Day four and kissing Paris goodbye!

The main (and pretty much ) only item on the itinerary for today was to visit Versailles, which was at the top of my list for things I wanted to see in Europe.

We started off bright and early, checking out of our hotel because we'd be moving on today. We drove there, which wasn't too bad (though, considering it was a Sunday morning, shouldn't surprise me). We got there bright and early, which was nice -- we got to park right in front.

The building, was of course, beautiful. It was my favorite building so far. They provided an audio tour, which was great and gave information by room as to what the purpose and what the meaning behind the decor was.

Around lunch, we headed out to the gardens, which were actually what I really wanted to see at Versailles. Unfortunately, it is a bit early in the season for the gardens. And, also, it was their "musical watershow" weekend, when the fountains are set to run with broadcast music. That sounds great, but they charge an arm and a leg to get in when they are doing so. Want to know the real kicker? We only found one fountain that was running while we were there -- the rest were set to run later in the afternoon (or had run in the morning when we were inside). We did find one little corner of the garden that was blooming nicely -- mostly trees & shrubs -- that made the trip to the gardens worth it.

After a few hours in the gardens, we headed out for our next destination: Strausburg, which is almost straight east of Paris and very near the German border.

We stayed off the major highways for this trip, for which I was glad. It is fun to drive through and near the little towns, just to see what they look like. It was interesting to watch the buildings and terrain change as we approached Strausburg. The homes are definitely larger here and more spread out. The architecture is much more German, which I actually prefer. It isn't as "fussy" as in Paris and the other areas of France that we have been in.

So, tomorrow we're planning on exploring Strausburg a bit and then moving on to Germany, to Baden-Baden and through the Black Forest. We've yet to determine a final stop for tomorrow, though, so that is what I am off to do next...