Day 7: The Flowers and Water Gardens of the Musée de Claude Monét at Giverny (see link at bottom, 55 pictures in total)
Arrived at Gare Saint Lazare at around 9 AM. Our train took off at around 9:38 and we pretty much had free rein of the cabin, save for these two old hens from Canada who were about as chatty as can be. It began to work on at least a few of my remaining nerves, but mostly it was funny. The French countryside was beautiful, but the amount of trees next to the train tracks prevented me from taking great shots. As soon as there would be a clearing, revealing in the distance a majestic little town nestled in the hills, more trees would pop up and clutter the shot.
So, I took a couple of shots on while on stops,
and upon arriving at Vernon, the small town which served as our stop prior to the 5 minute bus ride to Giverny.
Giverny is a small, small hamlet with just a few houses (most of them seriously expensive, beautiful and again, majestically old). It was just a short walk from the gravel parking lot, across the small road and down a side road that took us to the line to enter Claude Monet’s house/museum. We stood in line for maybe 20-25 minutes, and had an ice cream served by a vendor that had just pulled up along side the skinny road.
Though we visited the gardens and waterlilies first, a quick mention of the house. It’d probably be amazing to live in, but it was boring as a museum. Took maybe 10 minutes to walk through, and that’s because people in front of us were slow. The store, located at the exit of the Musée de Monet, was crass, uneventful and gave you the feeling of cheap truck stop that happened to be selling terribly reproduced Monet chotchkeys and trinkets.
But fortunately, that is not why we came. It’s not why anyone here came, and for you the potential visitor of this place, it’s certainly not why you would come.
No, the reason you visit Giverny is simple. Here, I won’t fill you with hype; instead, let the pictures do everything for you.
So, without further adieu:
The Flowers & Water Gardens of the Musée de Claude Monét at Giverny
Day 7 Complete.
Next up: the Final Day.
