The Gardens at Versailles

It is difficult to express how beautiful and peaceful the gardens were at Versailles, especially contrasting them to inside. I wish had had more time to explore outside and that we could have
made it down to Marie Antoinette's gardens, which we heard were not to be missed. Oops, we missed them!

Looking back at the Palace

There was a "musical fountain show" but it only lasted a little while, then they shut all the fountains off!  We thought that was crazy because it looked so much prettier with them running!

When we got down to "The Grand Canal", Donald was so sweet and rented a little row boat and took us for a little float.  The kids loved it and each took a turn paddling.  

The view from the canal looking back at the Palace.

Walking around on one of the side gardens.  I really wish we had the time and energy to explore all the side areas more!

This was Elizabeth's favorite thing!  It played music and the fountains changed along with the music.  She didn't want to leave and stood filming it for a long time.  

Inside Versailles

This was before we got too far inside.  Elizabeth saw these doors and it reminded her of the scene in Frozen where Anna keeps knocking on Elsa's door asking her if she wants to build a snowman.  She is so sweet!

She is peering through the keyhole.

It really was beautiful inside, we just couldn't appreciate it at all!

Versailles

The next day was Versailles. Several people told us not
to miss it, but we wish we missed it! Well, that is only partly true. The
lines to get in were awful and the inside parts were overwhelming, but the
gardens were beautiful and Versailles redeemed itself!

The gates at Versailles

I was trying to avoid the lines of people in the pictures, but you can see them a little.

Don't I make it look like we are the only people there?!  This was in line and behind us was blocked off, so you had to go through the line to get to this spot.

Really, it was amazing how you could just feel the richness at the palace.

Inside the gates

We arrived and it was starting to rain. Donald and Joshua stood in the
entrance line in the rain while the girls and I went in to get tickets.
They were pretty close to the front by time we got out there and we got in
pretty quickly. We marveled at the gold on the gates and buildings and then
Donald wanted to see the famous Hall of Mirrors, so we headed inside. We
asked someone which was the way to the Hall of Mirrors and they directed us
to the crowd. We started walking and after a while, it was so crowded, you
just had to move when you could. Think Main Street Disneyland right before
the fireworks! It was like that for 45 minutes going through the estate.
We couldn't turn around and go back, so we had to press forward. Elizabeth
was scared and Donald and Joshua were getting overwhelmed. I tried to take
pictures over people's heads, but we didn't even try to read the signs or
have any idea what we were taking pictures of!

A few more of the Eiffel Tower at night!

Just a couple more since it really was my most favorite part! We
even stopped on the way back to the metro and got the kids a cold treat! At
Midnight! So fun!

Eiffel Tower at Night

It was 10:15 PM before we even left the flat to go see the Eiffel Tower lit
up. It was only our second time on the Metro, but we didn't have luggage this time.

It was my favorite night of the whole trip! After shopping and
dinner, the day just kept improving. We got off the Metro, came around the corner, and there it was - glowing in the distance! Amazing!



I'm so glad we kept the kids up to see it and since it was the 4th of July and we didn't
have fireworks, this more than made up for it. We kept stopping and taking
pictures as we walked. There were street vendors everywhere selling mini
towers, some that lit up some that didn't, weird glowing things you could
shoot and chase, there were cup games happening. It was all a very exciting
atmosphere! Then, at 11:00 pm, the "light show" started with other lights
on the tower blinking on and off. It was a truly magical evening!

This is how it looked when the light show started.

Elizabeth's face says it all!

We decided the white dots must be smoke and other stuff floating in the air, cause it most certainly wasn't snowing!  We thought it looked like magic lights or stars in the sky!

This might be my favorite picture from the trip!