Paris, je t'aime! Part 11: Stepping into a Painting

In Part 10 of the Paris posts, we'd finally made it to bed at Les Tournelles for the last time, after a late night involving opera and experimental food.

Chris outside Monet's house at Giverny

When planning our trip quite a few months back, we knew that, while we'd have more than enough to occupy us while we were in Paris, we wanted to take a few days to get out of the city proper.  Since seeing the Tour de France finish a stage there several years ago, I've always wanted to visit Mont Saint-Michel (MSM), and with that as our end destination, we scoped out a route that would take us out of Paris, allow us to visit Monet's house and gardens at Giverny, and see the American D-Day sites along the Normandy coast, all in one day.  We started our day (a Sunday) early, having one last breakfast in the cave before checking out of the hotel and taking an Uber to the George Astotel Hotel in the Pigalle area of Paris, where we'd drop our large bag for the next few days.

Waiting for the Uber

Before we left, we grabbed some shots

of Les Tournelles and the surrounding area.

This was truly a great place - 

an amazing location, generous breakfast,

helpful staff, and comfy rooms.

After our quick stop at the George, it was off (via metro) to the Gare du Nord, one of the large train stations in the city, to collect our rental car from the Hertz counter.  While it took a bit of walking to find the rental desk, we were quickly checked out and on the road!  Our chariot for the next few days was a silver Renault Captur, and although I wouldn't bother to buy one on my own, it was perfectly acceptable for our needs.  We got out of Paris and stopped at a petrol station (these, along with connected convenience stores are built directly off the freeway - even closer than ours are - which is super convenient); Chris filled up the car and I started my investigation into French junk food.

The Captur in the car park at Giverny

The Lay's are roasted chicken flavored,

and they were amazingly good.

Like, so good, we were stunned by how delicious they were.

The madeleines were meh.

Driving in France was relatively uncomplicated; they drive on the right side of the road there, like we do, so we didn't have to do the mental math of British-style driving anytime we encountered a turn or roundabout (I still remember driving in Scotland on a trip with Mom and Aunt Denise, and it taking all three of us to get safely around each roundabout.  One of us was driving, one was examining the traffic pattern, and the third - normally my job - was sitting in the back with the extra luggage, screaming "LEFT!  LEFT!  LEFT!").  Speed limits are set by road type in France, and since everyone grows up knowing the limit, it often isn't posted; however, we had our Rick Steves guidebook close by, and he provided a helpful chart for this very reason, so we were good to go.  

Driving in France is a bit bizarre, though, as you routinely see things like this as you're winging down the road:

Just your normal, freeway-adjacent chateau.

I'd love to see the Zillow listing on that - 

"close to transportation options."

It took us just over an hour to drive to Giverny, and we arrived around 10:30 or so, which was a bit later than we'd anticipated.  We worried the place would be crowded, but overall, it was pretty empty, and we were able to get plenty of space to ourselves to take pictures of all the gorgeousness on display.

Giverny is a pretty place on its own, but its major attraction is the house and gardens of the painter Claude Monet.  Monet saw Giverny from a train window in the late 1800s and decided he had to live there; he bought the house there in 1890 and spent most of his time until his death in 1926 planting flowers, renovating the gardens and house, and painting, painting, painting.  His famous series of waterlilies paintings were all done here, and as you walk around the grounds, you feel as if you've stepped right into one of his works.  

It wasn't really all that cold,

and I ditched the scarf just a bit later,

but I was like, "I dragged it to France - 

I'm wearing it!"

On the walk to the house, you pass through the gardens right around it, and as you might expect, there were tons of amazing flowers to photograph.

That's the house,

way at the end there on the left.

Happy little wasp - 

I didn't get too close

Finally getting close to the house

We toured the house first, which was lovely, and our favorite inside spot was the light, airy kitchen.

Part of the dining room, I think

The hearth in the kitchen

Look at all the copper cookware!

Ugh!  I'm in love with this room!

Vintage stove/oven

The woodworker grabbed a shot of Monet's desk

Garden selfie!

After we finished up at the house, it was time to visit probably the most famous part of the area, the water lily pond with its iconic green bridges.  As you might imagine, it was just as gorgeous as the gardens around the house.

Check out all the tourists packed

onto the green bridge.

It was just a bit sunny by this time.

This was the shot I changed my Facebook

profile picture to, and to me, it looks like

I'm in front of a green screen.

It really is that incredible.

After taking around 800 further pictures, we headed back toward the house and exited the area.  Not before seeing these dudes, though:

Chicken!

This was this really pretty groundcover - 

all these purple flowers,

coming straight out of the ground in a carpet.

So cool.

We finished up our visit in Giverny by eating lunch at Les Nympheas, the restaurant attached to the site, but unfortunately, it was kind of meh.  Chris had a lunch that sounded good in theory but ended up being overly cooked and kind of mushy - very much old person/cafeteria food, and it wasn't great.  By contrast, thankfully, my quiche lorraine was the best I'd ever had in my life - flaky crust, about 5 inches tall, and light and fluffy.  

After lunch, we reclaimed the Captur from the lot, and before we hopped back on the freeway, we stopped in nearby Vernon, to see an old mill.

Ta da!  Cool old mill.

It's no longer connected to the shore,

so you can't go inside or anything,

but it's still pretty darn cool looking.

It would be about two hours before our next stop - the American Cemetery at Omaha Beach - so we settled in for the drive.  As we made our way to the coast, the weather became increasingly more "coastal," turning from this:

To this:

On the next post, we pay our respects at the American D-Day sites on our way to Mont Saint-Michel!

Later!

Amy