Boat on the Seine/pictures of Versailles finally

We took a back exit out of the gardens and screwed up royally that

way, because we had to walk all the way through the town of Versailles to get back to the meeting spot for the group.  It doesn’t look good when one of the professors can’t be on time 

bored baby in the hall of mirrors

to meet the group, but they had closed the gate that we were supposed to be able to get through to the front of the  palace and that resulted in a 20 minute detour past a whole bunch of residential areas.  I had flashbacks to Rome too because there were cobblestones and hills to push the stroller up again.   All of the area was full of people flooding toward the train station and it 

would have been nice to do a leisurely dinner in Versailles before catching a train back to  Paris, but the students want to cram everything in and I can’t blame them, you never know when you’re coming back, so 

 the decision was made to get on the train now and try to make it to a Seine cruise that we missed the previous night.  The train is jam packed and a man fainted in our standing room only section because of the heat and the lack of air flow.  The group was broken in 

two and John had to try to get through to separate cars to let people know the stop for the boats and the group still barely made it off at the right time.  It’s starting to rain as John checks on the boats and gets the tickets for the 8pm voyage, but we are smack in the

  middle of the swanky part of town with not enough time to sit in a café, and not enough other options to make a meal out of a quick trip to the grocery.  So, there is a nut place on the corner and I figure that I can at least get us some protein, but kilograms and such aren’t 

can't be bored baby when you are getting wet

 my forte, so I end up with 30 euro worth of nuts (this is also a factor of it being the swanky part of town) and I got some Japanese ice cream thing which is ice cream covered in a rice paste that makes it stay cold.  That was our treat and John had bought pringles at the 

 newsstand.  So, not the Paris food I had imagined in the city of light, but it would do until we got off the boat.  Oscar finally fell asleep on the boat after an eventful diaper change and we stayed down in the covered area in order to stay 

bored  about a great palace

out of the wind and rain.  I love this boat ride though and love that you can see so many important sites in Paris from the river, it makes it seem like it is still a vital part of the city.  There are people tangoing on the bank in places, plenty of 

asleep for the whole boat cruise down the Seine

people hanging out and drinking on the banks and I think that this is the way that you are supposed to do this city, but you need more time here for that.  After the cruise, we leisurely stroll back to the hotel and I find the grocery that is open beside it and make a picnic of fruit, crackers, cheese, almond cakes and Rachel and John plan the day while we finally eat something substantial.