Keeping Up with the Kaczorowski's: December 2015

Wednesday, December 30, 2015

Paris Trip - Day 5

Whew! Day 5 was a busy one! We got up early and hopped the train out to Versailles to see the Palace of Versailles. Honestly, it was not a great experience and probably not worth the trip, in my opinion. That said, we still saw some cool stuff and even ate lunch at a French McDonald's. :) That was probably a more interesting experience than the Palace. The menu was a bit different, but the ordering was VERY different. It was all done electronically...very efficient.

After we returned back in the city from Versailles, we headed back to the hotel to take a little break. Later in the afternoon, we headed to Montmartre to check out yet another neighborhood and, more importantly, to see Sacre Coeur, or the Sacred Heart Basilica. Sacre Coeur is located at the highest point in the city so the views are terrific. You can climb the steps to the top (which we did) or take a tram.

After we finished in Montmartre, we headed to Pigalle where we took the obligatory picture in front of Moulin Rouge. Since we still had quite a bit of time before our dinner reservation (at 9pm!), there was a park nearby that I wanted to check out. I read about it in a book that we bought for Oliver...ha!

Parc des Buttes Chaumont is a lovely park with waterfalls, a lake, wonderful walking paths and beautiful scenery. We had a great time walking around in the peacefulness of the park. It started raining, though, so we ended up heading for the subway station so we could get back to the hotel and get ready for our fancy dinner at Verjus!

Verjus is the sister restaurant of Ellsworth. They offer a tasting menu and wine pairing that changes on a regular basis. The food was amazingly delicious, but the servings were SO small. Don and I were both still hungry when we left!

The Palace of Versailles

Lunch at McDonald's! This guy was happy!

Sacre Coeur Basilica

The views were amazing!

Moulin Rouge

Parc des Buttes Chaumont

Dinner at Verjus

Tuesday, December 29, 2015

Paris Trip - Day 4

Day 4 was spent at the Louvre which is unbelievably huge! You could spend days inside and still not see everything! We arrived right after it opened and headed straight for the Mona Lisa. If you don't get there early to see it, the line gets ridiculously long and you don't get to actually see it up close...or at all. I had been warned that it was a bit underwhelming, and I would concur. It looks exactly like it does in the movies, but it was much smaller than I expected. After fighting the other tourists and selfie sticks for a clear view, we headed to see the Venus de Milo and spent the next several hours exploring all the nooks and crannies of the museum.

After taking a break back at the hotel, we hopped the subway to Luxembourg Gardens and spent the afternoon walking around this huge park. Parks are so different in Paris than in the States. In Europe, the grass is not meant to be walked on. Instead, there are dirt paths and all the grass and other landscaping is barricaded. It takes some getting used to. We enjoyed taking in the loveliness of our surroundings nonetheless. After a lot of walking, we stopped in a boulangerie for lunch which we enjoyed by the pond. After lunch, we kept walking, did a little shopping and just enjoyed exploring a new neighborhood.

As we were walking, we happened across the Pantheon in the Latin Quarter. We stepped inside for a bit, but there wasn't a whole lot to see so we ended up heading back to our hotel to get ready for dinner at Ellsworth. This meal was, by far, my favorite of our entire trip. It was also, quite possibly, some of the most delicious food I've eaten in my entire life. It was tapas style so we ordered plate after plate of amazing food. The fried chicken was out of this world! Definitely a great way to end our 4th day!