Versailles was very pretty! We caught the RER B line out which took about an hour and were there bright and early. 
Mel’s top tips for Versailles:

– use the toilet at McDonalds opposite the train station when you arrive. There are very few at the palace 

– pre book your entry ticket to avoid the first line. We were veeeery lucky and there was no second line for entry at all today, which seeks to be unusual. We did have a smart ass security guy try to convince us our ticket (all in French) said admission only after 1pm. He almost got his eyes gouged out by a very annoyed Mel before laughing at us and letting us through. 

– be prepared for shuffle shuffle shuffle once you get in. It wasn’t even busy today and I still had to shove through quite a few sections. Chinese tourists with their selfie sticks were driving me crazy! 

– the gardens are gorgeous but November is a bit late to see them in their glory. Disappointingly, all of the statues were covered and fountains off as well.

After Versailles, we returned to Paris to deal with what I am calling “the hotel war”. Really, it was more a case of a crappy hotel managing to hit EVERY trigger I have and unleashing angry-panda-Mel. She was not happy. 

The rooms at Hotel WO by Elegencia are unbearably hot. There is no climate control, despite what the hotel website claims. On the first night we both suffered through it but on the second it was even worse so I opened the window. Yay cool air! Unfortunately we were at street level though so the noise was terrible. After about 1.5hrs sleep overnight in 10 min intervals I went down to reception at 6am to ask what they could do. The nice man said no worries it will be cooler on the top floor, we will shift you up once you come back from your Versailles visit. 

Came back. No nice man to be seen, some other ladies on reception who knew nothing about this. They informed me the climate control was switched off in the whole hotel and we couldn’t change rooms. To which I responded along the lines of (I’ll let you imagine my tone here…after two nights of minimal sleep and 4.5 weeks away from home) we will check out then. 

Half an hour later they rang us to begrudgingly offer a room one floor up. B said nope, bugger that, we are done. They seemed genuinely surprised. 

So, we found another hotel about 10mins walk away for a very reasonable price, checked out and arranged to refund the last few nights from the other place (mmmm we shall see if that actually comes through) and now we are in a beautiful attic room of a small hotel (B Montparte) with NO traffic noise. The room temperature is normal. I might actually get some sleep tonight! Happy.

After a brief nap time, we were off for a pre birthday dinner at Le Minipalais. I was feeling much refreshed and really looking forward to this! It’s a really nice restaurant inside the Grand Palais. Before dinner we went for a wander along the Seine and watched the Eiffel Tower light up. Lovely. 

  
Dinner started with some excellent white wine. 

  
The starters of prawns and some kind of magical fried pork ball were very tasty. For mains B had salmon and I had chicken breast and basically what was carbonara gnocchi. It was really interesting because seperately each thing on our plate was a bit meh but once you started combinging them, you could see where this place gets its reputation from. 

  
Dessert was a chocolate ball full of mousse, they tip hot chocolate over it so you have access. Mmmm chocolate ball. I may have made eye contact with the “I only speak French” waiter while imitating a moose…antlers and all….awkward. 

  
On the way home we used UberX, which is a first for me! Figures I would try it for the first time in a foreign country. I was VERY impressed and can’t wait to try it when we get home to Canberra. Only 8.24€ for a 20 min trip and he arrived within 30 secs of me hitting the “request” button. 

Mel

Steps today: Wow, 21104

ONE MORE SLEEP! Tomorrow is my 30th birthday! Eeeeeeeee.