Giverny

Last weekend we took a car trip with our first house guests of the summer to Giverny - Monet's house and gardens about an hour outside of Paris. Some of Monet's most famous paintings, such as his water lily and Japanese bridge paintings, were of his garden in Giverny.

The "water lily" pond was stunning, but much smaller and more enclosed by vegetation than I imagined.

The girls sketching the water lilies

Us with Sharon, Henry and M. in Monet's Gardens

With an afternoon still left on our car rental, we consulted the "points of interest" feature of our GPS and decided to check out La Roche Guyon, a chateau not far from Giverny.

The lack of the Chateau's guidebook presence meant that we basically had the place to ourselves and we were able to enjoy the grand rooms, views from the tower, and curious contents in peace.

Our unassuming walk through this typical French chateau ended with a surprise - a military bunker. It turns out that Rommel defended Normandy against the Allies in World War II from the bunker located here- La Roche Guyon was Rommel's headquarters.

The girls in front of the Chateau