merci beacoup monsieur trolley

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bonjour!

so eventhough our blog says london (which we arrived in today) this blog is about our parisian travels. so yesterday my sistah, chris and I took the metro out to Versailles to visit with Marie Antoinette. However, when we got there there was a severe lack of tourists hogging our photo opts, which unfortunately ended up being because it is closed on Mondays 😞 quite sad it was that we couldn't go into the famous palace, but make the best of it we did! Domain de Marie Antoinette's little home that was on the grounds was open so we started on our trek there. we were able to wander the gardens and so got tons of really cool pictures. i grabbed my sister's arm and pretended we were Marie's "ladies in waiting" strolling the gardens in our big poofy dresses talking about the latest royalty gossip. it was beautiful, so I can't imagine how stunning it would be in the summer . the map that chris was navigating with was quite sketch, as their were no roads or signs, only tirmmed trees and bushes after statue after garden. after a good 30-40min walk we reached one of the may man made lakes, this one seemed the biggest. and there waiting for us were swans! oh how my heart jumped! how picturesque, a stroll in the royal gardens and a visit with the royal swans. so of course us three went to the water's edge and chris got out a croissant and swan they did! now swans are scary, when they were swimming over, and by no means at top speed, they had their own wake! it was clear that other silly tourist feed the birds too because they all came to us- mallards, seagulls, chickadees and of course the posh swans. beth video taped chris feeding them and her and I screaming as the seagulls were becoming increasingly pushy! after 20min or so we headed back out on our very long jaunt. we were defintaly lost sometimes, but only lost in our relation to the Domain. we walked and walked and walked and walked. my sister, the history major, told me royal stories of head loss. quite the soap opera! we eventually came across some large houses and pointed and wandered saying "is this it? could this be it? no it's too modern. it's not big enough. Marie where are you!". after many teaser homes we finally found Marie's domain, and just in the nick of time before it closed! thank goodness beth and I had our navigator Chris! for my sister and I would be lost in the romance we were making up on our stroll... any secret corner behind a tree or statue beth and I would agree a secret kiss had taken place, maybe even a royal one! once we leave it is getting dark and measuring by our trek to Marie it would take very long to get back. but thank goodness a trolly man came by and I run my canadian butt to stop him! he told me the direction to go and that it wasn't worth paying to get a ride bc it was only a 15min walk. so off he went and merci I said. beth, chris and I started walking with little confidence in the direction he gave us, sorta straight, sorta right...yeah that's east to follow. there was no civilization, no humans, no marie and we were cold! oh how stressed I was. well trusty trolly monsieur saw our staggering, stopped and waved us to jump on, because clearly we were hopeless. oh what thanks I had for him! the dumb tourist act (well, not so much an act) actually paid off! when we pull up to the palace which is near the exit we hop off and start following the older couple that was on the trolly as well. and comes along trolly monsieur drives up again next to us, and points us in the correct, completely opposite direction we were headed. yessss we are not good reps for international tourists. but to our defense there were no signs anywhere!! only trees, statues and lakes!

for dinner we had some amazing indian food, even chris liked it! then we headed back to our room for some wine. great times, and much warmer than earlier in the day.

so here chris and i are, in chiswick (i think). so far the taxis are lovely and roomy, the roads are backwards and the taps are wrong. but I think we are going to like it.

love all the comments! we always look forward to reading them .

love chris and meg

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Comments

[Dad]

Use an accent
So, when you are being a goofy, lost tourist like that, do us a favour and practise your accents; Italian, German, American, British, Australian, Yugoslavian, anything but Canadian. It sounds like a fun day of wandering. My thanks to the trolley monsieur. Love Dad

[Jannette and David Mitchell]

I'm so sad
Hi guys, I'm so sad you are not in mainland Europe anymore. We have not been to the British Ilse so we will not be able to be walking with you. So you will have to continue to be so dicriptive so we will know where we are when we get there. Have a great time in England. Love Aunt Jan

[MOM--Sue]

So go to hear from you
I can hardly believe you are at least a whole ocean away when our modern times allow us to converse so easily on the phone. I had a better line with you than I did earlier in the day with a guy just south of Sault MI. I still have time to pack and pick Bobby up on the way to the airport if you need 2 older ladies to help you get around Scotland. I know Bobby might not drive but I would be game, Meg!! Glad to know you are safe and sound...and now can converse with all the natives and read the menus again...even if you did end up in an Indian restaurant 2 days in a row. What about fish and chips or bangers and mash? Not vegan fare but Chris you could give it a try. Love ya!!