The Early Toddler Gets The Worm

As a parent of a toddler, waking early, as in six in the morning is sleeping in, is a regular occurence.
It can be trying, and significantly increase your caffeine intake. If you have a toddler, you know this. But when travelling, you can turn this liablilty into an asset. Now you can do what  you always said you would do on trips but could never accomplish: get to the sights early, no line ups, no crowds. The whole place to yourself!

Today we went to the Palais des Papes, aka the old center and home to the Christian church for a while, during the 14th century. This is an acient palace, quite large, with many rooms to see.

We arrived as soon as they were opening, and we had already gone out for breakfast and played at the park. We had to ditch the stroller and exchange it for a free baby carrier to get around the palace. No strollers allowed. Not that we ever used the baby carrier. Since the Adorable Son refused to get in it, its main use turned out to be providing the Wonderful Husband with extra exercice. So instead we let the Toddler toddle around the palace, where he eventually became a central attraction for the Japanese tousists taking pictures.

This is not Versailles: there is not a ton of fabulous furniture for him to destroy, it's simply ancient stones, so we were not too worried about the palace getting damaged by the Toddler. Perhaps the Toddler getting damaged by the palace was more of a relevant concern, with all the stairs, sharp drops and hard surfaces. I guess the popes didn't have two-year-olds around much.

We even  managed to climb the highest turret, holding onto The Adorable Son with both hands. I was completely out of breath by the time we arrived at the top, and enjoyed the incredible view of the land while trying to desperately suck in oxygen. It was worth it, the view was superb.

As we left, we saw the crowds building up, and the packs of tourists swarming the entrance. We were glad to have had the opportunity to go early. Thank you, Toddler!