Monet's Giverny

After leaving the Palace of Versailles, we headed to Giverny, a village about 50 miles from Paris, located in the region of Normandy. Giverny is best know as the location of Claude Monet's gardens and home, where Monet lived and painted for 43 years. Monet purchased the house in 1890, living there with his second wife and their 8 children. A few years after purchasing the house, Monet acquired additional land and began developing his gardens, including the traditional English garden and the Japanese garden and water lily pond.

None of the paintings on display are original (all replicas) but apparently, most of the tourists were not listening when that information was provided, as they all frantically snapped photos of each and every one of them. 

The house itself was a bit of a disappointment. We waited in line for a very long time to get inside and then we were decidedly underwhelmed. 

The Japanese gardens were insanely crowded and we were very surprised by how many people simply stopped everyone around them so that they could do mini photo shoots (including an engagement session on the famous bridge) and take selfies.

There are several different species of water lilies in the pond. 

Eglise Sainte-Radegonde de Giverny is a church located a short walk from Monet's home. It is known as the parish where Monet attended services, as the final resting place for Monet and his family.

Monet's grave

The cemetery includes the graves and memorial to seven British airmen who died during WW2 when their plane crashed in Giverny. 

Palace of Versailles

We visited the Palace of Versailles on two different days. On the first day, we spent several hours there, visiting not only the palace itself, but also touring some of the incredible gardens. Although we walked several miles while we were there, we visited only a fraction of the spacious grounds. Our second visit to Versailles was on the first full day of our tour. Tauck arranged for a one hour guided tour before the palace opened, which was amazing. We learned so much from our tour guide and being able to see a room like the Hall of Mirrors without the crowds was incredible. Now owned by the government of France, the Palace of Versailles is the formal royal residence. Originally built by King Louis XIII as a hunting lodge, his successor (Louis XIV) expanded the chateau into a palace and moved his seat of government and the capital from Paris to Versailles. The palace was abandoned and emptied during the French Revolution but following his coronation as emperor, Napoleon used Versailles as a summer home.

The royal chapel (first floor view above, second floor view below).

The ceiling painting in the Hercules room is the single largest painting in the world.

Full size marble statue of King XIV by Jean Warin, depicting the king at age 30 as a roman emperor.

1655 marble bust of Louis XIV by Bernini in the Diana Room.

King's bedroom.

The candelabras were made for the wedding of King Louis and Marie Antoinette.

The Hall of Mirrors. The cost of these mirrors during the time of Louis XIV was enormous - each pane cost more than a merchant's house, and there are thousands of panes. The hall is where the Treaty of Versailles was signed and it is still used today for state visits of foreign leaders.

Marie Antoinette's bedroom, exactly as it looked the day that she fled.

This obelisk to Napoleon's military triumphs sit in the center of the room dedicated to him.

The Gallery of Great Battles includes a painting commemorating the Siege at Yorktown.

As much as we enjoyed the palace, we spent a significant amount of time touring as much of the grounds as possible. The gardens of Versailles are magnificent, covering more than 800 hectares and include manicured parterres, tree lined groves, and dozens of fountains rooted in mythological scenes.

The Bacchus Fountain, representing the allegory of autumn.

The Fountain of Apollo depicts the sun god in his horse-drawn chariot rising from the water.

The Bassin de l'Encelade depicts the mythological giant Enceladus being buried under rocks by Jupiter.