We woke up early and headed out to the train station. On our way, we came across a fruit stand. How convenient, fruit and bread will make a perfect lunch.
We caught a train from Gare St-Lazare to Vernon, then a bus from Vernon to Giverny. Giverny is where Claude Monet spent part of his life and produced some of his greatest works. It is a very small village and appears to be mostly populated with artists and tourists. Even so, it is a very beautiful and peaceful place.
Giverny 4-9 096
We walked through the gardens of the American Art Museum and visited Monet’s house and garden. They are as beautiful as you can imagine. The garden is filled with thousands of beautiful flowers. Darcy really enjoyed this place since Monet is one of her favorite artists.
Giverny 4-9 025
We had a picnic in a park consisting of our bread and fruit. After lunch, we treated ourselves to some homemade ice cream from a local vendor. Mmmm….
Giverny 4-9 101
By the way, Givery has some really cool bus shelters. I would much rather hang out in one of these on my way to work.
Giverny 4-9 097
We went back to the bus, back to the train, and back to Paris. It turned out to be a really beautiful day so it was unfortunate that we had to spend so much time in the train.
When we returned to Paris we decided to explore one more neighborhood and have a nice dinner. We took the metro to the Montmatre district. We must have climbed 1000 stairs up from the train. The entire district was spread out over a large hill.
Paris 105
After zigzagging our way to the top, we discovered Sacré Cœur, a large cathedral on the top of the hill. From its steps there were spectacular views of Paris. We followed the crowds through the church. It was very beautiful inside and out. And, you could purchase a candle for Є10 or a souvineer coin for Є5. I was pretty disgusted with the merchandizing within the church. They were trying to cash in on the tourist dollars more than any other site I’ve seen so far.
Giverny 4-9 116
We started walking down the streets from the church in search of a good place for dinner. The streets were full of people and street performers. The area was very bohemian. Darcy said that this is what she expected Paris to be like.
We found a quaint square with dining areas in the middle and decided to eat there. We had a bottle of wine and I had a three-course meal. The meal was good but not great, but the atmosphere was excellent. A lady sitting at the table next to us got pooped on by a pigeon. Now Darcy freaks out every time she sees a pigeon flying overhead.
Paris, supper wine 121
Our train for Bordeaux was scheduled to leave at 6:15 am the next day, so we decided to call it an early night. On our way back we found La Poste and sent off some postcards.
Click here to see all our Giverny photos.
Click here to see all our Paris photos.
No comments:
Post a Comment