Europe Trip Part 14: Versailles

I got up this morning at 6:15 AM. Our goal was to go to breakfast at 8 AM and then come back and leave at 8:45 AM. We did pretty well. First, we checked out the breakfast at the hotel. It seemed OK but we still wanted to go to the bakery instead. We tried to go to the Midore bakery on the corner but they were closed because it was Sunday. It was a little strange when we walked out of the hotel because there were a bunch of people milling around for the clinic across the street. There was even a lady sitting on the steps by our hotel. Anyway, we decided to go back and eat breakfast at the hotel. It looked OK, but in reality, it wasn't that great and the kids had a hard time finding enough stuff to eat to make it worth €15 per person.

We went back to our rooms to gather our things so we could leave at 8:45 AM. I had put on a skirt and I was worried because it seemed like I might be too cold. We walked into the train station and bought the tickets and I realized I had made a mistake and I should've put on jeans. I had about 20 minutes before the train so I ran back to the hotel to change. I was grateful to be staying so close to the train station. Andrew came with me so I didn't have to go by myself. I came back and we went through the ticket booth and went straight to the train. We were easily able to find seating for the six of us, three and three facing each other. The train ride was fine, except a huge group of Americans got on and they were very loud and obnoxious. I think they were a tour group. When we got off the train, we briefly considered taking a taxi to Versailles to save us a little time, but there was only one available and even the taxi driver told us it would only take 10 minutes to walk there so we did. 

We passed by a farmer’s market on the walk to Versailles. 

I had to go to the bathroom pretty badly but there weren't any bathrooms at the station and when we got to the palace, they had some bathrooms outside the entrance so we all took a bathroom break. I saw two lines when we walked up and one was super long and one was short so I just assumed they were for people with or without tickets. It took us a while in the bathrooms because there was a line for the women. There were only five stalls and a long line of women. Anyway, we came out and the long line was even longer and we were sorry to realize that that was our line. Everybody standing in that line was holding the same ticket I had and that was for the 10:30 AM entrance time which is what we needed. The short line was for the 10 AM entrance time.  I should've taken a picture of the line because it was ridiculously long and went all the way from where you check in all the way to the gates when you first walk in. I couldn't believe it. What was the point of buying tickets ahead if we had to wait in that stupid long line? I guess because it was either that or not get in at all. 

Anyway, the line didn't take that long, actually, and we got in and got our audio guides. Even the area with the metal detectors was pretty.

We walked around to all the rooms. It was very cool, especially the bed chambers. We took lots of pictures. 

Emily and Andrew were tired of waiting for us and they went ahead a little bit. I really wanted to go to Angelina's for lunch. At one point, we exited the palace and were in the courtyard and Emily had gone ahead but I didn't know where she was and so I tried to find out where Angelina's was and they said you could go up the elevator or you could just go through the grand apartments section and it would be at the end of that. That's also where the Hall of Mirrors is, and it's what I've been looking forward to seeing the most. Emily was ahead of us and I was afraid she would go through it and meet us at Angelina's, like I had said, and I wanted to get a picture of the family. Pretty soon, she texted us and then called us and asked where the heck we were because we were taking a long time. She had waited in the Hall of Mirrors for us because she figured I would want to picture there. She had seen another family getting pictures and that prompted her to think that I would want a picture, too. That's my girl! Anyway, she waited for us for about 10 or 15 minutes and we finally caught up to her. We took a bunch of pictures with my selfie stick in a couple different locations. When we were in the center, which was the picture I really wanted, we got scolded for having a selfie stick so I quickly apologized. That's OK, I got the pictures I wanted anyway. I really loved walking into the Hall of Mirrors. It was amazing! I have seen pictures, but being there in person was so cool. 

After that, we headed over to Angelina's to see about getting some lunch. The line was going down the hall and I checked to see how long the line was and it didn't look too bad. She said it would be a 20 to 30 minute wait for a table, so I said I was going to go to the bathroom. Apparently, I forgot to tell Michael I was going to. Anyway, I had to go down a couple flights of stairs and walk quite a ways and the line for the bathroom went all the way down the hallway. I don't know why they don't provide proper bathroom facilities. I rushed back to meet everybody. I had tried to text or call Michael to let him know that I was in a long line, but I was in some sort of dungeon or something because I didn't have any service. When I finally started going to meet them, a bunch of texts from Michael came in that said the wait for a table was 45 minutes and the wait for the snack counter with things like cold sandwiches was only 15 minutes. When I finally caught up to them, they were at the front of the line for going to the snack counter and getting cold sandwiches so I joined at just the right time. There were two sides of the line and the lady made us go in the longer one and ours did not move. The other line would’ve been so much better because the lady at the cash register on our line was so slow it was painful. Multiple groups of people came in the other line and got through and left before we even got to order. It was super frustrating. We ordered a ton of food. Everybody but Jonny got a chicken club sandwich. Jonny refused to order anything so I got him two croissants and fruit. Emily found a table in one room and the boys found a table in another room so we got that straightened out and divvied up the food and ate together. I really liked the sandwiches but the desserts weren't as good as I thought they would be so that was a bummer considering that we paid €129 for everything. 

I finally got that weird dessert that I've been seeing called the Mont Blanc. It has cream on the inside and then a coating that looks like a bunch of strings and it's brown but it looks really cool. It was OK but it was rich and I didn't love it. 

So, Angelina's was a bit of a letdown. Granted, we didn't get to eat in the actual restaurant but I can't imagine that it's all it's cracked up to be. I think it was about 1:30 PM by the time we finished lunch and we finished looking at all the exhibits inside the palace and then went out to the gardens. 

We walked around for a little bit and put on some sunscreen and took some pictures. Then we figured out where the Petit Train was and went over there to buy tickets. It was basically a tram. We didn't have to wait too long to get on a train. It took us all the way around Versailles. We saw so many cool things. There were tons of parks with people just sitting around and laying in the sun or eating lunch or riding their bikes and kids riding their scooters and things like that. It took us to the Grand Trianon and Petit Trianon. The Petit Trianon is where Marie Antoinette lived. I would've liked to look in there, but the kids didn't want to stop at either place and I said they could choose. We saw the line to get back on the Petit Train and it was very long and I knew it would be hard for us to get on with six people so we just stayed on the train and rode it the whole way back. We saw some people boating at the end of the canal. It was all very cool. 

We took a few more pictures by all the fountains and canals. Then it was time to head out. 

We had decided when we were sitting on the train that because of the time, we wouldn't be able to go to the Paris Temple Visitor’s Center which was a bummer since it's Sunday and we didn't really do anything churchy. We walked out of the gardens and I wanted to get some pictures in the Royal Courtyard, but the exit took us back to where we stood in line to get in so we just took some pictures there instead and walked back to the train. 

If we’d been about five minutes earlier, we could've made the 5:01 PM train, but that's OK we just waited 20 minutes to the next one. The kids went into a little candy store and got some candy and I walked to the bakery on the corner to try to get a better treat than I had at Angelina's. It was a very pretty little store and I got some kind of weird tart that was pretty good and some other things to share with the kids. 

We had a nice train ride back and walked back to the hotel. This is the street where the hotel was, EXE Paris Centre. It was less expensive than the first Paris hotel we stayed in, but the rooms were so tiny we could barely fit our suitcases. 

By then it was 6 PM and we told the kids we'd meet back at 7 PM and Michael gave everybody a family home evening lesson. Jonny had been asking to go back to the same pizza place we were at on Friday night called La Petit Comedie. He hasn't asked for much and he barely eats so we decided that would be a good idea. Siri told us that it was closed but we tried it anyway and it was open so he was pretty happy about that. This time I got the veal cutlet and it was just OK. Michael and Daniel got the lasagna that I got the other night. I probably should've just ordered that again. Oh well. Emily got the salmon, Andrew and Jonny got the same things they ordered last time, which was pasta and cheese pizza. 

I wasn't interested in any of their desserts and Michael suggested we could go to the crêpe place and I thought that was a fantastic idea so that's what we did. I got a salted caramel one with whipped cream and it was delicious. Emily said they were the best crepes she's ever had. She got the dark chocolate one. Jonny was pretty happy with his white chocolate one with whipped cream. Michael and Andrew got the house special and Daniel got a Nutella one. 

We paid the bill with the last €50 bill we had and walked back to the hotel. Michael and I stopped at the front desk and set up a taxi for Tuesday morning to get us to the airport. We have it set to pick us up at 10:30 AM and our flight isn't until 2:45 PM so that should work out great. He said it takes about an hour to get to the airport but that time of the morning it could be as short as 40 minutes. We said good night to the kids and got ready for bed.