If you look up the word 'insane' in the dictionary, you'll find a nice picture of me and my old roommate and our 5 kids touring around a 12th century chateau.
A 12th century chateau built on Roman ruins and decorated with priceless furniture. Priceless furniture that can not be sat upon, touched, or damaged in anyway.
Now you understand the insanity part.
We managed to get all of the kids to at least spit out their gum before heading in so I considered that a good sign and potentially a small victory.
The guide had given my roommate an English translation to follow but I'm not sure she really got a chance to read it as we herded our people from room to room. I tried to shout out the basics I was getting from the guide ("this is really old....Roman well....some king of France slept here....really old chair...") over the heads of our dancing and bobbing children. Good thing my friend understands French history better than I ever could since she actually knew which king it was that had drooled upon the embroidered fleur de lys pillowcase.
During the tour, The Princess and Roommate's Daughter wanted desperately to know where the princesses had slept while Mini-Husband was very concerned when he noticed one of the Dutch tourists touching the knight's armour. Rightly so, but I wasn't about to adopt a 47 year old man just so I could tell him off for misbehaving.
To their credit, not one of the kids broke anything and not one of them fell through the very large gaps in the railing on the roof. Heureusement.
Once we finally left the chateau with souvenir postcards in hand, we decided to have lunch before heading onto the next adventure. Who knew that ordering a "Happy Meal" in a foreign country could bring such joy to so many people?
We did manage to make it to a second chateau after lunch, but Roommate and I decided not to take the risk with an hour long tour and just let the people run amuck amongst the marigolds.
Tummies full from chicken nuggets and cheeseburgers, they ran and played in the bushes and flowers, pretending to be knights and damsels, until at last it was time to get into the magic chariot and return home.
Perhaps we missed a chance to learn about who sat where and how old a dresser in a corner is, but who cares. Spinning and laughing in front of a beautiful chateau is the best insanity you can get.
2 comments:
You do have a knack to get your little people into the places where they can go out of control ;-)
Your time outside of the castle sounds lovely.
I need to come and see you soon as we never got to actually visit Clermont!
Good move not going on the tour of Ravel. My mom and I did that one with SA who threw several embarrassing fits after being reprimanded for running through the ballroom.
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