so anyway, I'm in Normandy at the moment! My precise location is "Le Restaurant de l'Esperance" in the hotel de l'esperance in Lisieux. It's a cute town that has a huge basilica and a lot of roaming countryside. When we got here yesterday I went on a GREAT run along rolling country roads, past old farms, some lazy looking heifers and a lot of small french cars. I had about a mile run up a massive hill that caught me a little off guard, but it was totally worth it since the 360 view at the top was incredible.
Yesterday we hit up Mantes-la-jolie, a pretty town on the Seine. The cathedral is gothic, and really cool. We then traveled to Giverny, where Monet lived and had his gardens. You may recall some of his water lily paintings and his painting with the green japanese bridge... We saw all of those things. It's such a gorgeous place, it's easy to see how he was so inspired to paint. I picked up a nice Monet book for six euros in the book store.
Then we had a picnic along the Seine that was really picturesque... We also were in a great mood, having realized that prices in rural Normandy around roughly 1/5 of the prices in Paris. Check out our picnic spot.. (not bad, right?)
On a funny side note, my roommate, Mike Bosserman, woke me up last night while shouting in his sleep... now I finally know what Is ound like
Okay, I took a little break while writing this... now I've changed locations. I'm in a bungalow outside the Mt. Saint Michel. We just arrived here today... it's gorgeous. I have been here before when I came to France three years ago with my parents, but it still took my breath away when we came saw it on the horizon.
while on the way, our bus driver missed the exit, and we ended up going down a really country road. we happened upon a herd of cows that felt no pressure to move while meandering down the street...
when we arrived, our bungalows are sweet. I went for another amazing run, up country roads and alongside a windmill from which I could see the Mt. St. Michel in the distance. Again, breathtaking. THen I ran through the scenic village of Beauvoir, and I I saw some rundown houses I wanna buy and flip. They'd make some really awesome B&Bs for Mt. St. Michel tourists....
Right now I'm exhausted and am still trying to recover from a cold that has been following me all week. I took some medicine and I think it's about... to knock....... me....... out............zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz...... Haha, okay that was really cheesy but I am indeed really tired. Tomorrow, finally, we get to La Rochelle! Look for the next update from there!
i'm pretty sure i have a painting of the place you had your picnic.
ReplyDeletehaha yah, except the order of the pictures got messed up so it doesn't correspond with the text. it was really the second picture where we picnicked. but yah! that's monet's japanese bridge in his gardens.
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