And Still More Versailles...Sleepy But Mostly Cranky

The rest of the day seemed like a never ending walk through a consistently beautiful landscape of gardens and palaces and monuments. All in 90-degree weather.

And since I was still under the influence of some mighty powerful, misleading, no-snooze formula, Dramamine, it was all a blur. A very hot blur.

So let's see: We walked to the Trianon...looked at bees...walked to the Petit Trainon...looked at flowers...walked...looked at the Grand Canal...saw Marie Antoinette's bed...sat on some steps and fell asleep...got lost looking for the play farm...walked...found the play farm...fell asleep on a bench...walked...ooked at some rabbits and pigs and donkeys...saw two weddings...wished we would have gone to EuroDisney instead......started walking back to the main palace...sat on a bench and fell asleep...saw some kids playing red robin...walked...found a fountain garden...looked for a bathroom...and then finally we headed back to the RER station.

The train was boiling hot, and of course, this is when the dramamine decides to stop working. I started getting dizzy, but it was so hot that I fell asleep anyway. Ha.

More Versailles...and Still Falling Asleep

Don and I had packed food, so we went to get our backpacks and met everyone else at the gardens.

The garden's are huge. They just go on forever, with canals, mini gardens, waterways and complicated fountains. There are also a few other smaller palaces sprinkled throughout the grounds. And by small I mean really big.

Before we started trekking to the Trianons and Marie Antoinette's play farm, we stopped at some benches to eat. I fell asleep as soon as I sat down, but then Gina shook me awake. I blame it on a bad reaction between the Dramamine and the heat. I crankily said thanks, but that I wasn't asleep, and then started to prepare my food.

This turned out to be annoying as the St. Marcelin cheese I had brought with me had melted and I had to pretty much pour it on my baguette. It was really gross looking, but I ate a good amount, followed by a pack of cookies. I was hoping the sugar rush would jolt me awake. But nope. Stupid cookies let me down.

Since I was still falling asleep, I went to the little restaurant down the lane and got a strawberry and vanilla soft serve ice cream. It helped wake me up and prepare me for the miles we wereabout to walk.

In Versailles, and Doped Up (on legal stuff)

Bright and early on Sunday, so painfully bright and early it was almost night and late, we met downstairs to make our way to Versailles. Since it was going to take both a metro and an RER ride, and I assumed correctly there would be no AC, I took a couple of dramamine to avoid any unfortunate motion sickness.

The goal was to get there as early as possible to avoid the mass of tourists (because like all tourists, we hate tourists). Our plans were unfortunately foiled when we got there 30 minutes before opening to find ten tour buses worth of Japanese, German, and Spanish tourists already loitering around the gates.

We started off with a tour of the main building, and with the dramamine starting to take untimely effect. The palace was incredibly ornate and filled with large paintings featuring the king's legs (he considered them his best feature). The hall of mirrors was amazing, and the furniture and trimmings decked out to the extreme. No wonder there was a revolution. What with all the money spent on tights and pillow shams. (But seriously, the place is impressive).

But the rooms were so incredibly crowded, the temperature so high, and the dramamine so sleep-making, Don had to kind of push me from room to room. I was slightly falling asleep while standing, and starting to get that cranky feeling that I get when I get dizzy. I was ready to start pushing germans down the stairs.

Best part were the windows, as some of them were mercifully open and the fresh air was helping to keep me awake. And the views of the gardens were beautiful. But I was very happy when, 3 hours later and having seen Marie Antoinette's protrait, everyone was ready to exit and go for lunch.