Kevin

Paris – Day 12 – September 20th – The Unforgettable Mont-Saint-Michel!

How does one top Versailles? Easy, go to Mont-Saint-Michel the very next day…

This day makes me think of SAUDADE. This is a word I used in my novel THE CAMINO CLUB. People loosely describe saudade as the love that remains, but it is also so much more. Look it up—SAUDADE. You’ll love all it entails!

All this to say that September 20th, 2023 was a very otherworldly experience. I never in a million years thought that I would step down on the little island of Mont-Saint-Michel. Little ole’ me, the snot-nosed kid from Scarborough, Ontario who used to sneak under the turnstile and onto the subway with their big brother and ride it back and forth for fun on a Saturday morning visiting this mythical place on the other side of the world? No. Not me.

And yet, here we were!

I will always long for the return of this day!

I mean, look at it! It’s monolithic and gothic and impossible. And yet, there it is…REAL. Mont-Saint-Michel, in all its glorious gloriousness.

But first thing’s first. It was an EARLY day, as we needed to take an almost 5 hour bus ride to get to Mont-Saint-Michel. And we needed to get to the start point near the Eiffel Tower. Did I mention that the Eiffel Tower is in the no man’s land of the 7th Arrondissement? We decided to grab the Metro, which is SO extremely easy to navigate.

Don’t be afraid to take the Metro…it could not be easier to use.

This might give you some indication of how early we were making our way to the Eiffel Tower. Paris’s underground is arguably the busiest subway system in the world. During rush hour, you cannot move on the platform or the trains. This is what we encountered on the way to the Tower on this morning.

Enter the part where we spent over 4 1/2 hours on a bus crossing France’s countryside. One stop for a bio-break and a stretch.

I have never felt so inserted into history as I felt when we finally made our way into the little conical village of this mystical magical island. It is truly an architectural wonder. Awe inspiring!

If ever you get the opportunity to visit Mont-Saint-Michel, take it! You may not think it’s worth spending 9 hours on a bus for, but I assure you…it IS! When you walk its streets, you are in the presence of wonder itself.

Narrow and overcrowded, and a thousand times worth it!

Yes, it’s a tourist trap…but it’s also a marvel. Ground broke on the construction of the abbey in the 10th century…please let that sink in! It was completed in 1523!

The breathtaking view from the courtyard of the abbey at the top of Mont-Saint-Michel…

The abbey itself was just a never-ending architectural and archaeological masterpiece. It’s stupefying how this place was even built in the middle ages.

Michael, enjoying one of the many views from the Abbey.

We had time to wander the little spiraling village to its apex at the breathtaking Abbey, and then come back down to do a little shopping and have a meal in one of the tiny pubs near the bottom.

I did not take a photo of our lovely meal, as I noticed a sign that said PUT YOUR PHONES AWAY and I just know the woman serving us was a close relative of THE SOUP NAZI!

Being on the outside of the ramparts of Saint-Michel was just as magical as being in its narrow streets.

Enjoying an incredibly windy afternoon outside the fortress walls of Mont-Saint-Michel. This beach is often under water, yet here we were…

We decided to walk back to the parking area, as opposed to taking the shuttle. We wanted to take advantage of seeing Mont-Saint-Michel at various viewpoints as it faded away to nothing behind us. Such an amazing piece of history to be in the presence of…mind-blowing!

The inexplicable cow menagerie we met along the way back to the parking area. 🙂

It was time for the 4 1/2+ hour bus trip back to Paris. We were filled with the wonder of being at one of the world’s seven wonders! What was the inconvenience of a bus-ride now? We were blessed! The Gothic-style Benedictine abbey we had just been to was known throughout the medieval world as the ‘Wonder of the West’. And here were we, visiting it in 2023.

Soon we were dropped off very close to the foot of the Eiffel Tower…

The Tower at night is a treat to witness!

On our way back to the hotel that night, we decided to cross another item off of our Paris bucketlist. Yes, we sought out and found a place to serve us absinthe in the original theatrical way it should be served! They had the fountain of iced water, the fancy glasses that sat beneath the fountain spigots, the slotted spoon with the cubes of sugar! It was a moment! We watched as the process called louching took place and then we enjoyed the licorice-y burn-y sips of fire until it was gone.

Done! Checked off the list. We then walked back to our hotel feeling the fire dance within us!

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Paris – Day 11 – September 19th – Versailles, Versailles, Versailles!

I had a dream I was gliding through a beautiful wilderness on a big light blue bicycle with my guy and a bunch of strangers. And we stopped in a lush grassy field for a summer picnic at the water’s edge. There was a palace in the background and fountains everywhere…

Oh wait! That was real!

Our Versailles daydream!

On the way to the Metro station where our tour began, I found an Ememem Flacking project! I have been following this artist on Instagram forever. I love the way they make sidewalk cracks and imperfections into something beautiful!

I loved that our tour of Versailles was on bikes, and that we would see all the gardens that we had missed on our first trip to the palace in 2021. And I also loved that the tour began in Paris with a guide taking the group to Versailles on the Metro. Such a perfect way to organize the tour! We booked this tour through Get Your Guide, as Michael gets a corporate discount… but the tour operator is BLUE FOX TRAVEL. Here’s the tour on Get Your Guide. This was one of the best planned tours I think we’ve ever been on. I loved it all!

One of the first things we learned on this tour is that taking the Metro to Versailles is extremely easy. The line ends in Versailles, so you can’t go wrong. Get to the end, get off the train.

This was one of our planned tours that I was majorly looking forward to. I was dying to ride a bike through all that beauty. And it definitely did not disappoint! But first things first. Our tour guide took us through a food market and all of the tourists assembled their own picnic supply before we reached our bikes.

We were even taken to a boulangerie/patisserie for pre-made sandwiches and baked goods!

We were all set for an epic picnic on the grounds of the Palace of Versailles!

I got the saddlebags! The tour thought of everything!

It was just a short five or ten minute bike ride from where we picked up the bikes to the gardens entrance. I just love riding bikes. Not since we rode bikes through a small town in Nepal in 2018 have we had so much fun on bikes!

This was just inside the gates of the garden property…but far from the actual palace.

The ride through the tree-lined boulevards was SO idyllic!

We stopped by the ‘lake’ for a little break and photos. The guide was kind enough to take photos for those who wanted them…

We definitely wanted to capture these moments!

We stopped at the most picturesque location for a picnic. Right at the very end of the long ‘lake’. We all took our picnic treasures from our saddlebags and sought out our little squares of paradise in the grass. It was a beautiful September day…perfect for a picnic!

We may have overdone it at the markets, but everything just looked SO good! We had sandwiches, cheeses, pastries, oh my!

The pain au chocolat in France is an art form…an incredibly delectable art form.

Picnic over, ready to explore the village that Marie Antoinette had created for her bizarre indulgences…

Not gonna lie, what Marie Antoinette did at Versailles was creepy af. She created a fake little village for herself and had people wear the costumes of villagers so that she could walk among the little people. I know there’s context and she had a pushmepullya desire and repugnance with her station…but there’s a line. She crossed it. We wouldn’t cut off her head today, but she would be so cancelled she would essentially cease to exist…I would hope.

She built a village. So she could play being a part of village life. This was Disneyland before Disneyland existed…but there was only one person attending this amusement park.

Miss Marie’s awkward bizarre little playland…

Le Temple de l’Amour by Richard Mique…1777-1778.

Imagine dressing up and playing make-believe farmer for your queen so she could walk by and see you pretend toiling!

Some of the buildings were so pretty! Can’t believe they’re still standing after all these years.

This is the only building that was open to the public. There was a public washroom on the ground floor. The top floor, where the windows are behind me, was just empty. They weren’t real houses…just made to look like real houses. They didn’t bother to finish them off inside. They were facades only…

The view from those windows. It all looks so real, doesn’t it. I found this little oasis a lot more than a little disturbing. But it was also fascinating. How much did this lonely lady want to escape her life. In the end, I suppose she did…though not in the prettiest of ways.

The Blue Fox tour actually ended at the gates of the Palace. It was up to us whether or not we wanted to go inside. We were both of two minds. It’s a zoo in there…but we were there. What the heck. The tour covered the ticket to go inside. You don’t find yourself at the gates of Versailles every day.

In 2021, we thought the palace was crowded. Boy, were we wrong! Once we got inside this time, we were swept up into a sea of humanity that we could NOT escape. It was terrible! 0/10 I hated it!

It’s beauty everywhere you look, don’t get me wrong. It’s just one of the most crowded places I’ve ever been.

At one point, when we were trapped inside the meat-river of the flow inside the palace, I literally ran to a window and looked outside to feel a little relief.

The pretty gardens outside the palace, as seen from Hell…

It’s absolutely beautiful inside the palace and I’m not saying you shouldn’t go. I’m just saying we had already seen it and we didn’t need to feel the claustrophobic craziness we experienced this time around…

I took very little photos during our walk-through, because I just wanted to get out. The thing is, you can’t…the only way out is THROUGH. Most of the photos I did take were of ceilings, to avoid people. You can just see the heads of people in this shot. The flow of humanity through the Hall of Mirrors…

At one point we were all shoulder to shoulder like sardines. It became unbearable. It was SO very hot and there seemed to be no end to the ride.

But we escaped. We got to the end, we saw daylight again, we walked to the train station and got the hell out of Dodge. With a quick stop at the normalcy of McDonald’s to sooth the wild beasts that we had become when trapped inside the glittery gold palace.

This ends one of the best days of our trip… with one of the most chaotic endings…

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Paris – Day 10 – September 18th – Palais Garnier and Le Train Bleu!

Our next day was one of our less jam packed days. It would be a breeze!

Palais Garnier (The Opera House)
Le Train Bleu

We walked to the Opera House first and, since we had plenty of extra time this day, we were able to take a little side trek to Place Vendome for a looksie…

Prior to our first tour of the Opera, we hit a creperie for lunch and we did another quick tour of Galeries Lafayette…since we were in the neighbourhood.

We found Crepes City on Google Maps, searching for creperies in the area. It was really good!

The Galeries Lafayette are just so gorgeous…we had time and it was right there.

The large building here, seen from the viewing terrace of the Galeries Lafayette, is actually the Palais Garnier…the Opera House, right there!

Everything in Paris was getting gussied up for the upcoming 2024 Olympics…including the Palais Garnier. This mural covered the entire facade of the building. So glad we saw it during our previous trip. The facade is one of the most beautiful features of the building.

We were booked for TWO tours of the Opera Garnier. I wasn’t entirely sure what the difference was between the two. It seemed one promised to reveal mysteries of the opera house and the other more the building itself.

Here are the two options from the website:

Visit Palais Garnier in the Belle Epoque

Visit The Mysteries of the Palais Garnier (after closing)

As someone who has now done both, I can tell you that there is no value in seeing both tours. And, I can tell you which of the two to choose. Beyond a shadow of a doubt, I would choose the Mysteries Tour after closing! That’s the one you should go on, if you decide to tour the opera house.

The daytime tour is FILLED with people. Everywhere you turn, there are bodies…hundreds and hundreds of people everywhere.

The tour after closing time is more interesting and there are FAR LESS PEOPLE AROUND.

During the daytime tour, it was almost impossible to take photos. We were wedged into the building like sardines. The night time tour made us feel we were there alone. There may have been 2 or 3 small intimate tour groups walking around taking the tour. We saw the opera house unencumbered by crowds.

There were two things everywhere you looked…one was beauty and one was people.

The day time tour was filled with people…

We were blown away by the beauty of this building. A lot of what we covered in the daytime tour was covered again in the night time tour. Again, that’s the tour you want to book.

Here’s some shots of the night time tour…we actually got to view the performance hall, AND the Ghost’s box! This is the box that was reserved for the ghost in the famous Phantom of the Opera book by Gaston Leroux.

What you will notice in the above photos is a lack of people.

The most stunning part of the night tour was seeing the theatre. And the best part of being inside the theatre was seeing the Chagall ceiling. It was absolutely breathtaking. Such whimsical colours and scenes. I LOVED it! Sheer perfection!

The theatre…

And then we were escorted inside the box of the opera ghost…all those re-readings of Phantom of the Opera came to life for me. I had goosebumps!

Alone in the vastness of the Palais Garnier!

Not much can compete with the second tour of Palais Garnier. But we were willing to let Le Train Bleu give it a try! It was as decadent as the palais and just as magical…

The walk across town to Le Train Bleu was, of course, stunning!

If you’re pondering Le Train Bleu, but you’re not quite convinced…do it. It is worth the price tag. A beautiful dining experience, from the food to the atmosphere to the architecture. One of our favourite dining experiences so far!

It really had it all…

That’s it. That’s the entirety of our day. Not a lot in it, but jam packed with wonder all the same. We took the Metro home, and as usual it was super easy! I love to walk, but it’s handy knowing the Metro is there for those late nights when you just want to finish your day.

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