The Queen’s Guard

The last leg of our trip was spent with Paris as a home base.

This is M’s second time in Paris (though last time was only for a day) and our 4th. Paris is one of my favorite cities and I still haven’t done everything I want to do here!

Every though we are here for 3 nights, our actual time in Paris is quite limited.

We made our way from Chartres to Paris with a stop in Giverny, a beautiful village in Northern France. Giverny was home to Claude Monet from 1883 until he died in 1926.

Visiting the impressionist artist’s home and gardens has been on my bucket list for years. We have seen some of Monet’s art at various museums all over - most notable was at the Musee de l’Orangerie in Paris on one of our previous trips here.

The Nymphéas (or The Cycle of the Water Lilies) was inspired by the water lilies in Monet’s gardens. This series of paintings are huge and took him three decades to complete. These were his last completed work before he died.

The gardens were spectacular! We all enjoyed the leisurely (though crowded) stroll and especially enjoyed the pond and waterlilies that served as Monet’s peaceful inspiration.

Unfortunately, the ticket line was extremely long when we arrived and we didn’t have enough time to visit Monet’s house before our car rental was due back. I guess this just means Josh owes me another trip back here!

That evening M requested a “boat ride” and a sunset sightseeing cruise along the Seine actually sounded like a fantastic idea. Josh and I have done our fair share of sightseeing in Paris but this was something a little different.

The cruise lasted an hour and M and I did a little street dancing afterward while listening to a musician near the water.

We had quite an adventure on our way home. As the last people to exit the last train of the night, we found ourselves locked inside the mall where the train stoped. We met up with a nice couple from Kansas City who were also locked inside.

We wandered the mall for a good 45 minutes trying every exterior door until we finally found a restaurant with employees inside who let us out their back door. This may have been the highlight of the trip for M and she insisted on calling both her grandmothers to tell them about it.

Today we took the train from Paris to Provins for Les Médiévales de Provins! It’s a once a year medieval festival set in a real medieval merchant town which would come alive a couple times a year when traders and merchants would arrive to trade. Think High Point furniture market of the Middle ages.

The festival was not easy to get to and it took us almost 1.5 hours on the train plus at least a two mile walk. The lines were long and it was very crowded, but somehow totally worth it.

This festival is very popular and people come from all over France for the weekend to attend. We were lucky our time here lined up perfectly and we had a blast despite the crowds.

It was like a Renaissance Faire on steroids. The real medieval backdrop of the city walls and castle really added to the ambiance. They strongly encourage an immersive experience and offered a steep discount on tickets for patrons who dressed in period costume.

Obviously M and I wanted to dress up and Josh is also down for a discount so he was not too difficult to convince either!

M loved pretending to be a medieval Queen on the run from Viking raiders with her lady in waiting and our trusty companion/guide.

There were Vikings and monks and witches and Knights Templar. We explored a knight’s training ground and a hermit’s hole and a Viking raiding camp along with seeing the real castle, real city walls and the medieval cathedral.

We had best time exploring the festival and the town. I’m pretty sure we didn’t even see half of it before we were all too exhausted to continue.

Tomorrow is our last day of vacation and we will be taking M to Disneyland Paris. Probably won’t have much to say between now and our returns so this is likely my last post of the trip.

Another one for the memory books for sure! These vacations are not relaxing. They are chaotic, sometimes hard and logistically difficult.

I know they often don’t make sense from an outside perspective.

But, we’re trying really hard to raise a brave and adventurous daughter who is empathic and resilient and capable. And while those traits can absolutely be taught at home - this seems like a way more fun way for us to try it.