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Au revoir, Paris. Hello, Monaco!
A painting, a tower, and a star

A perfect day for a perfect ending

Writer's picture: sbcrosby .sbcrosby .

Updated: Aug 7, 2023

Our last full day in Paris began with an early departure for Versailles, the country palace of King Louis XIV. It took 48 years to build the palace of 2,300 rooms and 800+ acres of gardens, surrounded by forest. If you are interested in how the 1/100th of 1% lived in the 1600s, visit Versailles! Grandiose doesn’t even describe its opulence. Its hall of mirrors is one of many sights to be seen for sure.

After the morning tour, we headed back to Paris and found a lovely smaller museum to visit – the Musee De L’Orangerie. What a treasure! The piece de resistance? Two oval rooms surrounded by panoramic paintings of Monet’s Water Lillies. Utterly tranquil and breathtaking all at once. Monet personally designed these rooms, offering Parisians a haven of peace in the midst of the hustle and bustle of the city. The photos below simply do not do it justice. This treasure of a museum also housed incredible works by Renoir, Cezanne, Picasso, Matisse, and many other impressionist and post-impressionist artists. To see so many of the actual paintings that I have long appreciated in books and reproductions is remarkable. (I’m also feeling much better about myself, having been reminded of the likeness of the female body during the impressionist era!)

We decided the spend the rest of the afternoon and evening strolling through the Tuileries Gardens, and along various side streets – losing ourselves in people watching and window shopping. The weather was perfect – sunny and warm. I found a treasure in a tiny shop – a small Limoges box to add to my collection!


One more visit to Laduree for macarons, and a stop in Pierre Hermé to compare (Mark prefers Pierre Hermé’s macarons, I am brand loyal to Laduree), we then capped off our evening with a lovely bistro meal, including escargot for an appetizer – delicious! When in Paris!

Tomorrow, we take the train to Monte Carlo, Monaco. Bonsoir from Paris!





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