10am in France means breakfast out of a crepe truck in a farmers market outside of Versailles. It took 40 minutes and many failed attempts to get through the subway turnstiles but we got here.
After scarfing down one egg cheese crepe and sharing one banana nutella crepe we find our way down the tree lined streets to the Palace of Versailles. Hordes of busses crowd the entrance and passed them a long line of people snakes around the spacious plaza. When we heard to get there early, we thought 11am was early enough and we were wrong. 45 minutes later we enter the ridiculous palace and try to figure out where to go first.
We decide to tour around the apartments learning about the history of the space and what each King did to make it better or more accessible to the public after Louis the 14th of course. We trudge around with thousands of tourists taking pictures of every inch and holding go pros high in the air. Finally we round the corner to the Hall of Mirrors aka where Kim K got married. Cue eye roll. The room is magnificent though and we try to find the best location to take a picture. ” No selfie sticks!” a woman yells. More eye rolls.
From there we head to the gardens, we purchased the ticket with the garden package before arriving which was crucial because the lines to purchase onsite are long. I wish we had just toured the gardens as you could easily spend an entire day just there. We had the most beautiful warm day walking around exploring the fountains. There was a tram for 7 euros that would drive you around to where Marie Antoinette lived and allowed you to hop on and off. 100% recommend because we were dead tired by then.
After our long day we still had much planned; dinner at the diner where Amelie was shot and The Moulin Rouge. Onward to Montmarte to explore and get cocktails before dinner before the show. We get some drinks at the Le Boucan oddly enough a Texas inspired bar. We drink some mojitos and take the 70s style in while trying to flirt with another gorgeous bartender. A couple foosball games later and of course photos from the photo booth it is time to get in line for our 11pm Moulin Rouge show.
As we walk into the Moulin Rouge I am a bit underwhelmed; maybe it is because I was expecting Nicole Kidman to be hanging from the ceiling. We popped our champagne which came with our tickets and chatted with our table buddies from Detroit. The lights dim and the girls come out, all topless in very intricate outfits. Gorgeously designed but still that’s a lot of boobs to watch for 2 hours. Each plot is more ridiculous than the last one. I definitely prefer Cirque du Soleil but I’m happy we did it. It ends at 1am and we quickly call an uber and happily headed home to pass out.
my feet don't want to go to sleep 