Bruges

Jenn and Dave traveled around Europe their first year in Germany and one of the little gems they discovered is the town of Bruges, Belgium.  They enjoyed it so much, that we made it our next stop after Paris.  It's such a charming little town; we all just loved it.  Bruges doesn't get the publicity around Europe as does Paris, London, or Madrid, but people who live in Europe know about Bruges and they love to spend "holiday" there.  

We departed the Explorers Hotel and the girls watched Parent Trap yet again as we drove to Bruges.  Our first stop was in DeHaan, Belgium.  After three days of museums, cathedrals, and palaces, we thought the children would really enjoy some time at the beach.  We arrived at the beach and headed straight for the water.  As we got to the beautiful sandy beach by the North Sea, Alyssa said, "I thought it would be like Hawaii!" It was so funny that she even knows the difference.  The sand was fun for the children to play in.  They loved playing in the water, too.  It wasn't exactly warm or clear, but it was perfect for wading.   They also loved collecting seashells.

To play a game, I told the children to run out into the water as far as they could go.  Jill looked worried and asked "when do you want them to stop?"  I figured they would go out about 20 yards or so, get up to their chin, and then they would swim back.  That's not how it happened.  The boys kept running out so far that they could barely hear us yelling at them to come back!  The water was so shallow they could probably walk to England!

Jenn had the fun idea to get a foot picture.

On a nice sunny day the beaches would probably be gorgeous.  The sand goes on forever and there were no rocks at all.  It was a little cool, but the sun did break through a couple of times.  Jill said it reminded her of the Oregon coast.  She and Jenn kept jackets on, but the kids didn't seem to mind and had a ball playing in the water.

There were some fun townhouses that looked out on the water.  There was also a line of beach huts next to the buildings.  Most were closed up, but there were a few people out sunbathing.  An employee at a restaurant told us that no one swims, they just sunbathe.

This picture shows how the children had been playing out in the low tide. As the tide rose, we moved our bag and shoes up about 20 yards up the beach and kept playing.  After moving them three times we finally realized the ocean was swallowing us.  The water rose from the sides of this sandbar we were playing on, and in short we were getting surrounded by ocean.

We yelled at the boys to come to us and they finally came.  We got to higher ground just in time.  The water that had come to our ankles on our way out, was now up to our knees on the way back in.  Here is a picture of someone else who realized later than we did that the tide was swallowing us up from all sides!  The boyfriend was carrying his girlfriend to higher ground.

We spent a fun couple of hours at the beach and then drove to the town center of Bruges and explored.  It's such a beautiful town.

We had to get a famous Belgian Waffle while in Belgium. They were topped with melted chocolate and whipped cream.  They were so amazing!!!

When Hitler invaded Bruges, the Germans took all of the statues on the outside of this building, the city hall.  They were replaced with replicas after the war was over.

One of the highlights of Bruges was going into the Church of our Lady and seeing the Madonna and Child, a sculpture by Michelangelo.  While he was alive, this was the only piece of his art that ever left Italy.  This piece was made even more famous recently by the movie "Monuments Men."  Jill and I had seen the movie about art that was stolen by the Nazis during World War II and the efforts of the Allies to recover it.  The Madonna and Child was one of the pieces of art that the Allies tried unsuccessfully to protect, and were then later able to recover.  After returning to the Buxtons house, we watched the movie again and enjoyed it so much more.  It was so much more meaningful after seeing the sculpture in person.

Here is the Madonna.

Inside the church I had to recreate the "Buxtons go to Disneyland" picture that I took years before.  In 2011, Dave had purchased military tickets to Disneyland but they didn't include a Magic Morning with early entry.  We used our Magic Morning passes on the first day but the Buxtons couldn't get in early.  I took a picture of their family looking through the gates while the rest of the family had walked through them into Disneyland!!  Such a funny memory. 

This is such a beautiful town.  We loved the architecture and the canals.  We also loved the size of the town.  After spending a few days in Paris, it was refreshing to be in a smaller town.

Sadly, we ate more American food.  Dinner in Bruges was at Pizza Hut.  We just didn't dare try authentic European food only to have the children complain and not eat.  Also getting dining for eleven people is not the easiest at European restaurants.  When we asked to be seated, the hostess told us we would have to wait until tables opened up.  After a short wait, she showed us three different tables at which we could sit, scattered throughout the restaurant.  We explained that we needed to sit near each other and she seemed somewhat put out.  Another customer left and we were able to be near each other.  Later, though, we went upstairs to use the restrooms and found that they had an entire room full of tables and chairs.  Why in the world did they not let us sit upstairs?  Oh well.  Pizza Hut worked out great for everyone who wasn't an adult.

Dave and Jenn found a house on Airbnb for us to stay for the night.  It worked out perfectly, but Jenn really had her doubts.  We had the entire house...... except for the two doctors who were staying in a room on the main level.  The owner of the house told Jenn not to worry through because they don't make much noise!  Jenn did worry, though, because the room she and Dave stayed it was on the same floor as the doctors.  The house was four levels high if you count this cool loft where the boys slept.

The girls all slept in one bed and they had a table where they could pretend to eat. They were in heaven feeling all big in their own room.  They shooed us out and played "family."  Our room was across the hall from the girls' room.

The living room and kitchen were on the 3rd floor.

This bathroom was intriguing.  It is like a pod built just for showers and a sauna, then it was placed in a large room. It was a self contained shower unit.  Fascinating.

Then the big highlight was the lamp in Dave and Jenn's room.  It speaks for itself.  

What a great day in Bruges!

Versailles

 Jill and I were really excited to see Versailles!  Versailles was the palace that inspired mad King Ludwig in Germany to build his palace Herrenchiemsee.  Last year when we were in Bavaria we absolutely loved learning the story behind Herrenchiemsee and how it was inspired by King Ludwig's visit to Versailles.

People in Paris know not to drive in the city.  After our bad experience on the subway the day before, though, we decided to make the three hour drive because we would at least be comfortable in our own car (rather than being stuck in a train station).  It was a long drive, but we made it safely and were able to see the beautiful palace.  Here is the entrance to the palace and the huge crowds.  The line to get in was the longest we had seen on our trip.  Thankfully it moved fairly quickly and we were able to get inside after only a short wait.

Just like exploring the maps of Disneyland, here is the family checking out the maps of Versailles.

We opted to take the audio tour and it worked out really great for the children.  It took up their attention, so rather than having them bounce off the walls and touch each other, they pushed buttons and listened to the children's tour of the castle.

The history was really neat.  I did snap a few pictures of some cool things, but mostly we enjoyed the audio tour.  We toured the King's Apartments and the State Apartments (the Queen's Apartments were closed for renovation).  We learned that being royal was not a private affair.  The king recognized that  he needed to be accessible.  In his dining room, for example, he would eat dinner about 10:00 pm while other people sat and watched.

The most famous room of Versailles is the "Hall of Mirrors."  It is so beautiful with mirrors, chandeliers, and gold.  This is Jill in the Hall of Mirrors.

The apartments on the lower floor were made for two daughters of Louis XV.  They were decorated in their summer fabrics.  In winter, everything was changed out (bedspread, curtains, and even the fabric on the walls).  Alyssa by the princess's bed.

We finished up the tour inside the building and went outside to explore the gardens.  Sadly, the gardens were closed that afternoon for a water fountain show.  We didn't want to buy the additional tickets, so the best we could do was look out the windows to see the gardens.

At the back of the palace property are two other palaces.  We decided to walk towards them.  The Grand Trianon and the Petit Trianon were built so the royals could have a place to go when they needed to escape the rigors of court life.  This sounded ridiculous until we learned that Versailles was the home of 10,000 people, so these smaller palaces must have been a welcome change.  They were also surrounded by pretty gardens and even a lake.  In the same area was Marie Antoinette's Hamlet.  She had this small village built so she could pretend to be a peasant.

We began walking and there was only one place for lunch along the street.  There was a long line and I made the call to keep walking.  I was sure we would find another place to buy food.  That proved to be a bad decision.  We never did find another suitable place to buy lunch.  Everyone was starving the entire afternoon.  We had snacks in our backpacks, but they just didn't cut it.  The kids, especially, became more and more cranky as time went on.  It did speed up our visit, though.  In Versailles, we listened to every detail.  In the Grand Trianon, we read every sign, but by the Petit Trianon, we simply walked through the building as quickly as we could.  We just wanted to finish touring and get back to the restaurant we had passed.

Here is the path to the other palaces.  The walk was really beautiful.

The Grand Trianon.

It had a beautiful lake on the grounds.

This is part of the quaint little village, Marie Antoinette's Hamlet.  It was very peaceful and pretty.

After eating all the snacks we could find, we finally we got a late lunch.  We tried to eat a small meal so we would still want to eat dinner.  The children had hot dogs and we ate a croquet, which is a ham and cheese sandwich.  

Getting out of the parking area of Versailles was unbelievable.  There was only one way out and people would get in line but not prepay.  So they would plug the line, go pay, then come back only to have the next car do the same thing.  It took forever!!!  We finally were able to drive back to our hotel.  The drive took a long time and we let the girls watch the Parent Trap again.  They watched it eight times as we drove through Europe!  Despite the long drive, I'm not sure the trains would have been much faster, and at least we were comfortable in our own cars.  

Rather than eat at our hotel buffet again, we opted to eat at another buffet near Disneyland.  We had a great dinner at the Hotel Cheyenne.  Most of the food was American so, of course, the children loved it.  The only downfall was the drinks.  We were only able to get one non-refillable soda.  The food was great, but everyone was a bit parched for a drink.  

Here are the girls eating ice cream as part of their dessert at the Hotel Cheyenne.  It was a nice way to end our full day of touring.