Family Visit to Versailles

I spent last weekend with my cousins, Lise, Olivier, and Camille, who live in Étampes, a city close to Paris. I love visiting them and being in a family setting, regardless of how different it is from being with my family at home.

When I first got to Étampes, Lise decided we needed to go to a supermarket to find matzah for me. Even though Passover didn’t start for another three days, she thoughtfully knew that it was an important part of our culture and we should have a few boxes. Matzah is not the easiest thing to find in France, and Lise spent a good twenty minutes running around the store with me trailing along, having a word with everyone who worked there until she found the only two boxes of Matzah.

We got to their house around 6PM and Lise put dinner on the table. The thing I don’t understand, though, is that even if dinner is ready, we don’t eat it until 9. It’s so different from what I’m used to at home.

While waiting to eat, five-year-old Camille and I watched La Reine des neiges, which is the French title for Frozen. We watched it once in French and once in English.

The next day, we drove to Versailles and spent the whole day touring the château and the gardens. I had been to Versailles before, but I hadn’t spent the whole day or visited the gardens.

The château is gorgeous. I would love to see what it looks like without being full of tourists and without the ropes blocking visitors from getting to close to the furniture. The whole day, I kept trying to imagine what it would be like to call that palace “home,” to be able to walk out into the gardens with a book whenever I felt like it.

It was a lovely weekend altogether. Aside from visiting Versailles, we mainly just stayed in the house. It was nice to be able to just relax with family after being away from home for three months. And, because my cousins don’t speak English, I basically studied all weekend!

The hall of mirrors is my favorite room.

The hall of mirrors is my favorite room.

Another room in the Palace of Versailles

Another room in the Palace of Versailles

A view of the palace from the gardens.

A view of the palace from the gardens.

My cousins being adorable in the gardens

My cousins being adorable in the gardens

A view of the gardens from right outside of the palace.

A view of the gardens from right outside of the palace.

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