Giverny France October 2011

Giverny was, by far, the best, most amazing place I visited in France. There is something about natural beauty, for me, that outshines the things men create. Having said that, I know that men did create what nature provides in the most appealing way.

The streets that wound around with the vines and flowers...well, the pictures cannot do them justice. The way the people in the village planted and preserved the quaintness of the old homes, walls, and gardens was/is amazing. It is such a peaceful place, where I knew, if I was alone and had time; I could have a meditation time that would truly produce results and heal parts of me that a physician will never be able to.

Monet's Gardens were beautiful. As Monet created them with the beauties of nature, I'm sure he didn't realize how many people would be drawn here and find relief from the storms of life.

Pixie and Blaine are enjoying the sights from one of the picturesque bridges.

My favorite part of Monet's gardens were these ponds with the water lilies and trees. It was like being in a fairy tale, and I was the Princess. Totally amazing.

My beautiful oldest sister Doris. She is the artist in the family. She does beautiful oil paintings.

These are the actual 'beds'. Everything else was planted in a wild natural way.

The streets have such a charm. With all the tourists this town gets, there is not a lot of privacy, except within the fences and walls of their beautiful, quaint yards. You've never seen private property taken care of so well, to preserve the natural beauty and the 'out of time' homes.

My youngest sister Tisha. She found a beautiful scarlet leaf.

The vining on the old walls were amazing. All of the beauty of nature combined in Geverny!

This is Monet's family plot. Notice the flowers they put on some of the graves, they are ceramic. They are beautiful and last forever. I loved them. I think I want that on my grave.

I love how it didn't matter how twisted the wood was, they made it work. I have taken quite a few pictures to show the wood. It tells a story of it's own.

The streets with their twists and turns held surprises at every bend.

Paris, October 2011

I am late getting my Euro trip posted. I just needed to help with a Grandchild being born, really just helping her mom, and moving. It's been a crazy year altogether, but since August it has been unreal. I wanted to at least do the post in the same year as I went on the trip. It was wonderful! Seven of my eight brothers and their spouses, and my five sisters and their spouses, and I went. I wish Stan would have been able to come, knee surgery didn't go as well as he thought it would. That is the only thing that would have made it a better trip than it was.

Below is Nortre Dame. There are so many ancient cathedrals in France. They are amazing in the enormity and their structure and their stained glass.

This is the gate in front of a large government building, which also has the cathedral with the most stained glass in it, in all of France. Pretty amazing. The pictures do NOT do it justice in any sense of the word. I found out that stained glass that is almost all red and blue was made in the 1400's. So you are looking at some old glass! The bottom picture of this section shows the windows from the outside. You really have no way of knowing what the beauty is from the inside looking out.

I have always loved the movie "Sabrina". In it, Sabrina talks about choosing a bridge in Paris and writing in your journal. There are a lot of bridges in Paris. Being from America, it is amazing how young our country is. Going to Europe, it is not just the amazing architecture you see, but how old it is, and then wondering how they made these massive structures without all of the modern technology we have know. Truly amazing!

Then there is the Louvre... I did not know that the Louvre used to be the king's residence. Wow. We were not supposed to take pictures in the Louvre, but everyone was. We, Gloria, Holly and I, forbore, but wondered why, everyone else was taking pictures! On the 2nd trip, I decided to take a few. I saw the Mona Lisa the first trip, but didn't get a picture. It is truly amazing. The architecture is more amazing to me than a lot of what is in it!

In Ukraine, I truly loved the open markets, the small markets in the streets, the food, etc. It was wonderful to see similar things in France. Truly a lot of fun.

These are a few of the pictures I DID take in the Louvre. Not sure what the sculptor was saying with this first one!

At the end of the trip, we came back into Paris on the boat. We passed a lot of yachts, I'm using that term very loosely! It was a wonder that some of them are not at the bottom of the River Seine! These are actually homes where people live year round. Under the bridges you can see where some of the homeless have set up housekeeping. Some of them, it looks like, for a very long time.

Coming into the center of Paris, you see the small 'Statue of Liberty'. So, Paris was the beginning and end of our trip. What a wonderful opportunity. I truly, truly thank those who made it possible!

Paris, October 2011

Our little feathered friends.

We have caught glimpses of beautiful birds on our property, but haven't been able to see them well. So, to get them up close and personal, I filled the bird feeder. We get mostly little finches. This isn't a great picture, but they are beautiful little birds. The one on the tree trunk, I have no idea what it is, but it lands on the trunk at the top and runs down. Then we have the Cardinals! A female and a male. I know we have brilliant blue birds, but haven't been able to get a picture of them yet!