Giverny and Monet

Friday, June 16th. We slept in and then walked to breakfast at La Guinguetto. It was the best yogurt ever - it had berries and honey in it. I had a chocolate chaud (hot chocolate) and Anya had an espresso. We waited for Mikel to arrive and wrote in our journal - reliving the first part of our trip. We enjoyed watching the world go by.

Mikel showed up and found us. He was tired from his flight, picking up the rental car, and driving to Versailles. He was a good sport as he helped us load our luggage and rallied for a day of fun!

We drove to Versailles and went to the Petit Trianon and Marie Antoinette's private rural hamlet. The hamlet has always been one of my favorites.

We drove to Giverny and had lunch there. The gardens were amazing and the house was spectacular too! We took photos in the garden and the famous bridge. I loved his house. The kitchen and dining room had such amazing colors! His bedroom looked out over the garden. The ponds were full of lily pads and you felt you were walking in one of his paintings. There were cute stores, restaurants, and bars at Giverny.

I'm so glad we stopped. I had never been able to fit it in on a previous trip to France.

After we left Giverny, we continued driving to Le Harve. Mikel had reserved a hotel there - the Hilton Garden Inn - for 2 nights. The hotel was right on the water. We walked to dinner at an outdoor cafe. They were having some sort of outdoor celebration and we enjoyed the crowds and activity.

Le Harve means "The Harbour". The city and port were founded by King Francis I in 1517. it is located on the shore of the English Channel and at the mouth of the Seine.

We listened to ABBA on the balcony of the hotel when we got back to the hotel. There were only 2 twin beds in the room and Mikel snored all night. To be fair, he was completely exhausted but Anya got no sleep. When Mikel woke up the next morning, he stretched and said - "I slept AMAZING!" Anya said, "I know you did......"Read more