KC Travels Part Four: Paris + Belleau Wood

As we continue our travel series, I have to be 100% honest with you– Paris is my least favorite place on the list. I know that sounds crazy, but I’ve really just never been that interested in going. But when I decided to surprise my husband Josh with a trip to France for Christmas, it was cheaper to fly into Paris than anywhere else, plus if you’re THAT close you kind of have to go see it, right? So we flew into Charles de Gaulle, got our rental car, and eventually found our way to our AirBNB (severely jet lagged and after MANY wrong turns) where we crashed hard until evening, when we decided to get out and do some exploring. We really just walked through the city that first night, circling Notre Dame and eating at the most perfect little Parisian cafe with a beautiful view of the cathedral. We were lucky enough to see it before the fires in April 2019 which have kept the church closed for reconstruction since. Because our trip to France wasn’t centered around Paris, we basically just hit the tourist highlights: Notre Dame, the Eiffel Tower, Versailles, and lots of pastries. We made plans to visit The Louvre, but due to the yellow vest protests throughout the city that day, we instead found ourselves gridlocked beside the Arc de Triomphe as tear gas flew and protestors laid in the streets. We eventually made our way out by going the wrong way down a one way street and we decided maybe seeing the Mona Lisa wasn’t worth the trouble. Welcome to Paris, right?!
One of the highlights of our time in Paris, and an outing I highly recommend is going to Versailles. We went in early spring so the gardens were barren and it was so, so cold but there was plenty to enjoy within the palace itself. When you arrive, you’re given an audio guide in the language of your choice, so you can move at your own pace and enjoy each area without feeling rushed or missing anything. While I love history and especially royal history, I was more interested in the art of Versailles. The painting and sculpture work throughout is absolutely amazing. I can’t even imagine how long it took and how many artists worked to complete all of the artwork inside. The Hall of Mirrors is probably the most iconic of Versailles’s 700 rooms but if you’re going strictly for the photo op, think again. It was absolutely PACKED and I couldn’t have taken a decent photo of us there if I tried. I’m not sure if we went on a particularly busy day, or if it’s always like that but I was getting some serious claustrophobia from the amount of people inside. We had an early lunch that day and were able to beat the crowds and enjoy some solitude while we ate in a small dining room within the palace. It was funny to me to think that we were eating cold sandwiches and canned Cokes in a room that was likely over 400 years old and filled with more history and stories than I could dream of.Now I know I haven’t seemed like the biggest fan of our trip to France so far, but we really did LOVE so many places outside of Paris. One of our main reasons for taking this trip was to visit Belleau Wood, about an hour outside of Paris. This World War I battle site is where US Marines earned the name Devil Dogs during a 25 day battle with German soldiers. The Germans spoke of the “teufel hunden” or dogs from Hell, which kept attacking them from the woods. 1,811 Americans were killed and many are buried at Aisne-Marne American Cemetery near the wood. Within the visitors center at the American cemetery, you can ask for a key. This key opens a gate at the nearby abandoned estate of the Count of Belleau which holds within its grounds the equivalent to a holy pilgrimage site for Marines– the Devil Dog Fountain. Legend says that Marines who drink from this fountain will have strength and protection in future battles. So of course Josh had to drink some, and we brought a bottle full home just in case we need some extra strength and protection later. The chapel at the American Cemetery is breathtaking, and its walls are carved with the names of 1,060 soldiers missing in action from the battle. An inscription above the entrance reads: “The names recorded on these walls are of those American soldiers who fought in this region and who sleep in unknown graves.” You can also walk through the battlefield and still see remnants of the battle from over 100 years ago. What looks like dips and hills in the landscape are actually old trenches and bomb craters. Bullet holes can still be seen in the woods and on some structures. We could’ve walked through the woods all day finding evidence of the war that had been waged there, but we knew we needed to get back to Paris for dark. On our way, we stopped at the nearby town of Montreuil aux Lions, where we encountered some of the nicest people of our entire trip and some of the best food! No one there spoke very much English and we definitely couldn’t speak much French, so we basically carried on conversations in charades. We stopped at the patisserie, where we picked up some delicious eclairs. And the only restaurant in town was sort of a convenience store/bar with a dining room in the back. Filet mignon was on the board, so we ordered it, as it was the easiest thing to point to and not have to explain. You can imagine our surprise as our food was delivered to the table and our filet mignon turned out to be…pork. BUT it was literally the best meal we had on our entire trip. So I highly recommend stopping in tiny French villages and eating in sketchy convenience stores. Even though our time in Paris wasn’t the best, we really enjoyed getting out of the city and driving through the countryside. The villages are like something out of a fairy tale, and the people are so down to earth and kind. We spent the majority of our trip in the Normandy region, which I’ll be sure to add to the blog soon. But I want to hear from you! Where should we go next week? London, the Scottish Highlands, or Normandy?