Ritzy Day

Highlights: St. Sulpice, Ritz Escoffier Cooking School, Louvre, Ballet at L'Opera Garner

I woke at 8:30 am feeling guilty but happily discovered Belinda was still asleep. The sun and heat at Versailles definitely wore us down.

We had breakfast on the balcony with a view of Sacre Coeur and St. Sulpice. If only we could have had big Starbucks coffees delivered. We needed a lie in that day.

We walked towards St. Sulpice and spotted a great cafe. We people watched and then walked through the church which was in the DaVinci Code movie. We then headed to the Ritz with a quick Starbucks stop. We were early so we walked past amazing store windows for Channel, Cartier, Jimmy Cho and others.

We entered the Ritz through the employee entrance. We were a class of 10 people including employees from the Louvre who were using this class for team building. Our instructor was professional but clearly had a lot to cover in one hour. We learned a lot and then sat down to a very nice lunch with wine, coffee and dark, milk and white chocolates. Belinda befriended a Japanese Home Economics teacher and I talked with Sophia from Bulgaria.

Afterwards we bravely walked to the grand entrance of the Ritz Hotel. We were approached by staff and we told them about our class and that we wanted to go to the gift shop to purchase Ritz aprons. We were escorted past gorgeous flower arrangements, incredible showcases of items for sale and "secret" outdoor patios. We bought two aprons, peeked in Hemingway's Bar, and headed outside, only to find a movie shoot.

We decided to go to the Louvre for an hour to make use of our museum pass. Belinda headed to the Egyptian exhibit and I went to see the French painters - Ruben and Rembrandt. Mostly I was happy to sit.

We raced home, had wine, cheese and crackers on the balcony, and changed into dresses for the Ballet.

The Opera house was stunning with gold statues on the roof, a grand staircase and ceiling painted by Chagall. We had seats 5 & 6 in Box 37 centre stage. The box seats were cute with red velvet walls but it was hot and stuffy. The ballet was called "Rain". It was modern with 10 dancers. The music was live with 6 percussionists and others on xylophones. Two women sang, or rather, made accompanying sounds. It was hypnotic and hot, and I almost fell asleep.

We caught the metro home around 9:00 pm. A nice card was waiting for us from our lovely landlord, Olga. It was a great day.Read more