Weather Sunny but cool
Euro still at $1.28 and holding
Today was like any other, I got up and decided on a plan. I decided to take the Metro to Porte de Versailles. This is not the Chateau at Versailles; it is the original gate into the city that led to that part of France. On the edge of the entire city there are "Portes". They are the original gates into the city. The wall is now gone, the city extends in some places beyond the portes (most places) and now there is a major highway circling Paris instead of a wall.
I have a Metro pass called an Orange Card (Carte Orange). They are phasing this card out for the new Navigo pass, and all though all signs say you cannot get one, you can. The Navigo is more of a challenge for visitors but I am sure if I had fought hard enough I could have gotten it. You can get an orange card for a week (Mon-Sun) or a month. Also the city is divided into zones, most things are in zones 1-2, so the cheapest pass is a zone 1-2. I get the Orange zone 1-2 for a week at 16.40 euros. Oh, you need a passport sized photo for either card. You can get one at the train stations for 4 euros, but bring one from home instead; the photo booths are always broken. OK....
So I get on the train and get off at the end of line 12 to walk over to the new Tram, this is the above ground trains they are doing around the cities outer "walls". The train I was taking goes around the city's south west border. I wanted to see Saint Cloud. I forgot that the Trams are usually in zone 3. So I had to buy a zone 3 metro ticket at 1.6 instead of 1.4. Then I got on the Tram and forgot that you have to validate your ticket once you get on the Tram. You can buy as many tickets as you like; however, they are not valid until you have them stamped like most trains in France and Italy. So I am on the Tram, seated, and I see that the police are checking tickets. It is easy to get on any train without validating your tickets. It is a pretty hefty on the spot fine if you do not have a validated ticket! So I was getting hungry and thinking I may just past St. Cloud and continue to the end of the line where I knew of a place to eat. Well, now I see the cops..... Damn... So the train pulls into the next station, Parc de St Cloud just as they are getting to me, I bailed... I got off at the Parc... Whew... At least now I did not need to buy another ticket for the ride back...
So I went into the Park. This was a grand mansion with an amazing view of the city. The mansion was owned and changed by many, including Marie Antoinette. It is sad as now it just a gorgeous park, the house is gone. The part that is really sad is that during a siege of the 1870s the Prussians where shelling the city from the park and the French fired back, hit the house and it burned to the ground. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ch%C3%A2teau_de_Saint-Cloud
The Park is still amazing as are the views, when standing where the house was you could just imagine how amazing with the views and how opulent it must have been.
(L-R: Wide view from Park, Eiffel Tower in left pic, church in St. Cloud Town)
(L-R: looking south down lawn, looking west and east standing where the house was)
(L-R: Standing where house was in 1-2, #3 is below looking North at where house was)
(L-R: Fountains below house... jogger girl would not move! New VW Passat for Michael)
Passat
