Day 3 - A Tale of Two Arcs

As promised, today I and the Handlers visited one of the most impressive private residences in Europe, the beautiful palace of Versailles.

Knowing what scoundrels the Handlers are, the folks at the castle didn't want to let them in.

No really, they were in line for, like, an hour. In the hot sun! It was not the most pleasant of experiences.

This is Louis XIV, France's "Sun King".

Louis built all of Versailles as a monument to his giant....ego. Apparently, he was focused on building a residence that would just impress the heck out of all the other rulers of Europe. That's why we get amazing things like the Hall of Mirrors.

Here's Louis' big backyard. The handlers can attest, it is big. And hot. And with not a lot of refreshments.

There's a swimming pool.

(I'd just like to point out that the Grand Eaux Musicles we paid extra to see was more of a Petite Musicales...no water.)

And an orange grove.

And here's an "outbuilding".

The Petite Trianon, which we didn't have time to enter.

It's good to be the king.

Up next was one of the major reasons that Handler 1 planned this trip for early October. She wanted to add the Hippodrome du Longchamp to her list of famous racecourses she's visited.

We were here because today was the running of the Qatar Prix du Arc de Triumph. That's like Europe's Kentucky Derby....except its a mile and a half long....and run on grass...and the horses run in the opposite direction...but other than that, it's just like Europe's Kentucky Derby.

Being as how we were late ticket buying plebes, we weren'texactly able to get good seats. However, we did find a corner near a window with a good view of the stretch.

For those who care (pretty much none of you), the race was won by a German mare named Danedream, in course record time!

After our first "arc" we returned to out hotel for some rest, then headed out to find a cafe for dinner. We ended up at a little rugby themed eatery, where Handler 1 finally got a glass of wine. The food was good, better than what you'd expect from a sports bar.

After that we wound our way through the streets of Paris to the Arc de Triomphe (our second of the day).

Unfortunately, there was not an elevator option at the Arc.

There wsn't much to do at the second Arc other than stare up the Champs Elysees,, so we just took some photos of the nice scenery and returned to our hotel. Well, we did stop for gelato on the way. It was good.

Quote of the day:

"This guy's an ass!" - Referencing Louis XIV, the Sun King