France Trip - Palace of Versailles
We dashed from the temple over to Versailles, and yes, I mean dashed. We quickly found parking on the street, some of us changed or grabbed sweatshirts and headed up the main street towards the Palace of Versailles front gates. We had pre purchased tickets for the King’s Private Apartment Tour - which let us skip the long line through the main gate.
The Kings Private Quarters
Jet-lagged but happy we wandered through the series of rooms that Louis XIV designed for his personal use and to display his art collections. Louis XV expanded and remodeled the space, adding upper floors with private rooms, libraries, and laboratories. Louis XVI later adapted the apartments to suit his own needs.
The Royal Chapel
Build in 1710 at the end of the reign of Louis XIV. The building’s overall design, large glass windows and buttresses were inspired by Gothic architecture.
The Hall of Mirrors
The Hall of Mirrors is the most famous room in the Palace. It was built to replace a large terrace which originally stood between the King’s Apartments to the north and the Queen’s to the south which opened up to the garden and also inclement weather. Now as a lavish ballroom, the Hall of Mirrors served as a place for waiting and meeting, rare ceremonies, royal weddings including Marie-Antoinette. It was also here that the Treaty of Versailles was signed on 28 June 1919, ending the First World War.
Dad and Ryan in the golden Hall of Mirrors
Versailles Gardens
After our tour of the palace we headed outside to peek at the gardens over the balcony. We then walked down the grand staircase and wandered through shrub lined pathways and beautiful groves. We didn’t have time or energy for the Queen’s Hamlet and English gardens, but we did enjoy the groves — and ended up finding a perfect place to grab dinner to go.
It was windy but still lovely walking around and enjoying the grounds. In love with my travel buddy.
The Drive, our first Financial Lesson and the Chateau
With our gourmet Versaille caesar salads and European Fanta we hopped in the van and started our drive to the lovely Château dans le Val de Loire - our lavish home for the next four nights.
On the way the kids urged us to start our first Financial lesson: NET WORTH. We handed out quiz papers and then they answered questions and we discussed each point together as we drove. At the end of the lesson I read the ‘life lessons’ quote, they discussed the list of things on their ‘action tasks’ and then they added a few notable points into their own WRITTEN FINANCIAL PLAN. It was a great first lesson. They are so good to be engaged and excited about all the information.
Near our home we stopped at a Carrefour Market and ran around grabbing items for a bread, meat, cheese and fruit dinner. It’s always fun to wander through a European store and enjoy everything they have to offer.
We were thrilled driving up to our very own chateau. The host showed us all over the property and we picked bedrooms and settled in. We gathered in the small kitchen where Katie and Taylor were already preparing our board full of French groceries. The sandwiches were delicious.
It’s SO fun to be here together. We’re definitely ready for a good night sleep.
