Monet’s House in Giverny, Normandy

Six adventurers saw this incredible garden together. And what a beautiful place it is. Since we were a bit early relative to our ticket times, we went up the hill to see the cemetary first. Claude lived in this place from 1883 until he died in 1926.

The entire village seems to be devoted to art and tourism. The narrow streets are lined with shops selling sweets and or art lessons.

Street sign, bus stop shelter, and stained glass window

And the flowers – wow! So many colors and shapes, together in different color combinations that delight. We wandered around the house and garden.

Inside the house are collections of art that Monet acquired in his lifetime as well as art he created.

Of course we visited the famous lily pond, with the bridges that are in many paintings.

At the end of this glorious day we were back at Aurélie’s to play Spoons, a card game we taught both daughters when they visited us in Colorado.

Evreux in Normandy

We were joined by Marc and Joëlle’s daughters in Evreux (where Aurélie lives; she let us all stay at her apartment).

Part of what I love about our friends is how much they like to be silly together.

Beers at a bar and liquor store near the place where Aurélie works

Perhaps some existing damage contributed to the design of this art.

And it continued to move…

Poor guy stuck in the old wall along a canal

We had a nice picnic (except for some annoying yellow-jackets) on the Seine River in the village of Vernon. The building is a 12th century castle!

Versailles

The houses of the super wealthy, sometimes clueless monarchs do make great tourist stops later, despite the unfortunate ends of the monarchs themselves.

Louis XIV is the most famous king in part because he was king for a long time and did many good deeds.

Louis XIV was known as the sun king, perhaps explaining some of the gold emblems.

Versailles is a magnificent palace, so exuberant that one gets a bit tired of the brilliant gold by the end of the tour.

This room, adjacent to the bedrooms, had these golden children all around the edge of the ceiling.

These beautiful pieces featuring a crown above fleur-de-lis adorned the corners of this room.

The Hall of Mirrors is probably the most popular attraction, and I think you could never get tired of coming to see it.

The chapel is the tallest building in the palace.

Queen’s bedroom, King’s bedroom and King’s other bedroom.

Chenonceau, Loire Valley

What fun to build a castle over the water, on top of a bridge.

What this castle is famous for is the women who maintained it, changed the decorations and made it what it is today.

Marques Tower, built before the rest of the castle and separate from it

We wandered the hallways, reading about the five powerful women who influenced the designs of the castle, some queens, some mistresses.

The kitchens were well stocked with tools from many eras and stocked with fresh herbs. Note the many fancy molds for desserts.

The designs on furniture in many of the rooms was intricate and beautifully kept.

This is Joëlle’s favorite castle because of how many fresh flowers are placed in many rooms and hallways. These are chosen from the gardens daily. I suppose that makes sense because the castle is nick-named the Women’s Castle!