04/25/2026 – Why France was Dumb (but they are getting better!)
After a good night’s sleep and a nice (free) breakfast at the Timhotel, we had arranged a tour of the Palace of Versailles. The tour company picked us up at 9 am and, being a Saturday, traffic was not too bad so we made the trip in about half an hour. We met the other people on the tour (there were 10 of us) and our guide at the entrance and off we went to tour the opulent palace where Louis XIV spent about ½ of the country’s wealth in the construction. Yep, Louis XIV (the “Sun King”) spent all that money on gold-leafed everything and the gaudiest of everything. Then, Louis XVI, his grandson, had his head chopped off because the common people could not afford food. “It’s good to be the king!” – at least until the people smarten up and realize how dumb it is to have a monarchy. Several kings/emperors and several revolutions later, the French citizens finally got it.
It was a stunning building (which the French government now owns and pays enormous sums to keep it maintained.) The gardens out back total about 2,000 acres. We did enjoy walking the gardens after our official tour ended.
After we were returned to our hotel, we decided to attend the Saturday “anticipated” mass at Notre Dame, since we had plenty of time. We even walked the 2 ¼ miles to the Basilica. There was a huge line to get into the newly restored church, but we were not there to tour the building, but attend mass so we got in immediately. The mass, although in French, was beautiful, although having crowds our tourists walking the perimeter and snapping photos all during mass was not.
We walked back to the hotel and waited for sundown to cap off our stay in Paris. We capped off our final night by walking down the street around 10 pm to get a good view of the Eiffel Tower, lit up in all its glory. On the hour, the lights started its dazzling twinkling and everyone stood and watched in amazement. Then, it was time for a much needed good night’s sleep. We walked 8 or 9 miles all totaled that day.