Versailles

Our second full day in France we headed to Versailles. We got there just in time for our timed tickets and once we were through the entrance line and security we were in. Cas was most excited about the hall of mirrors so after the first few rooms, he and Caleb moved quickly to the hall of mirrors but…Cas was definitely enamored with it because they were still there when we arrived. Ari was able to identify most of the Greek gods on the ceiling and of the statues. It was nice to be there on a not super crowded day, but now that i’ve been twice…I would probably skip the palace and just do the gardens and the Trianons. As we left the palace to head to the gardens…it suddenly started raining and so our kids were suddenly ready to quit. We busted out the umbrellas and asked them to stick it out just a bit…and sure enough the thunder and downpour passed within 10 minutes. We took them to get hot cocoa and crepes and then they were good to explore the gardens. We rented bikes and let Cas ride in the bike trailer and we rode all the way around the grand canal. We also got to see work going on for the olympics. After that, we walked over to Marie Antoinettes Hamlet and saw the animals but then we wandered too near the local exit as it was closeish to closing time and…we were asked to leave that exit by security…so we were across town from the transportation that would get us back to Paris. Versailles is also were we discovered the amazing free automatic self-cleaning toilets! My kids were enamored! There was also a transportation fiasco…so both the RER (train) and Metro go from Versailles to Paris. We arrived on the RER but after ending up across town we headed to the Metro…turns out something was wrong with the Metro so they told us to wait for a bus coming just to help those stranded by the metro. Lots of other tourists waiting for the bus. The bus finally came, but then…buses are way slower than metros and trains…so we ended up hopping off the bus early and jumping on the RER part way back to Paris. Anyway, we had a lot of fun at Versailles and we had quite the adventure getting back to our apartment. We had food and everyone was fine but it certainly threw our kids for a loop.