We're not in Oman Anymore!

Trees!

Flowers!

and Temple! 

We really do not have these things in Oman. For Spring Break we left Oman and flew to Paris via Istanbul. The flights were basic, there were no movies, no free peanuts or snacks or even free water. We couldn't bring suit cases, only backpacks. We did pay to bring 1 bag for the family though. We left at 4am which meant getting up at 1:30 to head to the airport at 2am.  As nervous as I was for all of that, it really worked out quite peacefully. 

After being up all night and getting into Istanbul starving, this was rather appropriate although I feel like everyone was pretty stable.

Breakfast was great, fresh fairly healthy.

The Anatolia Breakfast. There were several jams and spreads made of ?? but we tried them all. We flew into Orly airport which was new for me. There is transportation to Paris via bus and a sort of tram but we were going to Versailles and it was expensive and confusing so Matt opted just to Uber. That was painless. 

It was kind of late by the time we got to Versailles and of course we were starving so we checked in to L'Angleterre which was very sweet little hotel right by the palace and this brilliant pizzeria. It was the best pizza we've had in a year and we topped it off with the best ice cream we've had in a year. There is good food here in Oman, we don't run into our old favorites that are done well.

We had a sweet miracle when we arrived. We had booked a session for Matt and me to be able to go to the Temple but they wouldn't let us book for the kids because we didn't have enough people for our own group and they wouldn't let us join another group because of COVID rules. I really believed that we would be able to join and I had the kids come prepared. They wanted to go so much. I called the night we arrived-Friday night-and they immediately put the kids in a group for Saturday morning at 8;30. Matt walked them over the next morning.

My family was smitten with the sweet little breakfast at the hotel. The girls and I ate and then got ready and walked over to the Temple to meet them. 

This first day we wore masks, unsure what the rules were but we quickly transitioned to normal life!!! It was amazing! The girls were freezing though so they actually wanted to wear them. I kept them distracted with the lovely window displays. Chocolate animals were all the rage with Easter approaching.

We stopped in this church to thaw out and I was able to introduce them to the world of CAtholic saints and stained glass windows. This is St. Genevieve who their dear friend in Virginia is named for. That made it special to them.

The courtyard at the Temple is so lovely. The girls were trying to be reverent but the piles of petals falling from the trees was too good to be missed.

A fuzzy bumblebee found the brisk air a little too nippy as did we.

My joy was full. I love this Temple and the people and speaking French(well, barely) and having my family together here and trees and flowers and charm and all the things. 

We made a slight detour on the way back for some patisseries.  I did try to warn the 3 that chose Milfoilles that those weren't the kind you eat without a plate, a knife and a fork but we ended up packing those back to the hotel. 

I spent a lot of time waiting in line here while Matt and the kids explored the Gardens at the Versailles Chateau.

Everyone was enjoying themselves and I was taking the little girls through and trying to engage them when a well-intentioned guard gave us a little medical lesson. She told us that this was the bedroom where King Louis IV died. She went on to explain how he died-gangrene-and how ironic it was that he had illness after illness that was treated with surgery and yet a small something he stepped on walking barefoot in the gardens lead to his demise. He had already had half his jaw cut out, have of his stomach removed and left unstitched, half of his bottom removed and yet, this splinter being cut out lead to his leg infection and there was a law that you cant remove the leg of a king so, there you go. Now, on a normal day, this should've been just fine although she went into such gruesome detail that I think we were all a little wide-eyed. Unfortunately, I was still running on my small breakfast and had been standing for 3 hours waiting in line and I got sick. After thanking here and catching up with Matt I knew I wasn't going to make it. I bee-lined for the exit. My family cut their tour short as well. I wash able to sit down before I passed out. Sennia was also feeling a little queazy.  Haha. Not what I expected that to turn out like.  We got the kids back to the hotel and sent them to a carousel ride and the pizzeria and we headed to the temple together. Mostly perfect first day.

Walking to the Temple, seeing all the flowers and window boxes, hearing the music wafting from the windows of the buildings, seeing the women opening up their houses in the morning, the dogs being walked, the baguettes being toted and bicycles being ridden was almost too perfect. France is exactly what it's supposed to be. It hasn't changed. My family appreciated it and loved Versailles.