Paris Day 4

So today I am finally going to the Palace of Versailles.  The home of Louis XIV.  I catch the metro system and head out on a beautiful Paris moring.  The sun is shining and I am looking forward to my day.  Considering I have no sleep again I am feeling happy and find myself walking with a content smile on my face and singing some French tune (no idea what it is) in my head.
I arrive at the Palace and after purchasing a ticket and organising a handheld audio information device I enter the palace expecting it to be beautiful but wondering if it will actually interest me.

The audio device is great.  As you enter each room it gives you some information regarding the room without an excessive amount of detail.  Enough info to be interesting but not boring and I thoroughly enjoy the tour of the palace.  The palace is amazing and every room has elaborate paintings on the ceiling. 

After finishing the tour of the interior I head out to the immense garden area.  Oh wow! I find it impossible to capture the massive size of these gardens or the beauty with the camera.  I spend some time sitting on a bench seat just taking it in and filing it in my memory.  I then get the idea of trying to walk the area of the gardens and grand canal. 

When I get to the end area of the crand canal I take some time to sit on the grass and reflect on my time in Paris.  It makes me think of Mum as I know she loved Paris and while it makes me miss her, I feel less lonely. Even though I am doing this trip solo, I spend some time with her here.  She tells me she wants a coffee (typical) and I agree so I start the long walk back towards the palace.

The walk back is uphill and the lack of sleep during this trip so far suddenly hits me hard, it seems to take me twice as long.  I wonder if I would get into trouble if I tried to have a lottle nap in the Queens Bedchamber??

I had plans to spend the afternoon walking around the Paris streets but I check the time and it is already 4.30pm!!! I realise I have not eaten since breakfast and the chill has started to set in.  What I really want is a big bowl of hot soup.  PHO.....oh yeah!  I stop first for a coffee and then get back on the train and head for the China Town area of Paris to find a Pho restaurant that a google search has informed me is the best Pho in Paris.

Along the way I pass the biggest vending machine I have ever seen. 

I reach the Pho restaurant about 7pm and it is the only restaurant in the area with a massive line out the front.  I get seated next to some other diners and order my Pho and of course a beer to wash it down with. 

I am starving and dont bother trying to take a photo of the delicious smelling and looking soup and I ask for a fork so I dont have to bother with the chopsticks and can shovel it in faster.  The Pho is amazing and I leave feeling full and satisfied ready for the long metro ride back to my apartment.  It was definately worth the journey.
Once again I crawl up the stairs and I throw myself on the bed fully clothed and fall asleep.