2 châteaux in 1 day

Marc found out last Tuesday that the excursion he had wanted to plan for his students to visit two châteaux was scheduled for Thursday! (Thanks to the French "facilitators" here, who either don't do the things he asks them to do, or do them but neglect to inform him...)

Bob and Mim were excited for the opportunity, so we made a family day of it as well.

First stop, Fontainebleau. (Incidentally, the bus ride out there confirmed, yet again, why we hate bus rides. Lucas came this close to throwing up. Whew!)

I had been to Fontainebleau once before, but it's been about 12 years. I was surprised by how much I enjoyed it (I didn't remember loving it).

The French really have a way with topiary. And you've got to love that color combo!

The chapel. I think I'd have a hard time keeping my mind on the sermon with all of these ornate details to study!


There was an exposition going on where they brought in modern objects to juxtapose with the old (a favorite theme here in Paris). Occasionally it worked, but for the most part, we had to give it a thumbs-down.

The library! (Would you ever want to leave?)

some cute chairs for my collection

Eva loved the throne room. Seeing the king's chair stopped her whining about not liking castles in its tracks.

Finally, I've found someone who can rival my mother's collections! Of course, that someone is royalty...

(This chair is for you, Mom.)

Lucas and Eva were thrilled when we got through the château and they could run around the courtyard! We went out to the gardens to have a picnic.

The weather was perfect, and it's hard not to enjoy baguette sandwiches even more than usual in surroundings like this.

Even better, swans! They came right up to us and the kids fed them little bits of cookies. (I also include this photo to show you what becomes of Eva's hair. It had only been 3 or 4 hours since I fixed it! Seriously.)


After our picnic, we boarded the bus (with crossed fingers) and went to Vaux-le-Vicomte. We used to love Vaux-le-Vicomte, but it has changed a lot since our last visit and we were really disappointed.

Brief historical note: Vaux-le-Vicomte was built by the finance minister of Louis XIV. When the king saw it, he was so jealous, he went and built Versailles. And things didn't go too well for the finance minister after that...

They have added wax figures throughout, some of which (whom?) have mouths, eyes, and even eyebrows that move as they "speak". In addition to being rather creepy, they also obstruct the view of the rooms, so we did not approve of these changes.

There was one welcome change, however, period costume rentals. We saw a school group, all in costume, going through on a tour, and they were absolutely charming.

The library.

I love love these old windows!

The kitchen is probably my favorite room! Can you imagine having this collection of copper pots?

I also loved these words that would periodically light up on these damp, subterranean walls.

And I'm a big fan of formal French gardens. (Unfortunately, they were spreading manure in the gardens that day and the smell would not permit us to linger for long!)

Unsurprisingly, Eva's mood improved by leaps and bounds once we left the castle for the grounds. She loved running around and throwing pebbles into the reflecting pools.


Jess, I thought you might be interested to see the stables -- this is about one quarter of them!


It was another one of those days that made me want to stay home until Eva is oh, six or so. But in retrospect, I'm glad we went. The story of my life in Paris.