Versailles

Knowing there are just a few days left before summer ends and school begins, we are making sure to fit in a couple of big sightseeing excursions. So, yesterday, we took the train to Versailles. There is so much to see there, that as usual, I'll just mention some highlights. The palace is amazing, of course, although the hall of mirrors is under construction, and so is apparently somewhat less spectacular than usual. Seeing the apartments of this Dauphin or that Dauphine got a little bit boring, to be honest, but we all loved seeing the king's bedroom, the chapel, and the magnificent state rooms. We picnicked in the gardens and visited the Grand and Petit Trianons. The Grand Trianon is a smaller palace that one of the kings (Louis XIV?) liked to live in during the summers. A later king (Louis XV?) lived most of the year in the Grand Trianon, so he had a smaller palace built (the Petit Trianon), because a king should always have a smaller palace to live in when he doesn't feel like living in his regular palace. We also all enjoyed seeing the Queen's hamlet. Marie Antoinette liked to enjoy simple country life with her children, so she commissioned her royal architect to built her a hamlet. The recreation is incredible (her architect, today, would have made a great Disney imagineer) complete with a mill, a dairy, and several thatched cottages which housed, for example, the Queen's bedroom, her boudoir, and her billards table. There is also a little farm, where Jonah enjoyed seeing the goats (which because they were black and white, he logically called 'tiny moos').

The kids absolutely loved imagining royal life in the palace, but several comments revealed that they are still a little unclear on the concept. Upon entering one room which was filled with candles (now lightbulbs), Jonah asked, "this where king do Shabbat?" In another room, there was a multimedia presentation on the restoration project that is currently underway, and Ella asked, "was that the king's TV?"

As August ends, things are starting to reopen in the neighboorhood, so we are exploring again. Today, for example, we found a great bakery (right between our library and our favorite playground) with the most delicious onion tarts. This combination (library, tarts, playground) makes for a very nice weekend morning!