We took the inland route on the way there. Emily had studied Monet in school and very much wanted to see his gardens at Giverny. She loved the experience and even brought her sketch book to do her own drawings. While drawing she was in her own world with the flowers and could have spent much longer there if the gardens hadn't closed for the evening.
The next day, despite the heat, we ventured off to explore Versailles and the gardens, The gardens permit scooters on the grounds in the morning and this made it much easier to explore with the kids. The scooters also came in handy as seats to watch the musical fountains as "le gazon est interdit". (Sam was promptly asked to move after this picture was taken). After lunch we took a boat ride on the grand canal.
The next day was on to camp but we had time to visit the castle of William the Conqueror at Falaise on the way. It was very well restored with excellent interpretation. The kids loved it and it gave them a taste of the history that followed them around the region for the next week.
Calvin has written a post about the camp so I will leave that to him except to say it was a really fun week for everyone.
The drive back we took the coastal route. We stopped in Bayeux to see the famous tapestry showing William the Conqueror and the battle of Hastings in 1066. Calvin picked up a comic book that interprets the real history and is now fascinated by the story.
The house we rented was right on Juno beach in the town of St Aubin sur Mer. It was an amazing experience to stay there with all the history and the still evident obvious gratitude to the Canadian D-day troops. Of course being a old town not all roads were car-worthy. This is the one our GPS wanted us to take to get to the house...
The next day we went to the town of Honfleur. This is where Samuel de Champlain sailed from. Its a beautiful little port town, was the inspiration for the impressionist artists, and is a popular tourist attraction today. We got back to the house in time for low tide and some beach exploring.
Our final stop on the way home was Etreat, the French white cliffs. Again, another beautifully preserved little seaside town with gorgeous views. Unfortunately we couldn't stay as long as we would have liked.
All said, it was a wonderful vacation in a beautiful part of the world.
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