Day Three

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Another adventure in store for the travelers.  This time we visited the home of Claude Monet.  This is one of the places that Nai'a dreamed of visiting.  She studied about Monet and his paintings in school and specifically asked to see where he painted the waterlilys.  Just a short drive from the house we are staying brought us to this picturesque place.

We walked through the village of Giverny full of artists, galleries, restaurants and gardens.  We toured the home of Claude Monet and were surprised to see that he used many of the same colors in his home as the we have.  For example a yellow kitchen and a purple and green room just like one in our house.   After seeing his house we strolled in the gardens just outside the front door.  We were amazed at all of the flowers and the different varieties.

Monet's waterlily garden
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A short walk through a tunnel under the road led us to the amazing garden that he created just so that he could paint his favorite flowers, the waterlily, over and over.   We could see why he would be inspired to paint this landscape in every direction that you could turn.  At each different angle you could see different things in the garden and see the waterlilies in different light.  I couldn't stop taking pictures of all of these different views.

The girls felt inspired to create their own pictures when they saw the bridge and the waterlilies.  They sat on a bench and drew just as Monet did many years ago.  Haley couldn't stop talking about how she loved seeing that bridge.  She even bought a reproduction of the famous waterlily painting for their room.

Monet's house.
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On the way home we stopped at the "best" bakery near the house in a town called Chaumont au Vixen.  They were right, it was pretty awesome!