Mes amies á Paris! (Part deux)

With a great start to the trip my Colgate friends and I still had a few more days of adventures before they left! I took Friday off and we got up early to go to Versailles. With the SNCF strike still going on it took us a little longer than expected to get there due to train delays and cancellations. I went to Versailles in 2000 with my family and have been wanting to go back ever since and am so glad we did!

Versailles from outside the gate

We first started with a tour of the Château. The Château is massive and extremely ornate. Every surface was covered in decorations be it gold plating, wall paper, murals, etc. Paintings and sculptures were found everywhere and most ceilings had ornate paintings to representative of different Gods and Goddesses. However, what surprised me the most was how close together all of the rooms were: King Louis' quarters backs up to the Hall of Mirrors. The Hall of Mirrors is very impressive, on one side is floor to ceiling mirrors and on the other floor to ceiling windows. The mirrors reflect the gardens that can be seen from the floor to ceiling windows that line the other side of the hall. The windows let in ample light which makes it feel as though the gardens are around you. The mirrors in the hall were constructed by Saint-Gobain, and the company was actually founded by the King in order to manufacture them!

In the Hall of Mirrors

After a tour of the Château we headed to the gardens to find a place to picnic for lunch. We headed away from the Great Canal and towards the Grand Trianon where we found a small pond that wasn't that busy. The weather was perfect so we were able to sit and relax for a bit. However, not wanting to waste time (you can spend days there and not get bored!) we headed to the Petit Trianon and Marie Antoinette's Hamlet. We did a quick tour of her Palace and then headed into the gardens. Marie-Antoinette had the hamlet built in 1783 so she could return to the "charms of the rural life."  Once completed the Hamlet consisted of 11 cottages around a large lake: 5 cottages were reserved for her and her guests, 4 were reserved for the peasants who lived there, the farm and its annexes and one cottage for domestic use. The farm was a working farm complete with livestock, goats and birds as well as a vegetable farm to supply some of the food. The Hamlet was my favorite spot in Versailles all those years ago, and was still one of my favorite places today. Located a little further than the rest of the gardens, not as many people make it to the Hamlet so it is a lot quieter and more peaceful!

The gardener's cottage

After a full day at Versailles we got back to Paris around 6 which gave us enough time to head out to a nice dinner and drinks! Saturday was our last full day and we wanted to take full advantage! In the morning we headed to the left bank to do a walking tour and pick up a picnic lunch which we enjoyed in the park behind Notre Dame.

In the afternoon we had a Patisserie cooking class at La Cuisine Paris, where we learned how to make Croissants, Pain au chocolat, Pain Suisse (dough with vanilla custard & chocolate chips) and Pain Raisin (a spiral of dough with vanilla custard and raisins) as well as some jelly pastries. The class was three hours long and so much fun! We went through all the steps of how to make croissants and all got to make everything. Since the dough takes almost a day to prepare due to all of the breaks you need to give it to let the yeast work, etc we had dough ready to go for us. However, at the beginning of the course we were given our own bowl of ingredients for dough and throughout the course we did a condensed dough preparation version to learn the steps.

Making the Pain au Suisse

Throughout the class our instructor provided us with some funfacts about croissants:

• The croissants we made had 49 layers alternating butter and dough
• In the oven the butter forces the dough to separate giving it the light and airy interior 
• Croissants have two different shapes and names for a reason
• Croissant ordinaire is Crescent shaped and is made with margarine 
• Croissant au buerre is the typical straighter shape and is made with butter

At the end of the three hour class we were served coffee along with our pastries straight out of the oven! Everything was so delicious that it was hard not to try to eat all of them right away. We all left feeling full, satisfied and very happy with a bag filled with pastries to enjoy later and the next morning for breakfast!

After our class!

We ended the night at the 33rd edition of Le Fete de La Musique, a free musical festival throughout Paris that anyone can participate in. Throughout the night there are concerts throughout the city ranging from anyone who wants to play to well known bands and orchestras. We saw a really great percussion band in front of Notre Dame and then wandered the streets listening to others.

Sunday morning everyone had to return to the states. I had the most amazing time with Eri, Emily, Emily and Caroline and words cannot describe how happy and grateful I am that they were able to make the trip over. It was amazing to spend a week with them here and show them my life in Paris! I am very much looking forward to my return to the states so that I can see them again soon!