Mama... when are we going to EAT!? (July 23)

Only two things on the agenda today: Versailles and the Eiffel Tower. Easy enough.

Let's get up early (which we didn't -- because I was blogging until about 1:00a.m. [as I'm doing again right now!])... go to the RER station, get a train ticket to Versailles, and eat breakfast in Versailles. Great idea...

All went according to plan until the RER station. "I'm hungry..." We bought a muffin a piece and shared two orange juices. Who would know this would be our last meal until 10:30p.m.?

If you've not seen Versailles, there are simply no words to describe it to you. (The 800 pictures the boys took today would be a start, but even these would fail to do it justice!) Amazing, the scale, the scope, the architecture, the investment of time and money... 40,000 workers spent 50 years building the place. Also amazing, the thoughtlessness of such an opulent waste -- when the people were going hungry. (As Louis and Marie-Antoinette found out later... as it cost them both their lives.) Most fun we had was on the Grand Canal. Too bad Jackson couldn't row any faster -- would be a PERFECT place for a good slalom or barefooting run -- but the rowing expedition was great. I'm sure just what King Louis intended.

Several times we thought of eating, but we were never near a cafe... of the one we were near wasn't right (wrong food or wrong price, etc...). So, we snacked. We had to pay weight-overage to bring all the food Amy brought, to keep her boys fed! We'll eat... at the next cafe. Snack... wait... pass up the cafe... snack... look for another one... etc...

In the town of Versailles, we stopped for dinner, but of course the Europeans don't eat supper at 5:30 p.m. (literally couldn't find a restaurant open -- but after having walked about 10 miles at Versailles, we weren't looking too far!) We'll eat dinner at the Eiffel Tower, maybe in that restaurant in the tower. Great plan.

Arrive at the tower... lines are shorter than usual... better take advantage... only an hour in line, and we're on level two... looks like the rain is coming... let's go on to the top... we'll eat later... another snack...

Amazing thing at the top of the tower. Clear when we arrive...within 15minutes we can see what appears to be a big storm coming... watch the rain cross the city of Paris and very quickly the top of the tower is shrowded in a cloud (can't even see the bottom)... so we head down... time to eat... we chose to walk the stairs rather than wait in line (need to eat)... but at the second level the food was 1) too fast-food-ish or 2) too expensive... After a snack, we head down, walking again, to the street. We'll stop at the first restaurant we pass. (By this time the weather has cleared, and there is the most brilliant rainbow that any of us have ever seen... more time... more pictures... supper still on the way...)

Down the street there's a restaurant... Amy and Imiscommunicate. She thinks I think it's too expensive. I think she thinks the food isn't right for the boys. We'll stop at the next one. No matter what. Forty-five minutes and another mile down the road (walking, of course), and now we're told the restaurants are closed -- unless you want to drink. (Which actually sounded like a pretty good idea.) "One restaurant is open... 200 meters down this boulevard... but you must hurry..."

At 10:30 p.m., still light outside, we arrived at a restaurant on Rue Solferino, not far from the Musee D'Orsay, and our little (LITTLE) hotel... First actual meal of the day. OK... so it cost $137 USD -- Bennett said it was WELL worth it.

Don't tell our parents. Don't call DSS. We were all having too much fun. But tomorrow, we're looking for three square meals. Around the time they are supposed to be eaten.

Now, it's 1:00 a.m., and we're headed back to the belfry of Notre Dame early in the morning, so I better stop...

It'll be time for breakfast before you know it!