Because that’s what you do. At Versailles, you are herded en masse along a specific route but at Hampton Court, you have the run of the place. You get to spend the day roaming whimsically and poking into courtyards and empty corners between buildings, exploring freely. Of course there are off-limit areas, and directional signage, but apart from inadvertently colliding with a school group a couple of times, we were on our own, snooping around a palace (which is fun!).

I am probably never going to get straight on the convoluted history of Kings and Queens, but I love to look at paintings of them!

We did a bit of sitting and drawing outside and spent a couple hours of exploring the grounds, which I love. And that was the day!

We spent the rest of the evening sorting our luggage. Gabriella wins the prize for fitting the most into the smallest suitcase. (A lump of coal would have turned into a diamond in there). We had a classic pub supper of fish/chips/peas and a Pims Cup.