. We parked and went inside the Petit Trianon, which was where Marie Antoinette would escape for tranquility and intimacy with her children. We toured almost all of the rooms and you could tell it was not nearly as opulent as that of the main Palace or even the Grand Trianon.

We took a quick walk over to the Queen's Hamlet and although we weren't able to go inside any of the buildings, it was still something to see. It had a small village feel to it, with a mill, a dairy farm, a boudoir (which was basically a guest house), a farm and several other buildings. There were numerous animals on the farm, including pigs, sheep, donkeys, chickens, turkeys, goats and two white peacocks.

After we had explored the area, we got back in the van and returned to Paris. I sat next to the driver so I could pick her brain about the French highway signs for our upcoming driving adventure. She was very helpful and I'm glad I was able to take advantage of that opportunity. So was Kathi since she's going to be my navigator. :))

After recuperating at the apt. for a bit, we decided to try to get some euros out of an ATM, which are EVERYWHERE. We went to one machine and I put in my card like the picture showed, but it said my card was defective and to check with my bank. I knew this wasn't right because I had just used it to make sure it was working back in the states.

So we go across the street to another machine. I enter my card like it shows and nothing happens. So Kathi suggests maybe putting it in backwards would work--which it did!! Crazy French thing, I guess! In any case, we got our money and away we went.

A day wouldn't be complete without a trip to Monoprix, the huge grocery store near us, so we bought a fresh baguette, some pastries and some chocolate croissants for breakfast. We've enjoyed having wine, Brie, salad and baguettes at home the past few nights. Sure saves a lot of money!