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Published: August 18th 2007
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We were all up a little after 8 this morning. We had breakfast (yogurt, bread, bananas) and I packed a lunch for us. We were out the door at 9:30 and two hours later we arrived at Versailles. There was a slight problem because the C line, which is a fast way of getting around the left bank of Paris was under repair so we had to take the slow trains across town, which luckily didn’t bother the girls much as they love to hang on the bars. Unfortunately it being Sunday and almost noon when we arrived it meant 3 hour lines to get into Versailles. I felt really bad because if I had known we wouldn’t get to go in here I would have brought them into Sanssouci in Berlin just so they could see the inside of a palace. However, the thought of waiting in line with them made the decision for us. We will all have to wait to see the inside of Versailles. Additionally because it was a Sunday we had to pay to get into the gardens (luckily we have found that the kids are free for almost everything in Europe) because they were having
The lines to get into Versailles
It was an estimated 3 hour wait when we arrived. music and water shows in the fountains, but they weren’t happening until 3:30 and here it was not even noon. Again, a little disappointing. One thing that was not disappointing was the garden. The flowers were unbelievable. Jonathan and I had only previously been to Versailles in January so we were excited to see everything in full bloom.
Along with thousands of other people we wandered around the grounds. We found a bench and had the lunch we packed. We stopped for a bathroom break and the line to go in was about an hour long. What?? So I made Jonathan cut the line and take the girls into the men’s room (of course there was no line there) while I got us espressos. We wandered to the ‘open drawing room’ which was spectacular and apparently Emma’s favorite considering the amount of photos she shot. It was a circular area surrounded by columns and fountains (not going at this point). We meandered down to the Neptune fountain which the girls thought was great and then over to the lake where we rented a row boat. This was another one of those highlight moments, being rowed across a lake in
Open Air Drawing Room
(Emma's photo) Abigail and I in front of a statue. This area was Emma's favorite and she has lots of pictures to prove it. front of Versailles. Very surreal and cool. The kids loved taking turns ‘helping’ Jonathan row. After our boat ride we found a shady spot to relax and I took Eliza for a walk and got her to fall asleep in the backpack. At this point it was 3 so we decided to stick around and see the water show at 3:30. It was terrific. The combination of the classical music floating through the air and the fountain displays at every turn were enough to enchant us all.
We left at 5pm and headed to the train station via a crepe cart, yum. We caught the 5:21 train back to Paris and got off at the Invalides stop but as soon as we poked our head out of the station the skies opened up. We decided it had been a long enough day so we headed back to Jose’s apartment. I bathed the kids while Jonathan made them some pasta, then I went out in search of some dinner for us. I found a bakery and got bread and pastries for the morning, a nachtwinkel equivalent for wine and a doner shop for a doner and falafel. We are trying
Emma in the Open Air Drawing Room
The girls spent some time admiring the marble columns and picking out their favorite ones. This was Emma's. to rate doner kebabs across Europe. While the sauce at this place was a nice greek style it just can’t compare to the one in Berlin; the bread is all wrong. It was a long day but worth every effort. The kids had a blast and so did we.
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