Novotel Sud St-Etienne-du-Rouvray

So I must admit that by the time we arrived in Rouen we were kind of sick of looking at churches and castles and all that other old French town stuff. Fortunately it was a really nice day and we wanted to walk around a bit. The Cathedral in Rouen is absolutely amazing and still managed to impress us with all its little statues lining the walls. The city is modern and new looking and the main streets are big and busy. We ...

... south west to Paris. The plan is to visit the villages on the river on the way to Rouen, and are rewarded with their beauty.

We arrive to Rouen late in the afternoon. We eventually and somewhat tentatively settle on a park on the riverside by some docked barges being used as houses.

Kim cooked up gourmet hamburgers which was washed down ...

... was the largest and most beautiful I have seen and I was lucky enough to listen to the end of a song. It was also the best sounding, it was deeper and resonated more than the others, it sounds like something that the phantom would play.
I also checked out the other main square where Jean 'D Arc was executed. There is a giant cross speared into the ground where I supposed she was burnt at the stake. There is also a memorial church built in her honour ...

... way when bigger trucks passed by. Back in Rouen we visited the towns Gothic cathedral and tried to go on a tour of the city but it was the end of the day and no one else was going so the tour got cancelled. We went from shop to shop buying ingredients to make a sandwich. What started as a baguette turned into dinner after visiting a butcher shop, a produce market and a cheese guy (I will find out the tecnical French name for that before we leave the country.)

... Monet was an emerging artist in Paris when he grew tired of the grey city and decided to move out into the landscape to experience not only the natural colors of the land but also the effects that light plays upon them. His lilies are probably the most recognized and although the numerous paintings of them are a bit repetitive, they all look very different when studied. He also did the same light studies on his flower beds, hay stacks and the occasional building.

The ...

... I dont know much about it all but I find it pretty! Chris took all the pictures of the building from the outside. It was a great day and the sun was shining making for sum beautiful pictures. The streets are fun to walk around in the area because its the fabric district and there were fun tourist shops all over. We walked through Place du Tertre which is an area for artists to paint for the tourists and sell their work. We even walked ...

Monet's house and garden were so beautiful and so interesting to see his inspiration and then see the actual paintings. The day was not sunny but our guide said that better to view the gardens.Loved the lily ponds. The town of Vernon was not as ...

Love the city of Rouen which has such a medieval feel to it but has an university with 25,000 students so quite the bustling town. The Notre Dame cathedral located in the center of town was beyond massive . We saw the most unbelievable night light show that was projected against the cathedral .... I cannot not even explain it .. simply an overwhelming show. Rouen also the site where Joan of Arc was burned at the stake. Plenty of shopping and pastry shops!

... of Monet's paintings on them. Next off to Versailles and by the time we got there the rain had stopped. It was lunch before the tour, we sat with a nice couple from Salt Lake City, musicians from the Salt Lake City Symphony orchestra. The tour of the apartments were amazing, so opulent, our guide was also very good ...

... Oops. My last stop was one of the many museums that focuses on the event (there are a LOT of museums around, several good ones and a fair few dodgy ones). This museum was right on Gold Beach, the British landing site, and I really got it after seeing this place. The Germans had previously said that if they control the harbours, then they control Europe. Churchill agreed and said, that if the Allies couldnīt capture a harbour, then they would have to build one. Build a harbour ...