Rouen & Giverny!

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Rouen

What an adventure. Again, sorry with the delay, guys! It's my usual procrastination this time. It's like the coffee addiction: I could get better if I wanted to!!! So, without further ado...

Rouen is a city roughly the size of Lancaster, but a little bigger. It's the capital of the Haute-Normandie region, that is to say, the capital of "Upper Normandy county," in English. The day we were here, there was a large fair going on, with lots of booths from different social organizations, things like UNICEF and Amnesty International. They had a huge stage set up for various local performers. It was a good day weather-wise for the trip, and whatever was going on in Rouen helped get us through the generic cathedral-monarchy-church business tour...I have to say, I don't think I can handle another guided walking tour, EVEN THOUGH our tour guide had the BEST French/British/German accent. So, an overall pleasant stop in Rouen, though we definitely didn't have enough time to explore. There were plenty of independent boutiques and chain-stores alike, AND a pub was showing the current rugby game (though I can't remember who was playing). We also saw the spot where Joan of Arc was executed!

Giverny & Monet's Jardin

So after Rouen, we got back on the bus (5 minutes late, of course, because Drew, John, Tyler, and I were as LOST as possible) and headed over to Giverny!
Giverny is the home of Monet's house & gardens. If I'm remembering correctly, I used to have a movie about Monet's gardens....at the very least, a book! Who would've thought that 15 years later, I'd actually be there?! The gardens were very beautiful, but I'm sure their prime months of the year have passed. His house was a nice change of pace from the likes of Versailles.
Once we were done with the gardens, we headed back to Paris! And for dinner, if any of you will believe this, I actually ATE green beans. Yep. I wasn't threatened with torture or death--don't worry! One thing I've noticed about being here...I'm so worried about offending the French by leaving untouched food on my plate that I just eat what's there...What is this country doing to me???!!

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Photos

Rouen buildings
They're not actually built with logs--they're painted to appear that way.

Monet's Garden IV
Bug!