Giverny and Versailles

The internet connection at my last hotel was terrible! I'm on a train to Birmingham right to get ready for the Show and I finally have an opportunity to catch up.

Giverny and Versailles were stunning! One simple and the other very extravagant. Going to one after the other was interesting and when comparing the two, I found that I much prefer the simple sweetness of Giverny to the ornate and fantastical palace of Versaille. Still Versaille was absolutely incredible, I just don't think I could have ever lived there.

I loved this street in Normandy that led up to Giverny:

Giverny was the home of the impressionist Claude Monet. He was a creative mastermind in my opinion and I have an even greater appreciation for his work now that I have been to the source of his inspiration. He created a little slice of heaven all around him. The japanese gardens, the normandy gardens, and even his home were filled with every imaginable color. Photographs wer not allowed inside the house, but I did get some beautiful shots of the outside and the gardens. The road to Giverny:

There were many varieties of flowers, and even some I have never seen before. I think I took around 500 pictures! There was a lot of inspiration there for me to draw from on my future fabric collections.

After Giverny we stopped for lunch at this Fairy Tale cottage in the French countryside:

Versailles was massive! I could not believe how long it took us to walk through the palace. It was also very crowded, but we were still able to get a good look at the rooms and the hundreds of paintings that it housed.

The most impressive thing about the interior were the paintings on the ceilings.

I don't know why, but I love this room!

Of course the Gardens were my favorite part. The weather was miserable, cold, and wet, but the gardens still took my breath away: