Day 6 - Cruise Day

We woke up on our first morning in Barcelona, ready to spend a few hours exploring and seeing the city before boarding our ship, but we had a minor "missing wallet" mystery to solve first.  All we had heard and read about Barcelona was "great city, but my purse/wallet was stolen" - and it didn't help that Kristen, whom we were just with in Paris, had been robbed twice when she had visited years before.  So when Michael's wallet was MIA we just assumed someone had taken it from our room and Barcelona was just an evil place.  But, after some mild panicking, checking our cards online and time spent searching, it unearthed itself in a drawer.  I guess we had to have a few travel snafus...at least they all had happy endings. :/

After that, we didn't have quite as much time as we thought we might so we strolled the area around our hotel, grabbed some breakfast (at what was probably the equivalent of a Spanish Dunkin Donuts but all of their restaurants have sidewalk seating under tents so it feels fancier!), and then just walked some more. 

Barcelona has a completely different vibe from Paris but what they do have in common is that they are both culturally and architecturally fascinating.  

We got a much bigger and better taste of Barcelona after the cruise...but that morning definitely left me excited to see more.

Since neither of us had ever been on a cruise before, we played it safe and checked in on the early side.  Which gave us time to settle in to our room (which was much bigger than I expected - I was worried I would be claustrophobic and seasick!) and make our way to the deck for a boat drink and our first real (non-airplane) view of the Mediterranean.  Gorgeous.

View from our room.  If I ever take a cruise again, a balcony will be a must.

The main thoroughfare of the ship...

On deck, Barcelona in the distance...beautiful teal water below...

This day was all about getting on to the ship so a slow picture day...just imagine boat drinks, nice dinner, followed by blackjack in the casino (that was pretty much the routine every evening!).

Day 5 - Last Day in Paris...

Our last day in Paris turned out to be the most beautiful...the sun finally came out and it was the perfect temperature.  Which made leaving even more bittersweet...

We started early by meeting up with the Smiths at the Conciergerie...the medieval prison which were the holding cells before the guillotine....most notably for Marie Antionette.

Marie's cell...

Then we strolled around Ile de la Cite and made our way to the Lock Bridge.  We put our (really tiny luggage) lock on the bridge (the tiny one in the center of the pic, above Kevin & Kristen's) and threw our key in to the River - which guaranteed our undying love and that we will return again to Paris.

Parting shots of Notre Dame...

St Michel...

We spent our last couple of hours having a picnic under the Eiffel Tower on the Champs de Mars.  (We did not go up the tower - we tried to buy tickets online a month in advance but they were already sold out the dates we were in town, and the line to buy tickets on a Saturday afternoon was literally hours long.  So we passed and enjoyed the view upward instead.)

I can still taste the bread and cheeses...and I miss my daily chocolat au pain...

It was a wonderful afternoon...and it was especially nice to stop and sit for a minute after all of the go-go-go of the previous days.  But after our relaxing lunch, we headed back to the flat to grab our luggage and head to the airport for the next leg of our journey.

There was a huge promotional push for Hangover 3 while we were there - the translation made me laugh...

Au revoir #42...

Au revoir staircase...

Au revoir Paris - I will definitely be back.

Michael and I hopped a flight to Barcelona.  We landed in the early evening, checked in to our hotel, and walked up to Plaza de Gracia to grab some tapas for dinner.

Day 4 - Versailles & French Open (Take 2)

We decided to head out of the city and spend the day at Versailles before going back to Roland Garros.  Versailles had been on our "if we have time, maybe" list, but after feedback from The Pavloffs from their experience there earlier in the week, we decided to meet up with The Smiths and go check it out.  And we are certainly glad we did because it was definitely a highlight of the trip.

{On a side note - it was another rainy (and even colder) day in Paris so you will see more pictures of me in my green rain jacket and Michael in his black.  I shouldn't have worried for one second about what to pack for Paris because it obviously didn't matter.  All of my pictures look the same!  One thing I noticed though is that, even though it is typical for it to rain every day in the Spring there, NO ONE wears rain jackets - they only carry umbrellas - so we stood out even more so as tourists, as if we didn't already!

Back to Versailles...it is more ornate and enormous that I had imagined. It's hard to imagine it as an actual residence or what life must have been like then.

The hall of mirrors...

Looking out one of the bedrooms...not a bad view...

Just a little painting that Louis XIV had over his bed....

After touring the main Palace, we rented bikes and rode around the grounds...

Marie Antoinette's Estate...

After a really lovely day imaging life as 17th century royalty, we hopped the train back to Roland Garros for a make-up day at the courts.  

Even with grounds passes we were able to see some top players on the outside courts...we saw Milos Raonic, a young Canadian that is a top 20 player (and one of Canada's 50 Most Beautiful People apparently)...

 And then our friends scored us tickets in to Lenglen to watch Ivanovich win her match...

And then we went back out and watch Kuznetsova, who scares me a little bit...

And then those crafty Smiths got us tickets into Chartier...Michael was even happier.  We watched Radwanska (who is Polish) play a German girl - the crowd was very lively!

We watched the last match of the day and headed back to our neighborhood for dinner...we walked a couple of blocks over in to the Montparnasse area and ate at a good Pizza restaurant - not fancy but tasty!  We tried to soak in our last night in Paris...