Giverny

Saturday we took the 10:20 train out of Saint Lazare to Vernon, France.  A 45 minute ride out with sunny skies wasn't so bad!  In Vernon, we raced to be the first tourists on the bus to Giverny, a few miles away.  Giverny is a small French village that is home to the house and gardens of Claude Monet.  As we got off the bus, we followed the other tourists down the winding road to the signs pointing us towards the house.  We grabbed a quick sandwich outside and got in the line for tickets in.  It wasn't too long, since most tourists arrive on the same bus, it was mostly the familiar faces we rode over with.  The first thing we said when we finally walked into the gardens was w.o.w.  Not only was it 70 degrees and sunny, but the gardens were incredibly beautiful!!! Every color of tulips, pansies, daffodils, and daisies were there.  The arbors were filled with budding vines and the trees now green with leaves!  The paths were filled with tiny pebbles, and bees and butterflies were flitting about happy to be in the sunshine.  

Inside Monet's house no pictures were allowed, but I snuck this one, walls and walls of replicas of his paintings.  His house was just a simple, two story, country French house with brightly colored walls and simple furniture.  There were lots of windows and the famous blue kitchen was my favorite.  Copper pots hung from the ceiling on one side with blue tiles contrasting in the background.  

Across the street is the famous water lily pond.  This was my favorite at Monet's property, as the paintings of the water lilies are some of the best!  

Unfortunately, we were a little early for the water lilies, but it was still just as beautiful without.  No wonder he was inspired to paint here...the reflection of the willows on the pond is just stunning!

  

As we were wandering around the gardens, we couldn't help but talk about how pretty of a day it was.  We shouldn't be so excited about warmth and sunshine, but alas, we were.  We still had a little bit of time before the bus back to Vernon left, so we took a stroll into the village of Giverny.  We passed one small hotel, a handful of restaurants, and tons of beautiful French country homes.  Including this gem with 6 different types of windows...all on the same wall!  

Ashleigh looked down at one point to find a petit escargot slowly trying to cross the street.  To save him from oncoming "traffic" Ashleigh so kindly took him across to the other side.

The ride back was very quick, and we decided to walk over to Tuileries for a couple of hours before we all dispersed to babysit.  Pounced on a couple of chairs as they freed up (which is necessary on a beautiful spring day in Paris) and propped our feet up for a nice people watching session.  You can't sit on the grass at Tuileries, which is unfortunate, but I suppose I can understand the preservation method.  

This was waiting on me in the refrigerator when I got to Chloé and Franck's.  Franck just fried them up and ate them....I just couldn't bring myself to do it.  They looked like minnows, which dad and I use to fish with way back then.   I'm pretty adventurous when it comes to food, but just wasn't so sure about this choice.  

Had a good evening with Marie-Césare, she went to bed shortly after I arrived Saturday evening.  Sunday was cold and rainy, and we didn't do much other than brunch at Breakfast In America (per Kerry's request as it was her last Sunday) and the Orangerie.  It was a free museum day so the line was long, but we didn't have anything else on our list to do!  L'Orangerie has a room dedicated to Monet, as well as many other works from Renoir, Monet, Guillame, and Picasso.  

We walked up to the Champs Élysées to find some delish macarons and figure out what was next.  We took the metro to Bercy to watch The Company Men, a movie which hit close to home about the depression and the job market in the US.  There was a scene it which a whole room full of people were waiting to interview for one job and I couldn't have related to that situation any better.  Point in case...why I moved to Europe.  Wanted to have dinner at our favorite Italian restaurant in Bercy for Kerry's last night, but it was closed for some reason!  We ended up near Saint-Michel for a quick dinner before heading home.  Tomorrow Ashleigh and I are going out to Vincennes for lunch at Kerry's house, I suppose the last time we will see her until our trip to the Riviera at the end of the month!!