Day 8 - The Royal Last Day

Bon Jour! Hope everyone is doing fine out there in blog land. I am signing on tonight in sadness and in gladness. We are sad our adventure has to come to an end, but we are glad to know we will be reunited with our dear Amy and Connor soon. We have missed them bunches. It is always hard to leave a good, no GREAT trip behind. Christian has had a whole new world (literally) opened up to him. I think I have created a traveling monster to be honest. Chip off the ol' block! If you want to know my philosophy on life then listen up, if you don't then skip a few lines and go to the next segment. Life is about experiences not stuff. Give a child a toy and they will forget about it in a month. Give a child a great experience and they will remember it forever. They will always want to share the experience, and they will never out grow the memory. There, that's it. No need for a lengthy rant.

On to the day...

Well, once again we were awaken by the friendly neighborhood trash collectors. What???? Where are the crousants? Oh man... guess we'll have to have some Chocapic. Better hold onto Christian tight so he doesn't jump all the way to Versailles. Yes, that's right, we were off the Royal palace of Versailles... were King Louis the XIV moved to after he decided the Louvre wasn't cool enough for his royal subjects. Give me a break. Versailles is a pretty cool crib and all, but the Louvre would have been just fine if you ask me. Versailles does have a great big, giant, enormous backyard (royal gardens). I'm talking can't see the end of it, giant backyard... with a lake. Actually, several lakes. Okay, enough rambling. This palace is the epitomy of gold and spice and everything that is really, REALLY nice. Kind of makes your head spin really. We started out walking through the royal bedrooms and I'm guessing the dressing rooms next to them. Full of paintings of dead French guys (Christian's thoughts) and golden vases and chairs that didn't look too comfortable to sit in for more than 5 or 10 minutes. Then we ventured into the hall of mirrors. WOW!!!!! As Christian and I walk into the enormous room he began to wonder what it would have been like to have this palace as our home now. Okay... this room is the Lego room. This room is Connor's bedroom. This room is where it would take you 20 minutes to ride your bike all the way around it room. (That would be the Hall of Mirrors) It took Christian a while to find the room that he imagined as the family room. Leave it to a boy to choose the "War Drawing Room" as the family room. Massive paintings of battle scenes surround you. Somehow I don't think the ladies would appreciate this quite as much as the gents.

After about an hour inside we (Christian) were getting a little restless and decided to venture out to see the royal grounds. First of all, how do they make to tops of all the trees flat like that? Do they fly a helicopter upside down and buzz the tops right off? Because it is winter most of the beauty of the gardens is gone until at least spring, if not summer. One can't begin to imagine how many hours a week it would take to keep this place looking pristine. A massive, horticultural wonder. Kids, go out and play in the back yard... we'll see you in a week.

Since it was our last day in Paris we decided to head back into the city and walk the areas we didn't get to see on the rainy days we were inside. We went back to the Louvre to take pictures of the I.M. Pei pyramid as well as the traditional structure. (It was pouring when we were there for our tour.) We also stopped for one last baguette. Christian decided to turn his into a light saber and battle Dad (the evil sith, Darth Mot) before he ate his. I had no chance. He is way too fast with a stick of carbohydrates in his hand.

Lastly, we took a quick Metro ride to the Saint Marten canals. This is where more of the middle class resides in Paris. Lots of kids playing, and we were even able to watch a cargo boat use the locks on the canal. (See how the Panama canal works to understand the process of the locks. It's very cool.)

And now the fun begins... packing. Ugh! Well, it has been great to share this with you all. I hope it gave everyone an idea of what we were doing. I don't think Christian will ever forget this trip. I know I wont. I want to give a great big thanks to Stuart and Lynn Embury for being such great hosts to us here. They are such wonderful tour guides and wonderful people. Also, a huge thank you to my dearest and most cherished wife Amy. Without her none of this would have been possible (her idea to do this). And thank you to everyone who helped us out with Connor this past week. We send our immense gratitude to you.

Merci and Au Revoir!

A quote from the authors: "There is no bad bread in Paris."