On Saturday a friend and I caught a train from Gare St-Lazare, depicted in a famous Monet painting, to the home of Monet himself in the town of Giverny northwest of Paris, nearly in Normandy. It only takes about an hour to get there by (fast-moving) train. (This turned out to be a good thing because nearly everyone trying to take the train back to Paris had a ticket with no reservation, which meant our return trip was like a game of musical chairs that everyone lost, including us.) The train arrives in the nearby town of Vernon, where buses pick up loads of tourists, pack them in like sardines, and haul them the three miles downriver and a bit uphill to Giverny. The bus engine sounds troublingly laborious during this process.
We knew Giverny was pretty small since the train didn't go straight there (and the train stops at quite a few tiny stations), but we had no idea that this amazing, beautiful little village was going to consist of one main street walkable in five minutes with a handful of smaller side streets, all perched up on the side of a hill. By lunch we had both decided that we need to move there.
Monet's house is just delightful. Visitors aren't allowed to take photos inside, but each room is a different wonderful color. One of my favorites was the light pinkish-lavender bedroom with the big windows. I also loved the juxtaposition of the sunny yellow dining room with the blue-tiled kitchen right next to it. Of course, the house was nothing compared to the garden, which had a wonderful almost-landscaped-but-not-quite quality to it. The different varieties of gladiolus were particularly interesting, and the roses smelled like real roses, a rarity among ornamental roses these days. The famous Japanese water garden was full of people, but we still had fun admiring the different bridges and the water lilies.
We attempted to find Monet's grave in the town cemetery, which appears to contain at least three centuries' worth of residents but is still quite small. We failed, but eventually saw it from the road as we were leaving (we waved). Unfortunately the little town church was closed for repairs, though I would have liked to peek inside. Afterward I worked on my sunburn while we had an amazing lunch on the terrace of a cafe overlooking the valley. I regret that I haven't taken any photos of food while I've been here, but eating takes priority every time...
Here are a few photos of the gardens and of Giverny.
