For our final day, I spent the morning bright and early at Versailles. The entire mansion was beautiful, decked out in paintings and chandeliers and a lot of materialistic things. I cannot imagine ever living in a house that big, I feel like it was maybe triple the size of my high school building! We took the metro to Sacred Heart afterwards, which was gorgeous. I think this was by far my favorite building among all the cathedrals and buildings we’ve seen throughout the trip. It was a beauty sitting on the top of the hill in the bright blue skies! We shopped in the area since there were a lot of local vendors and boutiques, buying crepes and gelato as we strolled the streets.
On the way back in the metro station, I almost got pick pocketed!!! It was definitely a busy hour since the area was so crowded. I put my phone in my pocket and zipped it up as I was walking to the stairs. As I was going down the stairs, I looked to my right and see this hand UNZIPPING my coat pocket with my phone and reaching two fingers inside! I was so shocked and angry and looked at the man and said “NO.” in probably the most stern tone I have ever used in my life. He stopped walking and pushed his way back up the stairs, in the opposite direction of the crowd. I knew pickpocketers were a huge concern coming in to this city, so I’ve been holding my purse everywhere I go and zipping my pockets…but I hadn’t thought of the fact that they are also just as likely to unzip your belongings to get to them too! Lesson learned, and I am just so thankful I didn’t get this new phone stolen.
Later, I went with Caroline and Madison to get cheese from a fromagerie and chocolate from stores she had made a mental note on! We had to trace our steps back to the area we walked past on the first day after Notre Dame, and it was so worth it. The area was so cute and lively with it being a Saturday night, and I ended up getting two kinds of brie to bring back to the US and share with my family. We got dinner at a nice restaurant where we were seated outdoors. We were soaking in every last piece of Paris culture for our final evening. We later went to see a piece of street art done by Banksy, which I had not heard of until this trip!
I got back to the hotel and my friend from high school, Nes, was here! Nes was an exchange student for one year at my high school, but lives in Paris. It was so nice to see her and catch up—I can’t believe it had already been 3 years since we’d last seen each other!
