Landed in France!

Yes! We made it across the sea!

Yesterday was our first day of 4 months of a European road trip.  We landed in Paris at 11am but it was 5am in our heads and boy, were we tired.  But we got the car and headed out right away for the Gardens of Monet in Giverny.  Absolutely breathtaking countryside!

His full name is Francois Pierre Sea Pig Voiture. 

Giverny - Where Monet lived and painted and is buried..... and where he had unbelievable gardens

Then we decided to keep driving west toward the coast and ended up deciding to stop for the night in Rouen.  This city was not on our list but we hope it was the first of many happy unplanned accidents.  It is the capital of Normandy and absolutely beautiful. Like so many places in Europe, beauty everywhere you look.

This is the place where Joan of Arc was burned at the stake.  The Church built in her honour is a mix of modern and medieval architecture.  Very striking place when you think about the history.

The Notre Dame Cathedral in Rouen was magnificant and impressive.  The huge vaulted ceiling and spectacular stained glass and solemn feeling was very memorable.

It was fresh and cool enough to wear gloves at this strange beach in Fecamp, covered in small, weathered stones instead of sand.  The cliffs were an awesome sight!

This is the Benedictine Palace built in honour of the Monk and the liquer made here.

Yummy stuff is Benedictine!

How do we eat on 20 euro a day? Picnic and prepare everything, everywhere!

Further down the coast from Fecamp is Etretat.  The same rocky beach and glassy clear waters and stunning views of eroded rocky cliffs.  We had the place all to ourselves for a good 5 minutes and could hear the strange, clicking sound like beads falling on the floor as the waves came and went, flowing over the stones.  All of a sudden we were surrounded by relatively quiet and well behaved teenagers who sat in small groups around us and threw the rocks in the water which made odd plopping sounds.  All in all a glorious day.  We ended up in Caen for the night.  Aside from a tricky and tempermental GPS, everything is going swimmingly!