Hello Young Adventurers!

Locations: Giverny, France.  (Pronounced with a soft “g”) Paris, France
Language spoken: French
Words learned: jardin– Garden.  Les fleurs- The Flowers

Last I left you guys, I told you Heather and I were heading somewhere where Claude Monet, a famous Impressionist Painter, used to live and work.  While here, we saw the gardens that inspired some of his most famous works of art, toured his home, and enjoyed the sunshine in the village where he lived.  Welcome to Giverny, France, mes amis (My friends).

We had to get up early to take the train from Paris to Vernon, France which is a small village nearby Giverny. When we got off the train, there was a tiny shuttle “train” that took us to Giverny, with a short historical tour along the way as it drove us.  For some reason, Heather and I thought this thing was so funny.  It was such a touristy thing to do, and we had NO idea what we had actually gotten on, except that you couldn’t just walk to Giverny from where we were.  The tour itself was interesting, and they played some great music while we rode on to Monet’s gardens.  Here’s my one big tip- sometimes it is totally worth doing the ridiculously cheesy touristy things.  They’re efficient, they’re informative, and even if they’re silly- they’re still fun.  It’s all about balance when you travel.

We got off of our “train” and made our way to Monet’s home and gardens.  We were so excited to get in and see the place that inspired such an amazing painter to do some of his most famous work, and it did not disappoint. Impressionist art is some of my personal favorite, so I was extra excited to see some of the inspiration behind these works for myself. The water garden where the lilies and the Pont de Japonais (Japanese Bridge) were was stunning.  It looked exactly like his painting, and it had felt like we had stepped back in time.  I have tons of pictures that I took, so I’ll share some of my favorites with you!  Check out all the beautiful flowers in the gardens!  Can you name the parts of these different flowers?

Afterwards, we toured Monet’s home.  One thing I noticed was that there was a ton of traditional Japanese artwork on the walls in his home.  I’m really curious to know if that was something he liked and collected, or if those were put into the house after it became a museum.  I’m going to need to do some research soon and get back to you guys on that.  The house itself was really beautiful, and it wasn’t hard to imagine how Monet was so inspired in his artwork after looking out the windows in his house into the gardens and seeing all the beautiful flowers and plants.  It had to have been something incredible back when it was a private garden that he had to just himself, rather than hundreds of tourists bunched together taking photos throughout.

After the house, we enjoyed the sunshine and walked around the village for a bit before taking our tiny little “train” back to the station so we could ride the real train home.  The village of Giverny itself felt like you had stepped back in time when you walked around.  Beautiful old homes blending in with the nature all around.  It was really beautiful.

We took our train ride home, and decided to walk along the Seine for a bit before calling it a night.  We knew we had a really big day ahead of us the next morning, so we didn’t want to stay up too late.  We ended up back at our apartment with cheese, a baguette, and watched some Netflix before heading to sleep!  Y’all… this was the first time I had really watched tv since I left, and I forgot what a luxury it was.  It was so nice to take a little time and just check out for a bit.

The next morning, Heather and I got up early so that we could get ready and make our way to Notre Dame Cathedral without having to be in a hurry.  One of our friends told us a trick that would let us skip the line to climb to the top of the towers, so we signed up online and said we’d be there at 11.  It gave us just enough time to enjoy a nice, slow breakfast.  I was so excited because this was the first time I did the entire thing while only speaking French.  My sentences were short, and I’m sure I didn’t use all the words perfectly, and that’s okay.  I was just proud that I could communicate clearly enough that the waiter could understand.  One thing I have learned, though- I still have a LOOOONG way to go before I can say I truly speak French.  

Heather and I made our way to Notre Dame Cathedral, which is a BEAUTIFUL old cathedral that began construction back in the 1100’s.  (That’s over 900 years ago!). It took almost 200 years to complete it, and honestly, I can’t believe it didn’t take longer.  It’s hard to image how people were able to construct such a large and complex building back before there was any modern technology to assist.  They had to do it all by hand.  I mean, I was winded just walking up the 420 steps to the top.  These people had to climb up and down them, while assembling them, with heavy materials to build the higher levels.  That’s just incredible.

After huffing and puffing our way to the top, we were rewarded with one of the most beautiful views I had seen in a long time- a complete panorama view of the city of Paris.  Here are some of the pictures!  How many important landmarks can you identify?

The bells within the bell towers were GIGANTIC.  It was really cool to get to see them up close.  Let’s see if you remember something from music class- the bigger an object gets, it’s pitch becomes lower or higher?  Think about how large these bells are and the sounds you think they would make!  I’ll answer at the end of the post!  We also saw some gargoyles, which were really cool, too.

From Notre Dame, Heather and I made our way to Le Louvre museum.  When I say this place is massive, I’m not kidding.  We spent over 4 hours walking around, learning, and admiring the art, and we didn’t even go through an entire 1/3 of the building.  The parts we did see, we had to go quickly just to make sure we could see as much as we could!  This place is like the museums of museums.  Some of the world’s most famous pieces of art and history are located here, such as the Mona Lisa by Leonardo De Vinci.  I’m sure you all know what that painting is!  And that is only one small painting in this gigantic place that covers Ancient Rome and Greece, to famous world painters, to the area I was looking most forward to- Ancient Egypt!  It took us a good hour and a half to just walk through the Ancient Egypt section, which included old papers, hieroglyphs (Ancient Egyptian writing that used picture-symbols), and even an actual mummy!

What hit me most about walking around Le Louvre, was the fact that many of the items in this museum were over 2000 years old.  It’s a bizarre experience to be staring at something that has existed for so long in history. 

Unfortunately, we were getting so hungry and tired, we could not stay any longer.  Le Louvre is definitely somewhere that you could spend an entire week walking through, and maybe even then not see it all.  When we were done, we made our way back to the Eiffel Tower to watch it light up and twinkle one more night and eat one last crepe before head back to pack and get ready to leave in the morning. Heather was coming back home to the States, and I’m currently on the train to my next destination.

Where is Mr. Weavil now?  Here are some hints.  This place is a beach city in Southern France, known for its beautiful clear waters.  It’s name is spelled like an English word that we all strive to be, and it is pronounced like what you would call the daughter of your brother or sister.  Any ideas where we’re off to next?  See if you can figure it out by my next post!  For now, remember:

Have Courage, & Be Kind,

Mr. Weavil