We were able to take a very short trip over to the Palace of Versailles during our Paris trip.  We took the train (RER C-line to the Rive Gauche station), which was only about a 30 minute journey. We also met a very nice family from California that also took the train over and we enjoyed chatting with them while we waited for tickets and to get into the Palace.

There are so many impressive things to see while touring one of the most famous world heritage sights.  The architecture, artwork, and the gardens are truly an experience you will never forget.  The gardens were absolutely stunning and I had no idea how massive the grounds would be.  We were not able to see much of the Palace and gardens as we only had about two hours left to explore before we needed to head to the airport for our trip back to Finland.  We spent about an hour inside the Palace and then an hour in the gardens.  We were told when we purchased our tickets that you would need a good six hours at the property to see everything, so we decided to rent the golf cart that is offered when you first exit the Palace and enter the gardens.  It cost us 30 euros for one hour.  It was worth it since we were so pressed on time.  We were able to do a nice drive around most of the property, but we were not able to really get off the cart to explore into some of the sections, but did manage to get off a couple of times to get a few shots.

Here are a few photos from the 2 hours that we spent at the Palace of Versailles:

Mia and I at the front of the Palace of Versailles.

Mia and I at the Hall of Mirrors inside the Palace.

The Stunning Great Hall Ballroom inside the Palace.

Versailles Great Hall Ballroom.

Hallway at the Palace of Versailles.

One of the many impressive painted ceilings at Versailles.

Mia and I enjoying the beautiful gardens.

The stunning Apollo Fountain.

Mia and her daddy having fun at the gardens.

Mia and I in front of the peaceful Grand Canal.

The Palace in front of us and our family in the mirror on the golf cart at the end of our garden tour.

Mia having fun on the golf cart while touring the gardens.

Love Locks in Paris:

We decided to visit a bridge in Paris (Pont des Arts) one evening before sunset which has thousands of love locks attached to it.  These love locks are locked onto the railing of the bridge usually with the lovers names on them and then the keys are tossed into the Seine River so that no one can ever unlock their love.  I know that some may say that these locks are not attractive on the bridges.  However, I thought there was something so amazingly beautiful about them.  It is truly breathtaking to see the thousands of love locks attached to the railing.  Talk about really feeling the emotions of being in the City of Love!  We decided to make a family love lock  so that no one could ever unlock the love that our family shares.  Here are a few photos from our experience on the Pont des Arts bridge:

So breathtaking… thousands of love locks on one part of the Pont des Arts bridge.

Our family love lock.

Mia and I in front of the love locks.

Our family love lock on the bridge. One of thousands… but very special to our hearts!

I will end this post with a sunset photo that I took from the plane as we were leaving Paris and on our way back to Finland.  There is something about it that I just find so peaceful and it is a perfect shot to end our first trip to Paris.

The sunset from the plane as we were leaving Paris.