There was a very cute bakery (Au Blé d’Or) right across the street from our hotel and we ate there every morning but one. The woman taking our order did not speak English, but in our choppy French and Spanish, we ordered just fine. Her croissants and quiches were excellent.

We then took the metro and a train to Versailles. We wanted some coffee and right across the street was a McDonald’s – but it did not look like any American McDonald’s and they had espresso that was very good. (I may have eaten at this very same McDonald’s when I was in Paris in 1997!) With coffee in hand, we strolled down the street to the Versailles grounds. We spent a few hours touring the castle and the gardens. We ended up eating lunch outside in the gardens. 

We learned from a family member that there were two more castles and a hamlet to discover, so we took a little tram to Grand Trianon and Petit Trianon and then walked to the hamlet. We all agreed that we know really understand why the French Revolution started. They had a castle to get away from their castle. 

We ate at a restaurant near the train station that had a Michelen star. Our oldest ordered the truffle risotto and said it was one of the best things she’s ever eaten. 

The next morning, after breakfast at the bakery, we headed to the Miraculous Medal Chapel where we went to mass. St. Catherine Laboure had visions there of Mary telling her to make a medal for people to where. They also had the body of St. Louise de Marillac. We then walked to the chapel where the body of St. Vincent de Paul is on display. 

We then took the metro to the Pantheon area where we ate lunch and stopped in the St. Etienne du Mont chapel. They had an altar for unborn children and relics of Le Pape Pie VII and St. Genevieve. Next door was the Pantheon and we went in to discover it was where Foucalt did his pendulum experiment and it has a catacomb where Rousseau, Curie, Braille, Dumas, Hugo and Voltaire are buried. There were beautiful paintings depicting the story of St. Joan of Arc and you were able to walk to the top to get great views of Paris. We took our family pictures here with the Eiffel Tower and the French flag in the background. 

Our next stop was the Paris catacombs. More than 6 million people’s remains were relocated to this limestone quarry over several years to improve sanitation practices throughout the city. Seeing it made me feel really insignificant. 

Our last stop of the day was the Eiffel Tower. We ate dinner nearby and then walked to the second floor of the tower and took our time enjoying the views. It was getting close to “twinkle time,” when we left, so we walked to nearby Trocadero Square where we could order some crepes and watch the Eiffel Tower light up. We were facing the Olympic rings side and most of our pictures don’t include the scaffolding that was already up for the Olympics. It was a beautiful sight.  

Click here for Paris in Summer, Days 4 and 5