We thoroughly enjoyed the bus - it was a great way to see the city, especially the first few hours, before it started to get hot.

As you can see, the audio guide was great in helping us identify things.

One of things I learned on the tour was that Paris was a well-thought out and carefully designed city. The wide streets and uniform facades were intentional, and lend to its appeal and beauty - a stark contrast to Florence, where I often felt claustrophobic between the tall buildings. Pretty impressive considering this all happened centuries ago.

The one stop we decided was worth the risk of leaving the bus was for the Louvre. It was a good decision!

And as with The Leaning Tower of Pisa, we had to take some of the obligatory tourist photos. I must say I think I’m getting better at taking them.

Mckenna did a little shopping (isn’t she adorable?!)

And then we had a late lunch. Only thing that would have made it better was wine. \240

But since we had to travel to Versailles, which would require us to find a metro station and then change lines twice, I figured I would need my wits about me.

It was a good choice.

When it was time to head out, I consulted my maps and phone and decided on a metro station (we had several choices).

We were pleased to find the station without getting lost, but when we went down the steps, no metro. Confused, we found someone and asked, and he pointed across the street.

So, back up the steps and across the street. We were relieved to see another sign.

Sweet! They are doing lots of work on the metro so we assumed this was a temporary entrance.

But when we went down these steps, we saw this:

And ferme is one of the few French words I recognize; it means closed.

My heart sank; when I looked at the large updated map, there were large Xs everywhere, marking all the stations affected.

There is only one line that goes all the way to Versailles and most of the stations that feed into it were closed.

I checked Uber- cost was $80. I studied the map some more and checked my phone for alternate routes.

It’s now the hottest part of the day, it’s rush hour, and our packs are heavy.

I knew if we took a chance and tried to walk to a station that was about a mile away, and if it couldn’t get us there, it would not be good.

I finally decided on a station further away that I thought might work. Rather than take a bus or walk the few miles, Uber saved the day, for less than $18.

We arrived, managed to buy tickets, and get on what appeared to be the right train.

I spent the majority of the time pouring over my maps again because I was a little worried about getting off at the right stop, and trying to figure out how to get back tomorrow.

I must have looked pretty worried, because as a gentleman was departing, he leaned over and very kindly asked if we were going to Versailles. When I said yes, he said you’re on the right train, just stay on until the last stop. (In a \240French accent, of course)

I let out a huge sigh of relief.

We finally arrived and easily found our hotel.

We checked in and quickly went out in search of food. We only made it about two doors down, but had the most delicious crepes ever.

And were able to enjoy another beautiful night, in another beautiful city.

And I finally had that glass of wine. Maybe even two. 🍷