Day Nine: Tuesday September 11

A royal day at Versailles.
That was what today was all about. I woke up early and hopped on the metro to get myself to the pickup spot for my day trip to the Palace of Versailles. Man, I wish it was just as easy as that! I had to make 3 connections on the metro & make sure I was there before 8:15am. The whole plan I had was thrown a little off when the metro went right by the first connection station without stopping. It seems as if the one station I needed to make this a easy morning commute was closed for repairs. I had to quickly revise my route after debarking at a unknown station. Because I am awesome, I was able to figure it out and I arrived at the pickup spot with 10 minutes to spare.
The Palace of Versailles was pretty amazing. After Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette were detained by a mob, the civilians pretty much ransacked the palace & destroyed everything. It was restored years later & is a pretty impressive sight to see now.
Even more impressive is the space outside the palace. I have never seen such extravagance in all my life. The sheer scope of the place was beyond comprehension. I walked around in the outdoor mazes (totally reminded me of the end of "The Shining") and actually got a little lost, which was cool. There was so much walking that had to be done, my feet are still aching!
I returned to Paris around 7pm & walked around my hotel's neighborhood for a while. The one thing I will remember to take away from Paris is how the neighborhoods smell. There are so many great smells coming out of almost every shop, I think I gained 5 pounds just walking by them. It is hard to resist going in each & every one of them and buying everything you smell.
Tomorrow is a day of rest. My whole body aches from walking around each and single day for hours and hours. I also plan on going to the train station and buying a train ticket to Pau. It is a few hours south of Paris & will be my destination for Thursday.