Day 10: Vernon and Giverny
Our first stop today was the town of Vernon. Vernon is a very old town, dating from the 10th century and has a lot of picturesque helf-timbered buildings, as seen in the pictures below.
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| Vernon Town Hall |
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| Church of Notre Dame, built between the 12th and 16th centuries |
After touring Vernon, we headed for
Giverny, famous as the location where Monet did much of his work.
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| The Old Mill, across the Seine from Vernon. |
The gardens in Giverny look just like the Monet paintings, much to Brenda's delight. What you can't see in the paintings is the thousands of tourists in the gardens. The shots below were the few I could get that didn't include mobs of people.
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| A mob waiting to enter Monet's house. We didn't. |
The town of Giverny was very pleasant, as well.
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| Parts of the church date from the 12th century |
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| "Street of the Jews" |
After visiting Giverny, we got back on the boat and headed for Rouen, the capital of Normandy. Below are a few shots from the river.
Day 11: Rouen
Rouen is the capital of Normandy and is famous for its cathedral and medieval buildings, and is also where Joan of Arc met her demise. Our first stop was the
Rouen Cathedral.
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| Rouen Cathedral, dating from the 12th century |
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| Tomb containing the heart of Richard the Lionhearted |
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| Booksellers Staircase |
We then walked around the "old town", which contained a lot of medieval buildings.
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| St. Mary's Church (Église catholique Saint-Maclou) |
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| Site of the old Jewish Quarter |
We eventually arrived at the Church of St. Joan of Arc, which was built in 1978 and is located near where Joan of Arc was burned at the stake. The cross tower next to the church is the actual site of the burning.
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| Outside the church of St. Joan |
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| Inside the church |
Next: Day 12--Normandy Beaches
