Caution: Lengthy post, but with cute pictures!

Growing up (and even now) my Mother was fond of singing a song to us when we were whining and complaining that things weren't going our way. You know the song, that one by The Rolling Stones? Made even more famous by House? Needless to say, we HATED it. Now, in that delightful little circle that life often takes, I get to sing it to my children as they whine, and listen to them whine even louder. "You can't always get what you want..."

Our recent adventures on our trip to Chartres, a hop into Paris, then a stay at Parc Astérix seem to have been made with that song in mind. We didn't always get exactly what we wanted, but we sure did get what we needed!

Packing and leaving on time, are (laughable, for those of you who know us well!) not always possible. We haven't missed a flight or train yet, but we sure have been escorted through security and airports in an awful hurry to make our plane! ;) We were lucky that the time moved back an hour the night before we left, and being from North America, we were expecting the change the week after. However, we revelled in the time change, because that meant we left only half an hour behind our projected, probable schedule. The children did amazingly well, as they generally do, on the drive, but Carson is 7, and is prone to making strange, weird, loud noises, and his hysterics at his own sounds beckons his little brother and sister onto the path of strange noises and hysterical giggling. And when Mommy and Daddy are trying to navigate on the payages, and through small towns, in changing traffic, those sounds get a little old. Thank goodness for Tylenol, and Advil. (For us, not them. Nothing short of gags, or duct tape, would have worked on those children at that point! lol!)

Sightings of windmills, old and new, entertained the children on the drive.

We survived the seven hour drive to Chartres with our sanity intact and our ears ringing. Evening here is full dark by 6:00 pm these days, and our first sight of the Cathedral in Chartres was magical, with the lights twinkling and reflecting off the spires and the gargoyles half-hidden in shadows and lights. Upon arrival at our hotel, we realised that we had perhaps mis-booked. Yes, we were a five minute walk from the Cathedral, and across the street from the train station, but the hotel was tiny, and our "family room" was even more tiny. It was certainly clean enough, if you didn't look too closely at what was growing in the corners of the bathroom, but the children didn't do very well in such a small space after a long tiring drive. At all. (I am relieved that we weren't asked to leave after that first night of grouchy loud children, but they did claim to have soundproofed rooms. Perhaps that was true, after all!)

The (very, very early) Monday morning didn't bring any difference in behaviour for the children, so we did what any normal parents would do, and buckled them back into their car seats for another drive! We headed away from the lure of the Cathedral in Chartres (Lloyd had never been), and went south to Chambord. We figured they could use the (relatively) short drive to calm down, relax in familiar surroundings, and dream of castles and knights, and dragons. Well, salamanders, instead. ;p I read out loud interesting bits and pieces of information from the guidebooks we brought with us, because we are all five geeky like that. By the time we got to Chambord,

(A side view of Chambord, on the walk to the back entrance.)

after a quick lunch stop in Blois, they were calmed down, knew what to expect at Chambord, and were excited to walk through a real honest-to-goodness castle. All three children were excited by the idea of walking through the castle, and they liked the salamanders on the ceiling! (We are big lizard fans here.) We wandered up to the rooftop, and down to the back yard, and then it was time to head back to Chartres.

Salamanders on the ceiling. "Aawww!! Cool!!", declared the boys.

"WOW!" said I. "Opera costumes!!"
(Many famous costumes from famous operas were on display while we were there.)


A piece of the rooftop of Chambord - there are 365 fireplaces here.
One for every day of the year. It makes for a very distinct roof line...

A view of Chambord, from across the expansive lawn.

Margo finally napped on the way back, and then we went for a walk after dinner, to see the Cathedral in the dark, but of course I forgot the camera. :/ We went to sleep early that night, in preparation for our train trip into Paris the next morning.

Morning dawned early enough, but not too early! ;p, and we were on the 8:30 train into Paris,

Riley, excited into silence, by his first "real" train ride!

arriving at 9:30 into the Montparnasse station. We took the Metro to the Trocadéro stop, and walked up from the underground, and around a building (some museum or another ;p), to a plaza where we could gaze in ecstasy at the Tower (and Riley could cry from the sun in his eyes). (But he really does have very sensitive eyes. )

Walking out of the Metro.

The children's first view of the Eiffel Tower.

We walked across the bridge, dodging pigeons, evading hustlers selling cheap plastic Eiffel Towers of all sizes, cheap handbag knockoffs, and various postcards, and shushing whining Riley, who was promised a souvenir Eiffel Tower and could not understand why we could not get it now? now? now, Mom, now? Please?!? It's only 1 euro Mom, he said! Please? Now?

Through the long line-up to ride up on the elevators, I enjoyed people watching, and keeping three antsy children from running (away). We made it up the Tower, finally, and the little people with us were totally thrilled. Perhaps not Margo, but she was happy with the french-fry picnic on the upper level. Riley and I bought our souvenirs from the official souvenir shop on the second level, and we started our way back down the Tower. Back across the bridge we went, and the children got to ride on a carousel. We then had lunch at the Trocadéro (it was sooo lovely, such a fantastic salmon-stuffed tortellini with smoked salmon, and a lovely oh-so-delicate sauce!), and by then Margo was starting to seriously melt down, so we caught the Metro back to Gare Montparnasse, and the train back to Chartres.

Carson, chillin' on the Eiffel Tower. Finally.


Riley = Pure happy satisfaction, on the Eiffel Tower.


The most ornate carousel I have ever seen...

We had a fabulous lunch, with a view of the Eiffel Tower.

When we returned, we finally went inside Chartres Cathedral, and looked around. (Funny, I don't remember the inside of the Cathedral from my trip in 1991, but the outside of it is imprinted on my memory.) But the inside was majestic, enough so to make me feel reverent, which I suppose is the entire point of such grand cathedrals? To inspire the faithless and the faithful alike to reverence and worship?

Looking up at Chartres...

...and her many Gargoyles!

Our last night in the hotel passed easily, and quietly, and we were on the road by about 9:00 am to head to Parc Astérix. We drove through the town of Versailles, and saw the front of the palace out our car window, but sadly, we couldn't stop.

That shimmery gold palace in the background,
behind those cars so rudely driving on the road in the way of my camera? Versailles.

We were prepared for a long, full day of driving, battling traffic as we wound around the Northwest side of Paris to the Northeast, but we made it in very good time, and arrived at the Hôtel des Trois Hibou (on site at the Parc) just after 1:30. And a room was available!! And what a lovely room it was! It was all that I could have hoped for, plus more! There were bunk beds for the children, separate and private from our room. Our room opened out onto a balcony, in the woods. There was a TUB! Oh, what a lovely tub it was, too! The room was practical, and charming, with little luxuries, and it was clean, and warm, and spacious!

Excited children on the boardwalk of the hotel, on the way to Parc Astérix!

The entire building is built out of wood, and is very appealing and gracious. (And we were at the park for the 50th birthday of the first issue of Astérix! Way cool for a die-hard Astérix fan like my Lloyd, who bought the latest comic (hardcover, in French, to complete his collection) at one of the (very many) stores at the Parc. We also have three little Astérix fans now, too...)

We have our own little Roman Soldier with whom Astérix does battle...

As fabulous as the hotel was, the Parc is just as charming. (This from someone who has never ever been to a theme park before!) It is a good mix for a younger family, with rides that all children can go on, as well as some that are equally exciting for Mom and Dad. As both Lloyd and I are Astérix fans, we were charmed by the attention to detail and the general atmosphere of the place.

We saw a golden Astérix (in honour of his 50th birthday)

Riley, Margo and I rode in Obelix on the carousel.
(He spins, very quickly if the 10 year old boys in Obelix with you turn the wheel fast and hard...)

We put our daughter in the stocks, for a moment of peace and quiet.
(Just joking, really! She did this to herself!)

The children were delighted to meet Obelix our last afternoon at the Parc...


and to meet Astérix our last morning at the hotel, twenty minutes before we got in the car to start our journey home on Friday morning.

Hugs from Astérix and Obelix! The perfect ending to an exciting visit to the park.

It took us twelve hours to get home, including the very briefest of stops for food, diesel and bathroom breaks, thanks in part to some road construction along the way, in which it took us over an hour to progress three (yes, 3!) kilometers. That was fun, not! Again, the children travelled well, and were tired by then, so they didn't make very much of that strange and repetitive noise that they like so much. Plus, I had purchased gourmet lollipops at Parc Astérix, so they got to enjoy those early, in the car during the traffic jam.

In the end, we had a fantastic trip full of wonderful memories, a family of happy, sleepy and smiley children and parents... What more could we need?