Château de Versailles
Posted by ScarlettApr 30th, 2009 | 1 Comment
Today we went to our most touristy (and most expensive!) attraction so far – the Palace of Versailles. We woke up early to catch the train (which takes an hour from where we are staying) because we had read that it gets busier as the day goes on. When we got the Palace at 10:30, there was already a line-up of over a hundred people at the entrance and another 80 or so at the ticket office! Fortunately we had read a very useful tip to skip the line-up for tickets by walking through the crowd at the doorway and going to the back of the ticket office where there are automated machines that most people don’t know about. The only catch is these machines only accept pin-chip credit cards and you can only buy the adult-priced full day pass, which gives entrance to the Palace, the grounds, the Trianon Palaces and Marie-Antoinette’s Estate for 20 euros (if you want to just visit the Palace it’s only 13.50 euros and there are student and senior discounts for all passes, but you have to purchase these tickets from a cashier). 
Finally in Paris!
Posted by ScarlettApr 29th, 2009 | No Comments
At last, we’ve arrived in Paris! It’s been a lifelong dream of mine to come here, so we scheduled nine nights in Paris, which worked out well because it gave us time to chill and do some more trip planning (for our next segment, the UK) when we arrived yesterday, without having to worry about not having enough time to explore Paris. We’ve decided it’s a good idea to have an extra day in as many cities as possible so we can take a break from sightseeing without having to skip stuff, and our upcoming schedule has been modified accordingly (we’ve also noticed that from Barcelona till now, when we move from one city to another, the travel day is pretty a write-off because we’re too tired to do anything). I don’t know how some people can hop from city to city without any breaks in between – we get tired after three days of running around sightseeing!
Halfway To Beef Tartare
Posted by ScarlettApr 27th, 2009 | No Comments
After eating bad food in Rouen, Saint-Aubin-Sur-Mer, and Mont-Saint-Michel, we resorted back to eating at McDonald’s for our past few meals – I know it’s horrible for you, but at least the food is consistent! Tonight, however, we tried the restaurant at the Holiday Inn (because Paul needed Internet and our hotel’s wasn’t working), and we were happily reminded of how good French food can be! I think it’s been a week since a meal made me go “mmmm…” like this!
Crêpes in Saint Malo
Posted by ScarlettApr 26th, 2009 | No Comments
After our morning in Mont-Saint-Michel, we drove 30 km to Saint-Malo, a walled port city in the Brittany region of northwest France,. Although it’s just as touristy, the scenery is beautiful and there’s more stuff to see and do (and the shops are open on Sunday!). Sightseeing aside, if there’s one reason to come to Saint Malo, it’s for the crêpes! The dessert crêpes we had today were better than any sweets we’ve had so far, including the portugese tarts Pasties de Belem.
Le Mont-Saint-Michel
Posted by ScarlettApr 26th, 2009 | No Comments
After touring the D-Day beaches yesterday, we spent the night in Mont-Saint-Michel, a rocky tidal island just south of the beaches. We had timed out our driving schedule to overnight in Mont-Saint-Michel because I had read that it’s really pretty at night (and I must say, it did not disappoint!), but we had to stay at a rather crummy hotel about 2km off the island, on the mainland, because it’s a very touristy destination and rates on the island are through the roof.
Driving & The D-Day Beaches
Posted by ScarlettApr 25th, 2009 | 2 Comments
Today we picked up a rental car to go see the D-Day beaches, which aren’t reachable by train or bus unless you join a tour group, but it’s really expensive (like 80 euros per person). This was our first time driving in France and there’s only one way we can describe it – it’s all about the roundabout! I don’t think you can drive more than 10km without going through a roundabout. I know they”re supposed to improve the flow of traffic and reduce the number of crashes, but is it really better to have this many roundabouts? We’re not convinced…
Sushi Attempt #1
Posted by ScarlettApr 24th, 2009 | 2 Comments
Sushi is my favourite type of food and back home in Vancouver I can get great sushi at good prices, so I’ve been hesitant to try it while in Europe, but it’s been almost two months since I last had sushi so tonight we indulged my cravings and tried a sushi restaurant we found while searching for dinner. All we can say is, we wish we hadn’t bothered!
Rouen France
Posted by ScarlettApr 24th, 2009 | No Comments
Paul flew back from Edmonton yesterday and met up with me in Strasbourg, where we caught a train to Rouen, a small city in the Normandy region of France. Because of the change in travel plans, we had to take a late afternoon train and didn’t arrive till close to 9 pm. By the time we found our hotel (the Ibis Rouen City Center, which isn’t really in city center, more like 1 km out!), most places were closed so we ate at the hotel and spent the rest of the evening getting settled and mapping out our sightseeing for today, which was now the only day here before heading to the D-Day beaches tomorrow.
Baeckoffe Stew and Eau de Vie
Posted by ScarlettApr 22nd, 2009 | 1 Comment
Today, my last day in Strasbourg, I headed to an area called la Petit France, known for its half-timbered houses and cobblestone roads, to find a restaurant called Le Baeckeoffe d’Alsace. While planning this trip, I had read about two things unique to this region – Baeckoffe stew and Eau de Vie – and I had been looking forward to trying both, but somehow three days had gone by and I hadn’t managed to get either! So, when I saw an ad for this restaurant saying they have traditional Baeckoffe stew and are a winstub, it seemed like the perfect place to have both and I decided to go try it.
A Day At The Zoo and European Institutions
Posted by ScarlettApr 21st, 2009 | 1 Comment
As previously mentioned, Strasbourg is the capital of the EU, and home to the Council of Europe, the European Parliament, and the Human Rights Building. Although visits inside these buildings aren’t allowed, you can’t really go to Strasbourg and not check out this “European Quarter,” so I made a plan to slowly walk over to the North-West side of the city where these buildings are located today. When I asked the guy at reception how long this would take, he laughed and suggested I take a tram because it’s quite far, but there were a few things I wanted to see along the way so I decided to walk there and tram back.
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