Our day started by packing. Trying to fit everything into our vehicle was a challenge, but we did it. It was raining, and the sky was dark, so I thought visiting Monet's garden would not be possible. Fortunately as we drove away from Paris the clouds lifted and we found some sunshine.

Driving into the country was so nice after two weeks of city living. Even the kids were commenting on the fresh air and beautiful fields. The wild flowers here decorate the ditches; the colors are brilliant. We are definitely all country people at heart.

We drove to Giverny, where Monet's house and gardens are. I explained to the kids that these gardens would look messy, compared to the English style gardens we had been seeing up to this point. After entering the garden we wandered through paths of irises, wild roses, peonies, bell flowers just to name a few. Bees were busy, and we could see their legs fat with pollen. Darius loves bumblebees so he was intrigued by watching them up close.
Walking down a few steps through a short tunnel, we entered the famous water gardens. A large forest of bamboo lining a stream was the first part of the garden that caught our eye. We watched a mother duck and her ducklings zing past us as they rode the current, and paddled at the same time. After the bamboo forest we took in the huge variety of trees surrounding Monet's pond. Weeping willows, poplar, Japanese cherry and apple trees; again just to name a few. We literally felt like we were in one of Monet's paintings. The kids said they didn't think his garden was messy, and they liked it better than the English gardens. We sat on a bench and had our sandwiches - our all-time favorite picnic spot! We saw Monet's famous green bridges and blooming water lilies.
A few rowboats sit next to shore, and it was funny to think of the story that Monet was once painting, from on his rowboat, and became so frustrated that he through his painting and supplies overboard. Moving on we found Monet's soft pink house. The colors in his house reflect the garden; a sunny yellow kitchen, bright blue sitting room, pale blue bedroom with bright green shutters, that match his green bridges over the pond. While walking through both floors we noticed a lot of Japanese art, because it was a favorite of his. Renoir paintings were hung because Monet and Renoir were good friends. Monet's studio has a lot of his own work on display, and many of the pieces are in the same spots that he left them in; we noticed that in a photo of him, taken in the same room.

Monet's garden is one of the most charming places we have ever been. Mariah said that it is her favorite place in France so far!

We arrived at our campground in Houlgate around 7 p.m. It's in a beautiful location, we could see the ocean in the distance from our deck. The air was humid and warm. The campground is set in the hills, and we could see homes dotting the landscape. Our trailer was large with two bathrooms. The girls bedroom had a mirror with makeup area, and our master bedroom had a larger version of a make-up area. Everything was clean and bright.

After a bit we drove down to the beach ( 5 minutes away) and the kids played.
The beach is vast and empty with soft golden sand. The boys walked out onto a sand spit and started digging. They dug two big holes and the girls buried them up to their neck - it was a funny sight! It looked like someone left two perfectly good heads laying around (Quote from Madagascar 2) lol! We stayed on the beach late and noticed the sky change color from pastels to deep inky blue. A British boarding school brought their kids on a trip, about 70 junior high kids were playing in the sand, we barley noticed them because the beach is incredibly vast. It was hard to imagine the kind of assault the beaches of Normandy endured during World War 2; they are so serene now. The beach we were on is named Sword beach.

It was late when we got home, the sun was just starting to set. Our deck was a great place to watch the sun go down, again different shades of color mesmerized us; a lot like watching a campfire. It's funny how you never grow tired of sunsets and campfires.