Versailles

We got up early today so we could be at Versailles in time for our tour. It was scheduled for 9, when the palace opens, to beat the crowds. It was a pretty train ride.

We passed a building on the way with a fence that really makes it seem like they don’t want people to climb it.

The palace was huge. The center part with extra gold was the original hunting lodge, and the rest was added on later.

The inside was incredibly ornate. Louis XIV took the whole sun king thing seriously, and covered everything in gold leaf. The ceilings were especially intricate.

Our guide told us that every room that had a focal point was focused on Louis XIV, so there were statues, busts, and paintings of him everywhere.

We learned that Louis XIV had four sons who all died before him, and his one surviving grandson became king of Spain, so his great grandson became Louis XV after he died. Louis XV was really interested in science and had some cool things brought into the palace.

Louis XIV had regular people in the castle all the time, and even had a replica bed chamber where they could watch him doing his bedtime ceremony. Louis XV didn’t like this, and had private apartments built that were closed to the public. These were a little less decorated. Still heavily gold plated, but at least the ceilings weren’t painted.

Next, we left the palace and went into the gardens. They weren’t what we usually think of as garden with flowers. It was more sculpted heated and fountains.

This round section of collonades was so cool.

We rented a rowboat and took out out the water.

The littles even got in sync when working together.

We stopped for lunch and the kids sat near some swans. It was super cold so we were glad to have hot melty baguette sandwiches, tea and hot chocolate.

As we walked back up toward the palace, we stopped at a fountain to see the water show, which was synchronized to the music.

On the way back to the palace, Willow found an enormous snail and Liam found a rock that had been knapped at some point.

The gardens were really pretty, and there were lots of sculptures and birds singing.

We took the train back to Paris and found the most delicious crepe place near our hotel.

We had a little down time in the hotel before going out to dinner. It’s hard sometimes to find a place where everyone can have something they want. River was excited to find, not a trident, but a bident, with his dinner.

After dinner, the kids were pooped after so much walking, so we dropped them at the hotel and went out for crème brûlée. It took us a bit of wandering to find the right place, but it was delicious. We can’t figure out why they put a tomato on it, though.