Sorry the Paris section was so boring, but we've come to the end. I think the problem is that, I have lots of photos so it's long, and I love the place so I find it hard to be funny/sarcastic, and I don't have my diary yet, so I've forgotten most of the details that may make an interesting story. But I thought I'd leave you with this interesting story, accompanied by pics of Somchai in the role of Marie Antoinette. She was bored silly at Versailles, and had a fake village built at back (by at back I mean behind the main palace, walk 2 miles past two more small palaces used for when the king was with his mistress, then keep going until you arrive at this rural wonderland. The whole place is fake, but she loved to come out here and dress up like a shepherd, and she had her own flock of sheep, who were dipped in perfume daily to hide the sheep smell. the place is really pretty in its own right, but the mental picture of the queen dressed up like little bo peep shepherding her fragrant sheep is a keeper.

This is me and about a half million other visitors at Versailles, which as you all know was the home of Louis XIV and his ill-fated descendants. It's stunningly large, stunningly decorated, and stunningly crowded. It was also snowing. You take a short train ride to the town, then walk past a throng of incongruous Africans selling postcards and wooden carvings, then you're in the giant courtyard pictured, which is really just filled with people lining up and tour buses disgorging more people into the queue. And once inside, it's bumper to bumper. I'd have to say it's the most crowded tourist spot in Paris, beating even the Louvre. Surprisingly, Sainte Chapelle, my favorite church in Paris that seems to be made entirely of stained glass, was the only place where I was defeated by the crowds. We went by each day since it's close to our hotel, but no luck, there was always too daunting of a line.