On Our Way to Lyons-La-Foret

This is Monet's beautiful lilly pond.
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We have been without internet access for a few days so we are catching up today.

We left Versailles around 10:30 a.m. Madeline wasn't feeling well so we got a bit of a late start.  But it was ok, we are on vacation!!!  We set our GPS to take the country roads. Village after village was beautiful, peaceful, and quaint.  The villages seem like a fantasy place in Disneyland; everything is perfect, clean, and the birds are always singing.

We arrived at Claude Monet's home in Giverny.  It was a little crowded but not too touristy and crazy.  First, we viewed his beautiful gardens and then the famous Lily Pond.  It is so picturesque.  Although we did not see the Lily Pond painting we saw photos of him in the process of painting the picture.  It is quite large, at least 6 feet tall and 8 feet wide.  We also viewed the inside of his home which was painted in whimsical colors of blue, purple, yellow, and blue.  Unfortunately, we were not allowed to take pictures of the inside of his home, but I can imagine what it would have been like to awaken in the blue bedroom and open the shutters to a beautiful garden.

The Chateau Giallard
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After an hour we were on our way to the L' Abbey de Mortemer.  It was built in 1134.  It is amazing that we can walk along the same paths that someone walked over 800 years ago.  We only stayed there a short time because it began to rain.

Next on our list was the haunting Chateau Gaillard, which was the castle of Richard the Lionhearted.  The castle is nestled near the little down of Les Andelys which another perfect Normandy town.   The construction began in 1197 and was finished in only 1 year!!

This photo is of the Abbey de' Mortimer
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Later we arrived at our hotel, Lions de Bleauclerc in the little town of Lyons-La-Foret.  The guidebook describes this town as "picture postcard perfect" and it truly lives up to its name.  We stayed one night, had a wonderful breakfast, and then on to our next stop: Bayeux, Normandy