Europe // France: Giverny & Normandy

Friday, July 3, 2015

The drive north to Monet's gardens in Giverny was so beautiful. We passed far-off chateaux and gorgeous rolling fields of yellow flowers.
Getting closer to Giverny, these little streets and these stone houses with perfect wooden shutters seemed like a dream.
I can't say how wonderful it was to be in the home and gardens that inspired my favorite painter. It was flower heaven! It was just so lovely!
 We loved this girl's bunny phone case so I took a picture. [: Haha.
Red poppies and my cute man.
 Wandering for hours.
 Monet's water lilies.
Gorgeous wisteria.
 This was one of the most beautiful places I've ever been. My dreams will be made of memories of walking with Ryan through these heavenly gardens forever!

 What an emotional place. Everything was so beautiful here in the WWII American Cemetery at Omaha Beach. The ocean stretched out in front of us and it was a breezy sunny day. The visitor center was so well done, with films and words and displays that didn't leave a single eye dry. Everything was powerful and struck me to the core with gratitude for the soldiers who gave their lives on D-Day. The white crosses were so beautiful. We walked through a handful of rows and read the names and thought about who they might have been. There were several that didn't have names, but simply "Here rests in honored glory a comrade in arms, known but to God." 
I loved the quiet feeling of sacredness, loss, and gratitude here.

 Pointe du Hoc, where American soldiers landed on this beach and climbed these cliffs into German fire in order to seize the vantage point on D-Day. Walking among the craters left from the shells was really pretty incredible. You looked at this hole in the ground next to you and thought about what made it, how soldiers had probably ran where you were walking right now, and what the scene right where you're standing might have been like on that day in 1944. It was so powerful, so sad, but very humbling.

On the way home I asked Rich to stop the car for a second in this town we passed through. It was so quiet and so beautiful. I walked down the street a ways and didn't see a single soul or car, almost like no one lived there. It looked like it had been there for a long, long time. I wished I could have seen what this town had seen over its lifetime.
I loved this day. I love France and I love America!

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