Versailles & Last Day

1st February 2013
For our last day, we headed out to Versailles which was a very short train ride from Paris. It was an overcast day and everything just looked so gloomy.












There was a moderate amount of tourists and most were from mainland China and all were under the age of 10. Was it a school trip? Or did everyone have enough money to skip school. All I know is that every single kid had their own DSLR and designer bag and just snapped a photo and walked off. Take a photo and walk. Wash. Rinse. Repeat. There was a Ladurée store upon exiting the palace and every < 10 year old child left carrying at least €100 worth of goods. 





Versailles isn't a place that is nice to visit in winter as all the statutes were covered up with plastic tarp which detracted from all the gardens. It started to sprinkle so we ran into a random cafe and had an amazing hot chocolate. It really felt like it was melted chocolate with a tiny drop of milk. We had a lot of coins so, embarrassing as it was, we counted out all our coins.










Necklace Sunbear got me. I wanted a necklace that I could wear all the time (i.e in the shower too since I am too lazy to put on jewellery). This isn't that sort of necklace. Some say that it is okay to shower with it, but I am a little hesitant.


Love Temple






We returned to Paris and had another decent dinner.


Pretty terrible French Onion Soup.




2nd February 2013
I was leaving on the Eurostar bound for London. It was my last day in Europe and my last few hours with Sunbear. It would be an understatement to say that it was a very, very sad morning. I was dressed like a hobo for complete comfort since I had the 2.5hour train journey followed by a 12 hour flight to Hong Kong. I had my hiking bag and my daypack and Sunbear had his massive backpack. We went to a nice restaurant for brunch and we were instantly judged by the wait staff and everyone seated at the tables. At first, the waiter only provided us with a drinks menu (I guess they thought that we were too poor to actually eat there). They were also so incredibly rude and we weren't allowed to take up two tables (a four seater so we could place our bags on the chair) since it was going to be busy. But we also weren't allowed to leave our bags in the corner out of everyone's way. When we arrived, there were only 5 people seated in a space that could cater for 45 or so. When we left, there were maybe 8 people. Moral of the story: don't judge people by their appearance. We ended up spending around €70 ($AUD 110) between the two of us. Take that. After we ordered, the wait staff treated us a little nicer. Just a little.














The trip to Paris Nord was so sad. I guess I thought that there would be chairs there but instead, we resorted to crying at the Eurostar entrance before immigration and ticket desks. I also had some issues with my ticket. For some reason, my ticket wasn't included in the email and I had to line up at the counter. Naturally, there were 8 people in line and 2 of the slowest employees on the planet. Sunbear befriended another employee who brought us to the front of the line and I made it to the train with 5 minutes to spare. Our final goodbye was so rushed since I was running to the immigration desk and then on board the train. And that was the last time I saw Sunbear, 2nd February 2013. If everything goes to plan, we will be meeting up late next year and he can hopefully take me around Switzerland.




My Overall Thoughts
Paris was lovely and it is a city I would love to have more time to explore. Although, the experience was a little tainted since I was sad since it was my last city in Europe and my last moments with Sunbear.

Would I re-visit?
Yes

And that concludes my blog posts of my trip around Europe. In hindsight, I should have stayed an extra week or so as I would have been able to visit Portugal and Spain (two countries that are at the top of my list). But next time, next time. Next stop: Hong Kong.