When in Rome

Chateau de Versailles

Home of Louis XIV

It would have been nice to see the inside of the Palace, but we were limited in

mobility and would have spent most of our time tracking and riding elevators,

so we decided to tour the gardens instead. There was plenty to see.

Versailles is about a 25 minute train ride from Paris and while

the town and the Chateau are absolutely stunning, more importantly

it had the NICEST McDonalds I have EVER been in.

The le nugget tasted better there.

We also met a crazy Irishman who was motorcycling around Europe and

was eager and ecstatic to talk to anyone who spoke English.

This guy could fit more F-Bombs in a sentence than I've ever heard, but

his accent made it so utterly entertaining.

The Chateau:

This is the view from the Chateau:

There were more gardens that we could visit in a day, or even count for that matter.

We visited a couple of the manicured gardens.

Since the gardens were paved with pea gravel, it made pushing

strollers through them really, really hard.

So we just left sleeping Charlie in the middle of the garden to

absorb its beauty.

This garden is known as The Ballroom. It was landscaped by Le Notre in 1680.

1680?! Again, I cannot comprehend the age of these places and only wish I could close my eyes and see what it was like in 1680.

This wall, which cascades water at certain times, is made with mill stones and shells brought back from the Indian Ocean and the Red Sea by what was then the French royal navy.

When Henry turned the corner and saw this "runway" there was no stopping him.

Though no where near Rome, "When in Rome" became a phrase we used a lot when throwing caution to the wind when it came to food, drink and adventures.

So when we saw rentable row boats on the canal below the Palace,

Nate threw out the When in Rome call

and we found ourselves rowing, well not me, rather Nate.

This may appear to the casual reader to be a romantic notion, but the reality was

it was very hot and sweaty, Charlie insisted on keep his ELBOW in the water, which tipped the boat slightly and Henry wanted to "help" row.

Of course it was fun, but only when limited to under 30 minutes.

Yes, Nate appears very happy here, but trust me he was chippy and

delirious. But he kept us afloat and served as our man-motor.

We also had a boy-motor for a bit. But his rowing only counteracted any progress Nate made.

We stayed at the Chateau as long as they would let us, but it eventually closed and we had to leave. We walked around Versailles looking for trinkets and decided we'd feed the kids before we took the train back to Paris. Finding food that the kids will eat is always the challenge of the day. It is so much harder than one would think. But like a glowing pot of gold at the end of a rainbow, an "authentic-looking" Mexican Restaurant stood calling our names right next to the train station.

Our kids love Mexican food.

When in Rome.

Only, the tortilla chips are like nacho cheese flavored Doritos, and when ordering a cheese quesadilla, it is imperative that you specify you do NOT want GOAT cheese, so you get an annoyed look from the French waiter and something that resembles Velveeta cheese dripping from tortillas.

So, not exactly Taco Bell, but the kids ate it, sort of.

The better part of this dinner was the clientele.

A few tables down from us, a Marilyn Manson-ish man made himself known not only by his

very tall stature and standout outfit with combat boots, a skirt, dyed hair and mohawk, but because he had a pet rat that he played with at the table. AT THE TABLE. A RAT. RUNNING UP AND DOWN HIS ARM.

Nate tried to tell me Ratatouille was a rat in a restaurant and that maybe that was normal here.

When in Rome.

We took the train back to Paris and made our way up to the Monmartre area.

We hoped to have a view of the Eiffel Tower light show and a Parisian sunset.

We didn't exactly know where we were going, or where we wanted to eat, so we just walked around. This was a very cool part of Paris and next time I am there (ha!) I'd love to stay here.

Where else will you see this walking the streets and flashing diners on the street as she promotes the Moulin Rouge?

The streets were packed with diners and street performers.

It was so French.

Nate and I decided we were going to walk around until the kids fell asleep - that way we could enjoy a dinner date night in Paris.

We walked and walked and walked and they apparently were not tired, or they were overly tired. But finally, at 9:45, they were both sound asleep and we were starving and exhausted.

It just so happened at that point we were across the street from THE Moulin Rouge, so we decided to dine in the red glow of the burlesque club - how romantic.

Dinner was wonderful.

The kids both woke up right after we finished dinner with an explosive song of whining and tears because they were cold and upright, so we had to cab it back to our side of town.

Later, in talking with a coworker, I learned that this was the seediest area of Paris - its streets filled with pimps and hos and sex shops and live shows and the like. We were so tired and exhausted and tend to have "starry eyes" when visiting places like that this that we truly didn't notice. Ok, we did notice two prostitutes as we waited for our table, but they looked nice. That, or we were too tired to find a new restaurant.

When in Rome.