Father-Daughter Eurotrip: Day 12

 On our second day in France, Dad and I took a day trip out to Giverny and Versailles. I’m not a huge art person. Read: I know what I like. And, I do enjoy Monet’s paintings. We got to tour his house and the gardens. Most of the furniture in the house is not original. They do have original sketches and some photographs that he took displayed. The garden was exactly as how I imagined it to be. Yes, the famous bridge has had some work done on it. But, you get the full effect.

Monet's House 

Garden

For lunch, our tour company took us to this restaurant off a side street. We had traditional fare, although I opted to not eat the foie gras.

Traditional Fare 

Versailles was our afternoon activity. In 2008, we did not have a chance to visit the palace on the high school French club trip. Our tour company gave us a walking tour inside the palace of the 16 staterooms. We got to see the Louis the 14^th’s bedroom, the war and peace rooms, and the hall of mirrors.

Ceiling 

The Hall of Mirrors 

Outside, we had a few minutes to explore the famous gardens before returning to London.

Back of Versailles

Dad and Me at Versailles

That evening, Dad and I dined at a famous French brasserie. We were on the hunt for authentic food, and we achieved! For dessert, we both had banana and Nutella crepes. Delicious! 

"Tea with jam and bread"

1st. If you know the song reference of the title, excellent job!

Last Sunday, Nicole and I had high tea! We had found a GroupOn for high tea for 30 pounds. Splitting the cost, we got a normal high tea service that costs 75 pounds for roughly 15 pounds plus service. It's the little bargains in life. 

Arriving at the hotel overlooking Kensington Gardens, we were swept away right away to an age gone by. Of course, high tea is served everyday, but the hotel decor reminded me of the Victorian era. The first part of  tea? Champagne, of course!  A quick toast to being in London for one month was followed by tea. I choose traditional breakfast and was very glad I had quite a large pot for myself as it was a bit chilly that day. 

Tea and Champagne

Tea time!

With the tea came out the three-level tray of food! Eating our heart's desires...sandwiches, scones with clotted cream and jam, cupcakes, tarts, and macaroons! Yum!! And yes, I posted the photos to make you hungry!

Scones with clotted cream and jam

Spice Cupcake

Whipped Tart

Macaroons!

Tray of Food

As you can see, we left full! It was a great adventure, and I cannot wait for my next experience. On the bucket list is to eventually have high tea at Harrods!