Monet, RIchard the Lion Hearted and a new found appreciation of France!

Wow... that's all I can say... Wow!  We had no expectations, so we were just enthralled with all we saw today.  Claude Monet's gardens and home in Giverny... awesome... and his 'history', even more so. Then as we ate lunch, the ship went on to Les Andelys adn the Chateau Gaillard.  Not much left now, but the views and history... again, something else!  We found our 200th Geocache while in Les Andelys.... Woohoo... means nothing to any of you guys, but we were just tickled that we were in France when we found the 200th.

The flowers, the bridges, the ponds... So obvious where Monet got his inspiration.  His home was awesome too... he eventually ended up with eight children (his own and step-children)  He had to remodel to give them enough rooms... The home was really cool/eclectic, but alas, no photos allow!

Then we came back to the boat, and took off for Les Andelys... Got there, and saw the remains of a castle up on the hill... and, yup, we headed up there... Interesting history lesson, but won't go on about that here...

OH NO... we are currently pulling in to dock, rafting up to another cruise boat... very, very weird... guess we'll have to keep the privacy curtains shut... !

Several boat around doing the same thing... I guess Jerry and I will have to practice our modesty... heehee.... strange... there are some real drinkers on the boat next door... Course, Jerry and I put away a bottle of wine tonight so, we're not much better... just quieter!

Anyway... we found our 200th Geocache today in the town of Les Andelys... No big fanfare... but we were tickled to do so.... and in France no less!

Sorry for all the pics... tomorrow is Normandy Beach... really looking forward to it!

Monet's house in the background!

Your lucky day... the other pics won't upload....

 War Memorial in Vernon.... From WWII.... the buildings in this town were pretty much destroyed except for the church and a handful around it... 

Jerry and I on the upper deck after lunch on the way to Andelys

Captain leaves the Pilot House to use his toy buttons to steer us through the locks... 

Water dropped about 10 feet... 

 Our 199th geocache.... 

 Les Andelys

Our home...

Our 200th Geocache!

Ahoy and away this boat shall go!

The day has proved to be not at all what we planned, and even better than we thought.  Got up early...cleaned up and headed out for a walk before we left the hotel at 11... luxurious time compared to when we were in Scandinavia...

Got to our boat/ship... whatever... and had lunch!  It was just perfect... a lite lunch around noon.  Then, we left for an hour tour on the Seine.... very pretty, though a tad warm.  Had seen many of the sights already, but this time we were viewing them from the water.  Paris is filled with so many huge architecturally rich buildings.  Oh, and did I say they were old, old, old... well, they are.  When the tour was over, we opted to walk back to our Riverboat, about 2 miles, along the river.  Thought about doing some geocaches, but it was getting warmer as the sun shone brighter and brighter.

Once at the ship, we got to our room... we couldn't believe how nice it was!  The bathroom was gorgeous and we have not one, but two sliders that look out the starboard side (that's the right side for you non boaters!)

The fun thing about this cruise is it is for families also... which is unusual.  They have activities for the families, that are more on the kid levels.  It's great to see this mix in with all the silver hairs... Jerry and I tend to gravitate towards the families...

Okay... there were three Lady Liberty's made... one in NYC... small one in the Luxembourg Park and a medium size one on the Seine... Have already seen the small one, and got to see the medium one today.  Pretty cool.

Had our 'sail away' party on the upper deck... and there again.. the Eifel Tower AND Lady Liberty.  Finally had some dinner about 7pm and watched the calm Seine River out our windows.  We've gone through one lock already and from what we were told, we will be going through two more while we sleep. 

Jerry is next to me in the bed... he conked out about 30 minutes ago.  Was fun watching him tonight... he got so chatty as he had more and more libations.  He never gets 'drunk' but, boy, does he like to gab even more when he's had his booze... and who cares if the stories are right... he just loves to share conversation.  Top side, he was even racing around the deck with a seven year old sweetheart of a girl... that guy... I guess that's why I love him!

Tomorrow on to Monet's garden's... the inspiration for his Water Lily painting.  Then, in the afternoon, a 'Nordic' Walk to and around Les Andelys.  Gotta walk off some of the calories we will be eating while on board.

Cool chairs on board... Jer, of course, can sleep anywhere.... Naw... he was just posing!

The ultimate selfie using a mirror!

 This guy managed to have me smoke a whole cigarette without ever putting one to my lips... YUCK!

 Looks blurry, but it's just all the cables and clog wheels...

 Yes, those are decanters of booze... werid... wish I was more of a lush!!!!

Dang... to tired to flip this pic... it's obvious what room it is though!

 The weird parade of cars/buses deck out with music and decor about two hours before the Tour de France guys came in...

 The blue shirt guy was in the lead...

Bon Voyage....