To both of their surprises, they woke up much later than planned (7:30AM) after going to sleep shortly after 8PM the night before. The agenda was a trip to Versailles, the opulent royal palace outside of Paris. Ray and Traci headed to the Musee d'Orsay metro stop (crossing the pedestrian bridge across the Seine at the Jardin des Tuileries) and bought round trip RER train tickets to Versailles. Surprisingly, the Saturday crowd to Versailles was quite light and the travelers smoothly walked into the Chateaux Versailles using their Museum Passes.
The Chateaux, or main royal palace, is a testament to royal excess. After viewing the amazing artwork including ceilings covered with paintings, gold trim everywhere and fine furnishings, one understands why the starving French public resorted to the guillotine during their revolution. 
As an extra treat, the Japanese artist Murakami had a show of his colorful and eccentric pieces placed at various locations around the estate. After leaving the Chateaux, Ray and Traci wandered around the spacious gardens – classical music accompanied beautiful water fountains (note that the fountains are active only for an hour or so twice a day on weekends!) You have to pay a special entrance fee of 8 euros when the fountains are active. 
While all of the water fountains look much better operating, one in particular must be seen. The "Mirror Fountain" is a miniature replica of the fountains found in Las Vegas at the Bellagio Hotel (mobile water jets make water "dance" accompanied by music). Next, Ray and Traci walked to Queen Marie-Antoinette's favorite palace, the Petite Trianon. Surprisingly small but nonetheless luxuriously decorated, the Queen's ground has a 12 euro entry fee (free for museum pass holders) despite its smallness. In contrast, the next stop at the Grand Trianon was another palace worthy of a despised despot. Hosting many of the same features as the Chateaux, the Grand Trianon served as a "Camp David" for France's Royal family who wanted to get away from the burdens of ruling by traveling a mile from the main Chateaux. While leaving Versailles, Ray and Traci noted the huge lines to get into both the gardens as well as the main Chateaux. Two observations about Versailles – get there early especially on weekends (the books will tell you to be there at the 9 AM opening, but Ray and Traci arrived closer to 10 and still missed out on some really big crowds), and if at all possible go when the fountains are active (fountains need to be active to be appreciated). Ray and Traci's ride back to Paris took 30 minutes, and then the travelers looked for lunch. Ray and Traci ended up having a salad and ham & cheese baguette consumed while sitting around a large pool in the Jardin de Tuileries in typical French picnic style.
After lunch, Ray and Traci returned back to the Westin and ventured to l'Orangerie, a museum located in the Jardin des Tuileries. L'Orangerie has several giant wall sized Monets located in upper floor oval rooms as well as a bottom floor with other famous works by Renoir, Cezanne, Matisse, Picasso et al. The final tourist activity of the evening was a ride along the Seine River with Bauteaux Mouches - a guided tour in 8 languages. Because everything was repeated 8 times, there weren't a lot of details given during the cruise. Still, the views along the Seine were great. Ray and Traci finished the evening with dinner at Le Castiglione, a bistro 1 block from the Westin. Traci enjoyed Roasted Chicken and Ray had a rib eye steak. Especially when considering the 26 euro price, Ray thought his steak was good. A couple of notes about French restaurants – tips are included in the final bill and credit card transactions don't even give you an option to add on to the bill (but you can always leave a few extra coins if you like the service). Drinks (especially soft drinks) tend to be overpriced – 5 or 6 euros for a glass of coca cola is pretty common. Entrees like steak often have a salad served on the plate – many times you won't even find a house salad option on menus. Finally, menus in Paris have all sorts of French dishes but many also have a "cheese burger" – the default selection for picky American eaters such as Ray. So it was actually easier for Ray to find an acceptable restaurant than Traci.
Sunday started out with clear but chilly weather. Ray went for a short run around the Jardin de Tuileries before both travelers headed to the Louvre to get on the L'Open double decker tourist bus which travels along the city. Moving around the city, one notes how many clocks are on buildings in Paris and how many are broken! You have to be careful trusting Paris clocks even on prominent buildings such as the Musee D'Orsay which used to be a train station! Conditions got windy and really cold so Ray and Traci got off at the Rodin Museum where they admired the many sculptures in the combined indoor/outdoor venue.
While in the area, Ray and Traci also saw the Hotel National Des Invalides – the Tomb of Napoleon. Even outdoing the Egyptian Pharaohs, Napoleon's tomb includes a golden dome, a very ornate chapel and a very prominent casket. While the monument was free for museum pass owners, Ray and Traci both thought it was rather unseemly to charge 9 euros to see the tomb of one of the nation's great leaders. Would America charge nearly $12 to see the Lincoln Memorial or JFK's Eternal Flame at Arlington? Lunch was eaten at Le Solferino, a café near the D'Orsay museum. Ray enjoyed a very good lasagna dish while Traci found a hot goat cheese on bread with salad dish much to her liking. Thanks to the museum pass, the travelers got to cut in a very long line at the D'Orsay museum which contains a very prestigious collection of impressionist paintings. Rain returned in the late afternoon so a tired Ray and Traci headed back to the Westin. They decided to give Japanese food another chance in Paris, and went to a ramen house called Sapporo – Ray had ramen with beef, Traci had a combination platter including ramen, gyoza and fried rice. Both diners enjoyed their dinner and retired for the long journey to Normandy in the morning.
Ray and Traci decided to take a day trip to walk on the hallowed ground where 30,000 American soldiers died in the liberation of France during World War II. "D-Day" occurred on June 6, 1944 when Allied Forces invaded the Northern Coast of France at Normandy. The day trip started with an early morning ride on the high speed SNCF to Caen. Ray bought advance purchase train reservations from the Eurorail site on the internet before traveling to Paris – at the station, the ticket window issued paper tickets for round trip travel. France's trains were comfortable and smooth, but the Caen train departed 20 minutes late. Once in Caen, the guides from the Caen Museum picked up a large group (about 20) and brought them to the museum. The Caen Memorial museum was built in the late 1980s and is a very large and well done multimedia presentation about the era before, during and after World War II. The exhibits are mostly bilingual (French & English) and highly informative. Ray felt the museum was extremely well done and rivaled Washington D.C's Newseum (although limited to portions of the 20th century). After a guided tour, Ray and Traci enjoyed a hosted lunch (Ray had a steak, Traci had cod) complete with red and white wines, an apple tart, and coffee. Guests then had a chance to wander around the museum before departing in 8 person vans to the battlefields. Multiple stops including the American Cemetery at Normandy,
the artificial harbor at Arromanches, German defenses at Point du Loc, and of course, Omaha Beach captivated the visitors. The weather included off and on rain, further adding to the authenticity of the tour. The tour was moving, educational, and made the travelers want to learn more about the war. The day ended with the group being dropped off at the Caen train station – and as a bonus, everyone was able to get on an earlier train. The longer length trains (Grande Lignes) have reserved seats which are marked by small cardboard inserts above them, but walk on passengers are allowed to sit in empty seats. The conductor told Ray and Traci that people with advance tickets needed to get them stamped before boarding the train but they never did figure out where that is done. The nearly 2 hour trip arrived back at the St. Lazare Station in Paris. Although many tour companies offer day trips to Normandy, most are bus tours from Paris – Ray and Traci highly recommend the Caen Museum sponsored program utilizing the SNCF high speed train booked thru linkparis.com (a California based company). The tired travelers stopped at a pizza place near the St. Lazare Station called Café Marco Polo for a ham & mushroom pizza which was quite good before they retired to the Westin.Tuesday started with Ray running along the Seine and visiting the grounds of Notre Dame. Since both visited the 900 year old cathedral during their last visit they did not tour it again. Next, Ray and Traci walked to the nearby shopping district. They toured the huge Printemps department store. Down the street (Haussmann), they entered the giant Galleries Lafayatte department store and looked at the large selection of goodies at their gourmet department. Traci bought some Paris chocolate. On their way back to the Westin, Traci bought some very popular Parisian macaroons from Pierre Herme – macaroons are small round meringue based airy filled cookies and come in different colors and flavors. The chocolate ones are sort of like a very light brownie. They are very delicious treats! After the shopping, Ray and Traci checked out of the Westin (Ray was only able to book a 4 night stay due to a convention which filled the hotel) and they took a taxi to the Arc de Triomphe Hilton. As expected, the Hilton served as a nice new home with more modern styling than the Westin. In fact the décor and elevator background music was similar to the Times Square Hilton in New York. The Hilton is probably the only hotel in Paris where the staff speaks to you first in English (Good morning, not Bonjour). Ray and Traci grabbed a traditional Parisian picnic lunch (ham baguettes) and joined much of the lunchtime crowd in a nearby park. They next took the metro to the Notre Dame area, stopping for some great gelato at Amorino followed by a visit to the beautiful St. Chappell – huge panels of stained glass tell in pictures the bible's stories from Genesis to the Resurrection. Unfortunately some of the panels are being restored and were blocked from view. The day ended with dinner at a restaurant near the Hilton called Le Monceau where Traci had an overdone lamb dinner while Ray enjoyed a tasty smoked salmon and pasta dish. 
Ray and Traci made a night time visit to the Arc de Triomphe and viewed the shimmering Eiffel tower (it glitters for 5 minutes at night on the hour).
Wednesday was the highlight of the Parisian attractions – Sacre Coeur. Ray and Traci waited until they finally had some sunshine and took the metro to the amazing church. While the Paris Metro is not especially difficult to use, it has some quirks – some of the train doors have to manually opened at stops, some of the passageways between lines are poorly marked, and several transfers require leaving one station and walking to the next (you need to hold on to your metro ticket to make this type of transfer). Metro tickets are available in stacks of 10 ("carnets") at a discount. As in many cities, metros have performers seeking money – In Paris, one station had a complete string section performing orchestral selections. As long as you know which stations you are starting at and leaving, the smartphone applications available are really helpful at figuring which trains you need to catch. Some other notable metro observations include the number of people using i-Phones, the lack of access for the disabled – a mother struggled to wheel her infant in a stroller down the steps with a box of groceries precariously balanced on the top as no elevators or escalators are available, a response by three armed police officers to someone screaming mindlessly on the subway, and finally a young child wielding a toy (?) handgun that would have triggered a lockdown in the US. Sacre Coeur is the ultimate in contrasts between secular capitalism and religious spiritualism. You leave the Anvers metro stop and walk into an alley of shops selling souvenirs of every type imaginable. In the middle, many entrepreneurs have set up 3 card monte stands using cardboard boxes. At one operation, the same woman keeps winning hundreds of Euros over a period of hours, imagine that! We had to assume she was the wife of the dealer. As you approach the majestic basilica (tribunal chamber of a king, built in 1876), young men approach trying to tie strings around your wrist and then bill you for their trouble! Farther up, kids approach wanting pledges. You hear harpists and violinists playing Celine Dion tunes looking for tributes. Merchants set up on the ground sell more souvenirs such as acrylic Eiffel Towers and postcards. After finally reaching the top, the most beautiful church awaits. 
While pictures are not allowed inside, suffice to say it is as impressive inside as outside. Ray bought a candle asking for a blessing to help bring the 2011 World Series to Seattle. His last request at the Shinto Shrine in Tokyo went unfilled; if the Sacre Coeur blessing fails perhaps a pilgrimage to the Vatican or Jerusalem will be needed.
After Sacre Coeur, the travelers took the Metro to the Etienne Marcel stop and wandered down the rue Montorgueil, a collection of shops and eateries not unlike Seattle's Pike Place Market. Traci bought a tasty pastry from La Patisserie Stohrer – a bakery established in 1725 and a favorite of King Louis XV. On the metro again, the travelers went to the Musee National D'art Moderne (modern art museum) where, like with New York's Museum of Modern Art (MOMA), you learn that art is in the eye of the beholder (or the one paying for it). The building is quite a contrast to Parisian architecture, and as with Seattle's Experience Music Project (EMP), has many critics. Next, Ray and Traci enjoyed treats from Berthillon, the other famous Parisian ice cream place. Ray actually preferred the nearby Amorino (from the previous day) so he bought a second ice cream from them. Traci wanted to try a falafel at L'as du Falafel, so she ordered one at the takeout window and enjoyed the delicious and spicy meal on a parkbench in nearby Places de Vosges. Stomachs full, Ray and Traci rested up for their final full day in Paris.
A steady drizzle returned on Thursday. Despite the rain, Ray ran around the large running track at the park a block from the Hilton. The first stop on the dreary morning was the Louvre. Ray and Traci visited the Louvre last year during their one day Paris adventure, so this time they tried to visit exhibits they had not seen before such as Asian and Roman artifacts, and the grandiose Napoleon III apartments.
The Louvre is so massive, people talk about how many months it would require to view each item. Certain exhibits (most notably, the Mona Lisa) get huge crowds but many less well publicized objects are also quite captivating. After a few hours at the Louvre, Ray and Traci ventured back into the shopping district to pick up goodies to bring home. They started at a store selling music boxes named Anna Joliet near the Louvre, then took the metro to The Bon Marche (a blast from the past for long time Seattle residents who shopped at the big department store before Macy's took over) and then went back to Printemps and Galleries Lafayette where they purchased some specialty chocolate from Sadaharu Aoki. Fortunately, the rain stopped and the skies were partly cloudy during their shopping excursion. Exhausted and hungry, the travelers returned to the Hilton for a brief break before dinner. For their last dinner, Traci and Ray took a suggestion from their friends Mike and Nancy and went to Auberge de la Reine Blanche. The place looks like a very traditional French restaurant on Ile Saint Louis near Notre Dame. With its English menus and jam packed tables full of Americans, it was clearly catering to tourists. For 20 Euros, patrons got a 2 course meal – Traci had a French Onion soup followed by Coq au vin. Ray had a delicious ravoli with cheese, mushrooms and potatoes (tasted like au gratin potatoes) and a great steak with aioli sauce. Ray felt the meal was the best of the trip. For dessert, Traci went to nearby Amorino for one last ice cream cone.Ray and Traci departed early the next morning using the parishuttle.com (one 's') service arranged a couple days before departure. As with their trip into the city, traffic was bad due to an accident at the airport. An unattended baggage scare also delayed the check in process so the 6:15 hotel departure for a 10:30 flight was just right for a comfortable arrival. The flights went smoothly and the traveler's baggage made it thru the Chicago connection without incident. Ray and Traci's great adventure to Paris was an amazing experience but quite exhausting. As in London, travelers get an appreciation what old and classical really mean. Seeing places such as Versailles and Normandy gives great insight into the French culture. Experiencing the beauty of Sacre Coeur is an absolute must for any Parisian adventure.
