Today we will visit Versailles! We saved this day trip for today because it’s supposed to be the best weather of the week.

//Stefan Note: The kids favorite part of the day i think was turning the parking garage lights from red to green

The drive to Versailles took about 35 minutes. I am so happy Stefan is the one driving; these Parisians are nuts! There were a couple moments when I closed my eyes. But we made it.

We went directly to a restaurant recommended by Lonely Planet, Chez Lazare.  They close at 2 (we are no longer surprised by this), and we snag the last table outside. The food is nothing special, but I would recommend the chicken salad. And this block is adorable, with lots of cafes and closed off to car traffic. Oly investigated the nearby plants for bugs while Lillian was completely preoccupied the entire meal by the spider underneath my chair. She was convinced it was coming for her.

It was a short walk up the hill to the Palace of Versailles. It wasn’t as resplendent from the front as I’d expected.

//Stefan Note: Oly enjoying the paintings on the ceilings

We went directly into the Palace to look at the royal apartments and hall of mirrors. Unfortunately, the kids’ energy was a little crazy. We should have adjusted the plan and headed directly out to the gardens, but we stayed the course and suffered as a result. At least they were playing together instead of fighting, which they’ve been doing a lot lately, but their energy was way too high. We spent a lot of time corralling them and trying to settle them down. It stressed me out.

As for the palace, it was beautiful. It’s hard to wrap your head around how decadent their lives were, and it makes me want to watch Sofia Coppola’s Marie Antoinette again.

We finally made our way out to the gardens. And it started to rain. Unbelievable. Thankfully it didn’t last long. We decided to take the little train to the Grand Trianon. This was another ridiculously beautiful house. The kids were getting tired. And very bored with all this.

//Stefan Note: The place was big but not crazy big.  Even for the babies

We took the train to the Grand Canal and walked up to the palace from there. Oly fell asleep on Stefan’s shoulders! Poor guy.

Stuck in terrible traffic, our return to Paris took twice as long as the way to Versailles. The kids were exhausted. As we were pulling into our neighborhood, Oly vomited. So he does still get carsick. What a bummer. Bath time, quiche for dinner and bed. We’ll have to do better at entertaining the kids tomorrow. When asked, Lillian said it was hard to pick her favorite part of the day because we were just at that palace all day.