Giverny and Versialles

What an overwhelming day. I'm exhausted. Its midnight AGAIN and I can hardly process all the stuff I saw and the stories I heard. I learned more about Monet than I have ever learned in an art history class room. (Probably a good thing. I didn't need any more amo to use against my teachers) Dude! He painted pure colors. He didn't mix them on his pallet. He also didn't care to learn the names of his flowers. All he cared about was their color. They were his pallet! There is 7 minutes between changes in light so working fast and on many paintings at once is a good thing. His water lily pond series numbered in the 200's! Oh and he loved cooking. What is not to like about a painter who loves to garden and cook! There is something to say about immersion being the best way to learn something. Actually experiencing the places he saw and painted...awe inspiring! Oh! And our tour guide was exceptional and hilarious! And our skillful driver scared the living day lights out of the Austrailian couple as he weaved our double decker bus in and out of these tiny 1/2 lane wide villages chasing their little cars onto sidewalks or to stop dead in their tracks only to reverse all the way thru town to the nearest side street! There were houses built into the smooth white stone cliffs because originally if you didn't have a man made roof in France then you didn't have to pay taxes. The Sein Vally was beautiful and the poppies and bachelor buttons were in full bloom. Then to top it off the Palace of Versialles! It only took 49 years to build it but it made me feel so small and insignificant! Louis XIV aka the sun king definitely had an appreciation for Roman mythology, Etiquette, and of course himself. Keep your friends close and your enemies closer! Amazing! That alone was enough to give a person a month to study and explore to scratch the surface and we only had 3 hours! We didn't even hardly touch the 2000 acres of gardens, lakes, and Marie Anntionetts little village! It was grand and my feet were sore. Upon returning to the hotel aunt Coleen realized someone had swiped the wallet from her zipped purse and re zipped it! Money, cards, drivers license gone. Not only are we two drivers down now (since I left mine at home not thinking correctly) we were hungry tired and pissed. We went to the corner cafe and had dinner. That definitely helped. A little wine, bread and cheese and good food including creme brule and the best Irish coffee I have EVER had served by the cutest french guy I have seen so far. Kara says I can't take him home cause he makes this annoying rooster sound. Back at the hotel my bag still had not arrived. We went up to our room to get ready to head to the Eiffle Tower to see it sparkle in the hour and our phone rang. My bag had FINALLY arrived! I was so excited tired and decided to stay home with Evie and go to bed. I had planned on going to Sacur Coure early tomorrow before the sun rose but I think I will let Paris wake me up instead (or Evie which ever comes first!) Maybe the next morning right before we leave...