Versailles

Versailles is around an hour from Cergy, France, our home base last week. Thanks to our GPS, I avoided all toll roads (and therefore a bunch of traffic), but only added around five minutes to the drive. Boo and I set out around 9:30am and were parked and walking to the gardens by 11am. The lines to get in the palace were absolutely monstrous, and had I not already bought tickets, we wouldn't have bothered. I'm extremely claustrophobic and every tourist from Shanghai decided that last Tuesday was the day to visit. 

Side note: If you are not doing a tour, buy and print out (you will be turned away with a phone copy!!) your tickets beforehand, or you will wait in a huge line to buy tickets and then have to wait in a different huge line to get in.

Fortunately, the gardens are so incredibly gigantic (and we started there first) that they didn't feel crowded at all. We immediately got in a line for a little train ride, which was the absolute best purchase of the day because it drove us to the three key points to view sights: Grand Trianon, Petit Trianon, and the Grand Canal. At the end of the day, the line for the train was at least an hour long, so I'd recommend getting on that first. 

Just getting to the back of the gardens would have spent most of our energy for the day, so I'm really glad we used the train. It was a beautiful day and the temperature was just right. 

That's the line AFTER purchasing tickets (I had bought online beforehand - but really, if I did it again I'd probably take a group tour for the Palace, which provides good info and lets you skip that line).

Ugh.

It was so sunny I couldn't see my phone screen very well.

Temple of Love

Grotto and Le Belvedere 

All of the above are from Le Petit Trianon and its surrounding gardens. This area opens at noon, so stroll Le Grand Trianon first if you catch a train back before then. From Wiki:

Le Petit Trianon was designed by Ange-Jacques Gabriel by the order of Louis XV for his long-term mistress, Madame de Pompadour, and was constructed between 1762 and 1768. Madame de Pompadour died four years before its completion, and the Petit Trianon was subsequently occupied by her successor, Madame du Barry. Upon his accession to the throne in 1774, the 20-year-old Louis XVI gave the château and its surrounding park to his 19-year-old Queen Marie Antoinette for her exclusive use and enjoyment.

We didn't walk through Le Grand Trianon because it was just too much for one day and one little Boo. I'd say the gardens should be enjoyed over 1.5 days, finishing with a half day or less at the Palace.

After our garden stroll, we got dropped off at Le Grand Canal, my favorite part of the experience. We immediately saw rowboats for rent, which we promptly did for half an hour (€12). I got a good triceps workout and Boo said she loved to "relax in the warm sun."

The weather was perfect. 

Next, back to wait an hour in line to see the inside of the Palace.

The court of Versailles was the center of political power in France from 1682, when Louis XIV moved from Paris, until the royal family was forced to return to the capital in October 1789 after the beginning of the French Revolution. Versailles is therefore famous not only as a building, but as a symbol of the system of absolute monarchy of the Ancien Règime.

And now, a photo tour. I gave Boo my audio guide to distract her, so I didn't get a lot of background, which would likely have made the tour more enjoyable:

Every single time I tried to take a picture someone turned around and walked through so I eventually gave up. Plus, Boo badly needs a bang trim. It's like €30 for a girl's cut so we will handle that in Ohio.

One gorgeously over-the-top ceiling/room after another. I was so intent on getting us out at this point that I'd take a halfhearted snap of a ceiling and continuing pushing us through. It was beautiful, but there were so, so many people. The tour groups would just stop in a room and not leave a path for anyone else. It took a lot of restraint to not throw elbows or start screaming. Claustrophobia and this château were a bad combo. Boo isn't claustrophobic and kept asking to leave too, so it was just unpleasant all around. I'm sure her perspective of the Tourist Crotch Tour of Versailles wasn't so great. 

Finally got a little room at the end of the Hall of Mirrors.

The gift shop had gold macarons.

After a day full of walking, it was time to get back to pick up John and rest to enjoy Paris the next day (and the next, as it turned out). If I'm being honest, I didn't think I would like Paris all that much from what people have told me and what I had read. I am happy to report I was dead wrong and we LOVE Paris. 

Back to Belgium: Annevoie, Crupet, and Brussels

This past week has seen a lot of driving to and from Belgium, the country we have traveled through the most by far. 

Since John didn't have to be at work until about lunchtime, Boo and I only needed a short afternoon adventure before checking into the château and heading to Brussels the next day. Originally we thought we might do Bruges as well, but the prospect of all that extra driving prior to marathon drives in and around France this week made it really unappealing. 

I did some staring at a map and random Trip Advisoring nearby city names to decide where to go. In doing so, I stumbled across Les Jardins d'Annevoie, probably one of my favorite finds so far!

Although there are beautiful shrubs and greenery everywhere, the focal points are the water gardens, the only ones of their kind in Belgium. Even cooler: they are around 250 years old, fed by a river and powered by gravity and ingenuity! We had a great time because the weather was perfect, but I wish it had been Spring so I could have seen the flowers in full force. Still, check out the pictures:

Boo had to take a picture by the 4, naturally.

The château in the gardens is a private residence.

There was a cool carved playground as well. 

I have a ton more pictures, but I'm sure everyone gets the idea. This was one time I wish I had something better than an iPhone for photography purposes.

After the gardens, we headed to check out another château in nearby Crupet, only to find that it was also not open to the public. Whoops. Still, pretty to see. Randomly, Boo realized (not me!) later that night that we had parked across the street from the restaurant we had dinner at in order to walk to the château. Her observation skills are really impressive.

After the château bust, we had about an hour to kill, so I tried another one with the same luck. All these people living in these châteaux were cramping our tourism! 

Fortunately, there was a park directly next to this one so we stayed there until it was time to get John to check in and eat dinner. 

The teal spot on the playground is Boo. Nice backdrop for a park, eh?

Randomly sported: bread vending machines, usually in pretty rural areas.

We had a nice dinner. Boo liked her vegetable soup and bratwurst with warm applesauce. I had brined pork rib with mustard sauce (delicious) and John had duck. We were starving when we arrived and ordered calamari while we waited the 45 minutes for food, so I ended up only eating like six bites of my plate, whoops. They had also given us lemon sorbet to cleanse our palate before the main course so it was just way too much food. Fortunately, Europe has cured me of Clean My Plate Syndrome, so I just left whatever I didn't eat and that was that.

The next morning we got a later start after sleeping in until 9(!) and headed to Brussels. We experienced much of the same things we did on our previous visit, but this time with John. I now knew where I was going and it was nice to have another set of eyes on Boo/adult conversations about what we were seeing. It was MUCH more crowded.

I bought some local drawings of the Grand Place, we saw the Manneken Pis again (he was naked this time! Victory!), and I discovered Speculoos, aka liquid graham cracker taste/cookie butter. YUM. We each got a waffle with different toppings to try out. 

I ended up liking the plain waffle we had last trip the best, but Speculoos is fantastic stuff.

We also managed to get to Brasserie Cantillon (the lambic brewery) this time for a tour and tasting. Boo liked the fruity undertones of the apricot, but wasn't as impressed with the raspberry or kriek (sour cherry).

Only smelling was performed by Boo.

Boo was so well behaved at the brewery that we went on a random ferris wheel and got some nice views of the city.

We had a pretty crappy late lunch on the famous Rue des Bouchers. 

Taken from Google because it was really crowded and restaurant employees hang out of the restaurants and harass you to eat at their place:

I took maybe four bites of my fish before I was grossed out and convinced I was going to get food or mercury poisoning. Had I done any research I'd have known better: http://www.lonelyplanet.com/belgium/brussels/sights/neighbourhoods-villages/rue-des-bouchers. C'est la vie.

Afterward, we made the two hour drive home, and I spent Sunday doing laundry and having Irish tea, scones and pleasant conversation with Alice and her husband Shane while Boo and their two cuties played. Then it was time to pack for the week ahead and get an early bedtime...which backfired because now I've been up since 2am, ugh.

In a few hours we will head to France for the week, then straight to England for a long weekend, return Monday.