Life on the High Plains

Next stop was Rouen, France.  Rouen is France's fourth largest port.  It was established in 744 AD by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese. The city has over 700 of these half-timbered houses in the Old Town area. The city has been fought over by the French, English, Vikings, and was liberated by the Canadians in 1944 after WWII. If some of these half-timbered houses look crooked, it's because they are. Do you think this might have been the village that inspired Beauty and the Beast?  The cobblestoned streets and the timbered houses seemed magical just like a Disney movie. We visited a couple different churches in Rouen, this was the first and I'm not sure of its name.  Wow! Then we made our way down the street to Rouen Cathedral.  Construction on this gothic cathedral started in  the twelfth century and lasted for 800 years. It has been through a lot--fires, wars, French Revolution and Allied bombing in WWII.  In fact, just two weeks before our visit the ce...

The next day was Claude Monet and his Giverny Gardens and home.  We started the day with a watercolor painting class. A local artist and tour guide boarded the ship and walked us through a small watercolor painting.  She was also selling some of her works for only 10 Euro.  After class I ran back to the cabin to get some cash, but by the time I returned she had packed up her stuff and left.  Darn...I always like to support local artists. Irv chose the beginner painting and did a pretty good job. I went for the "more advanced" painting and took it way too seriously. She rushed along pretty good and I'm an oil painter that doesn't even know how to paint fast.  Came out okay though. After lunch the ship docked in the village of Vernon. From here we boarded motor coaches for the quick drive to Giverny. There are two sections of Monet's garden--the Japanese inspired water garden and the flower garden in front of his house. I did a quick blog post about Giverny a few ...