Eiffel Tower and Versailles

We are in the 7^th Arrondisement in Paris and there are embassies

here, so things close down pretty quick, so most of us end up at a creperie down the street where we get fabulous food and hard apple cider for dinner.  Oscar will not be still, will not eat any of his sugar crepe that I got him and Rachel, John and I have to eat it for dessert….We 

get to the Champ du Mars in time to see the Eiffel Tower start to sparkle at 11pm and I try  to let Oscar run around, but all he does is run into a mud puddle and get his new Italian pants and sandals covered in mud.  Laundry is moving closer and closer with each step he takes.  We stroll under the tower and back to the hotel and finally get to bed around midnight which I figure is going to be a problem for Oscar, but he’s getting used to the ridiculous schedule I guess and sleeps through the night.  We are up early with John 

 because we’re going to Versailles today and again, this is a place I had planned to go with Oscar because the gardens are available.  Breakfast is nice, standing around waiting for all the tickets to be bought for the metro and the RER is not fun, but we are going to get to see Versailles with the water on. 

two boys are bored by the festive tower

  The gardens are extensive with little groves hiding numerous fountains and I have never seen the water on there.  The students have been getting bug bites in Italy that have caused welts and Oscar has one under his eye that starts to swell and turn red from his nose to his ear.  We’re in the Chateau at Versailles when I’m thinking that I might have to get back on the train for Paris and take him to a doctor, but John points out that he 

 doesn’t seem to be in distress and needs a nap, so we’ll check on it afterwards.  I couldn’t handle being in Versailles because of the crowds and being stuck funneling through doorways with a baby and no stroller.  We saw the hall of mirrors, the chapel and king’s 

John always finds a bulldog, but this one is French of course

 bedroom and got the hell out of there.  The gardens were much nicer and we were able to hit several groves that were dancing to music at 10 minute intervals and walked all the way out to the Grand and Petit Trianon, before deciding that the huge mosquitos out there 

first ride on the Metro

were prohibitive.  It was time for the water to come on in all of the fountains when we returned and we hit all the “must see” groves before sitting at the Neptune fountain to go off at 5:20pm.   Oscar couldn’t get on the grass and again only wanted to play with rocks, go 

backwards and not follow rules when out of the stroller, so my grand plan of a kid running free in a garden didn’t work out again.  He won’t do anything but try to go where he shouldn’t every time I try to take him out of the stroller.  I know the kid wants to walk around, but he 

even the stairs on a train are better than seeing Paris

 won’t actually do it in a fashion that’s not going to get him hurt.  

acting like one of the boys