Woke up in Paris on our second day, still at awe that we get to visit Paris in our lifetime. The second day is our first full day in Paris and was going to be a long day. We planned for an early morning trip to Versailles, tickets purchased ahead of time. From the hotel it takes 50 mins on the RER C train, so we had to plan ahead and start our day early. While the visit to Versailles will fill up most of the day, we wanted a free an easy place to visit if we found time later in the day. That plan was to visit Basilique du Sacré-Cœur de Montmartre, where the attraction is the funicular up the hill. By far, the Basilica was the most most memorable in this trip.

Versailles: The Epitome of Luxury

Remember to buy tickets ahead of time, Versailles is a very popular tourist attractions. We bought out tickets to Versailles soon after we booked our hotel in Paris. Pick a time that is early in the day, generally not as crowded as later in the afternoon. We went during winter, where the ticket to the Chateau also gives us access to the gardens. The fountains are closed during winter. At the gardens, there are options to self drive a golf buggy around or sit on a road train that takes you around the gardens. It is a huge garden so walking is not going to be feasible.

When we were there and saw the crowd, we had flashbacks of our trip to Vatican City last year. We are surprised at the number of “chinese” looking tourist. Makes us feel at home with our people. I digress, with the crowd, we were not able to stay in one room and read up on the information. We just get pushed along with the crowd from one room to another. We should have signed up for a tour, at least someone to tell us stories on what we are seeing. This is a case of going to a place and then reading up the history later.

What’s interesting at Versailles

1. The beds of Louis XIV is perched high with a low fence at the foot of the bed. That’s because he has an audience when he goes to sleep and wake up.
2. The Hall of Mirrors impressive for its 357-mirror, 73-meter-long, 17-arch design, which perfectly reflects the gardens to create an illusion of infinite space and unmatched light. It is also where the Treaty of Versailles was signed, marking the end of World War 1
3. Gallery of Great Battles contain paintings that depicts 15 centuries of French military successes.

Basilique du Sacré-Cœur de Montmartre

We wanted to visit Basilique du Sacré-Cœur de Montmartre because we saw the fun funicular that goes up the hill. The funicular cost one Metro ticket. There is a ticket booth and machines to load up the Navigo card, but I recommend that you get the tickets in advance since there’s limited ticketing machines and a lot of tourist. The queue and ride up was pretty fast.

We arrived late in the evening as the sun was setting. We get to see the white Basilica in the day and lit in amber as night falls. We also get to see Paris lighting up as the sun sets. We also find that there’s a lot of classic French architecture around the area, cafes and restaurants. We also stumbled upon Place du Tertre, a square where artist gather to show off their skills.

Montmarte is not just about the Church, the neighborhood is also a great place to take a stroll. I would advice to watch out for pickpockets and scammers. There were was “gang” while we were there doing the bracelet scam, where they forcefully tying string “friendship” bracelets onto tourists’ wrists or fingers and later extort money. They formed a line so we have to pass them going out of the area, I grabbed my son and we barged through the line.