Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Paris: Day 27 - Giverny

Today we took a trip to Giverny to visit Monet's home and gardens. Monet is the famous impressionist painter that did many paintings of the same grounds that we saw. He is well known for the paintings of his pond with the lilly-pads.

Allison & Luke on the bus




















view from the bus - the Eiffel Tower and the Statue of Liberty!




















We first went on a tour of the American Art Museum at Giverny, which houses American impressionist paintings. It was okay, but it was a small collection and the tour guide talked way too much about things that were not interesting. Her tour was focused on the museum rather than the artwork it contained.

After this tour we went to Monet's gardens, with its famous pond, bridges, and lilly-pads. The gardens were colorful, and we enjoyed this part of the trip. After touring the gardens we went into the house, which was set up the way it was when Monet was alive. His Japanese prints were hanging on the walls, but his pieces were reproductions, as they are in various museums throughout the world.

Monet's gardens














Allison & Luke by Monet's pond




























We had about an hour to fill before our bus left Giverny, so we got ice cream and Allison found a t-shirt at the American Impressionist Museum. After seeing the gardens at Villandry, the Chartes cathedral, and all of the chateaus, this trip did not seem that exciting! However, it was neat to see the inspiration for so many famous works of art and to see where Monet lived and worked.

Allison in the garden




















all of us by the pond














Allison with her fraise glace (strawberry ice cream)














Luke contemplating the impressionism movement




















We got a Greek sandwich again for dinner - it is pretty much our favorite meal in Paris other than salad, baguette, and cheese. I am feeling okay, although my throat is pretty swollen. K-Rae told me today that she sent two other guys from our group to Dr. Jude for strep throat in the last couple of days. One of the guys was on the trip this weekend with us, so I guess I picked it up from him somehow. Allison is paranoid that she has white dots on her throat now, but I did not see anything. Hopefully she does not get it! We definitely do not want Luke to get it either! I have kept my distance from him the past few days, but our apartment is very small.

4 comments:

Guppy & the Worm said...

Go Luke go...Go Cubs go...Hey Chicago whatayay say the Cubs are gonna win today!!!!!

Alli and Phil said...

That is what Allison was singing to Luke on the bus when I took their picture!!!

Lisa said...

I was so sorry to hear that now Phil is not feeling well again. Man you guys have had quite a time of it in Paris. He certainly should get some antibiotics as quickly as possible if it's strep because it doesn't take much for it to spread to other family members. Take it from me, the "strep queen"! Patrick would usually get it first and he hardly ever complained or showed any symptoms and by the time we would figure it out Leslie and I would both already have it. I used to sit and cry when I would get it because I found it to be quite painful. In some of the photos Luke's hair looks like it has gotten even blonder. Is that the case? It's fun to see him in all the outfits that I remember Jean buying for him when we were on our many shopping sprees and I recognize a LOT of them! Take care and I hope Phil gets to feeling better real soon and I also hope that neither Alli or Luke get whatever he has. Love, Aunt Lisa

Alli and Phil said...

Phil has a Dr. appointment today at 4:00pm. It was the soonest that he could get in so he took it. It is a Dr. that hopefully speaks English. He was recommended on the American/Paris website. The other Dr. that K-Rae recommended and that I saw is of course on vacation.

Luke's hair is getting lighter! I think that it has really grown too since we got here. He has worn a lot of different outfits. I probably brought too many clothes for him:)

We read online last night that infants and children under 3 rarely get strep throat. We read about the symptoms that we should watch for. Yes, we are hoping that the two of us don't get it! This morning Phil said that "aliens were living in his tonsils!" They really look icky!

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