This morning we woke up at 5:30, getting ready for our day-trip to Giverny and Monet's gardens. We needed to catch the 8:15 train to Vernon, so we were dressed and out of the house by 7:30, walking up the Avenue de l' Opera to catch our train at Gare Saint Lazare, right behind the Opera. This picture shows how big the Opera is, but you can't see the giant dome from this angle.
We went to the wrong ticket counter (as usual) to buy our tickets. When we found the right one, the very nice young lady took one look at my gray hair and beard and offered us a senior discount. We found our train, but had to look for a while for two seats together; the train was pretty full.
When we arrived in Vernon (the first city in Normandy) we rented bicycles for the 5km ride out to Giverny. (It would have been much cheaper just to take the regular shuttle, but I wanted to ride bikes.) Kathy got a fairly nice bike.
I got a bike built for midgets with no higher gears (they had removed the crank deraileur), so I was peddleing a mile a minute. It was a hard ride, especially while trying to take pictures of myself riding like this.
The ride out to Giverny was actually very nice. There is a paved, off-road bike path the entire way. Since most people take the shuttle bus, it's not very crowded at all. (There are regular Fat Tire Bike Tours on Tuesday and Saturday, so it's probably more crowded then.)
When we got to Giverny, we waited about a half-hour for tickets and then wandered around the gardens. The main garden was planted by Claude Monet himself. (He lived here for the last forty years of his life.)
It is very symmetrical, but appears really informal, kind of like an impressionist painting.
The second half of the property houses the streams and lilly ponds. It's really uncanny, because you can "see" his famous paintings as you (and the hundreds of other tourists) walk around. (This was a Monday, and the entire place was packed.)
Around noon, it started lightly raining. We went outside and had an apple and some cheese and started the ride back to Vernon. Kathy saw this horse and decided to feed it.
After we turned in our bikes, we wandered around town to get a feel for small-town, non-touristy France.
Vernon has a very old Gothic cathedral, but unlike the more famous ones, this one really shows its age. When you see the old churches in Paris, you don't realize how much time and effort is required to keep them in the good shape they are in. Without constant rennovation and rebuilding the stone blackens and disintigrates.
On a side street of old Norman buildings we found a cafe and had an omelete and quiche for lunch, just before they closed.
Back at the train station, we called Michael Dente (the pastor from CC Paris) and he came by and picked us up, so we could see his new house. By moving to the suburbs, he was able to lower his housing costs significantly, as well as provide a better environment for his family.
The house is really great; 100 years old built out of stone. When it came time to catch our train back to Paris, Mike and Becky asked if we wanted to stay for dinner, and then volunteered to drive us back to Paris instead of taking the train. Mike barbecued and Becky made home made French fries with potatoes fresh from the local farmers.
After dinner, both of them drove us back to Paris, and gave us a guided tour on our way back to the apartment. A long but great day.
We went to the wrong ticket counter (as usual) to buy our tickets. When we found the right one, the very nice young lady took one look at my gray hair and beard and offered us a senior discount. We found our train, but had to look for a while for two seats together; the train was pretty full.
When we arrived in Vernon (the first city in Normandy) we rented bicycles for the 5km ride out to Giverny. (It would have been much cheaper just to take the regular shuttle, but I wanted to ride bikes.) Kathy got a fairly nice bike.
I got a bike built for midgets with no higher gears (they had removed the crank deraileur), so I was peddleing a mile a minute. It was a hard ride, especially while trying to take pictures of myself riding like this.
The ride out to Giverny was actually very nice. There is a paved, off-road bike path the entire way. Since most people take the shuttle bus, it's not very crowded at all. (There are regular Fat Tire Bike Tours on Tuesday and Saturday, so it's probably more crowded then.)
When we got to Giverny, we waited about a half-hour for tickets and then wandered around the gardens. The main garden was planted by Claude Monet himself. (He lived here for the last forty years of his life.)
It is very symmetrical, but appears really informal, kind of like an impressionist painting.
The second half of the property houses the streams and lilly ponds. It's really uncanny, because you can "see" his famous paintings as you (and the hundreds of other tourists) walk around. (This was a Monday, and the entire place was packed.)
Around noon, it started lightly raining. We went outside and had an apple and some cheese and started the ride back to Vernon. Kathy saw this horse and decided to feed it.
After we turned in our bikes, we wandered around town to get a feel for small-town, non-touristy France.
Vernon has a very old Gothic cathedral, but unlike the more famous ones, this one really shows its age. When you see the old churches in Paris, you don't realize how much time and effort is required to keep them in the good shape they are in. Without constant rennovation and rebuilding the stone blackens and disintigrates.
On a side street of old Norman buildings we found a cafe and had an omelete and quiche for lunch, just before they closed.
Back at the train station, we called Michael Dente (the pastor from CC Paris) and he came by and picked us up, so we could see his new house. By moving to the suburbs, he was able to lower his housing costs significantly, as well as provide a better environment for his family.
The house is really great; 100 years old built out of stone. When it came time to catch our train back to Paris, Mike and Becky asked if we wanted to stay for dinner, and then volunteered to drive us back to Paris instead of taking the train. Mike barbecued and Becky made home made French fries with potatoes fresh from the local farmers.
After dinner, both of them drove us back to Paris, and gave us a guided tour on our way back to the apartment. A long but great day.
This is all so cool! I can't believe how much you guys are doing! I would have killed to see Monet's gardens and go to the Louvre! Dad, stop taking pictures of yourself on bikes; you're going to hurt yourself (again). I can't wait to see you guys when you get back!
ReplyDelete--Hosanna
Dad, never have you looked more like Dilbert than in the picture that you took of yourself riding your bike.
ReplyDeleteAlso, what a big difference in the meals shown in the last picture of this post and the first picture of the previous post. At least you guys are getting some bikeriding in to take care of some of that rich vacation food. I think you need to have a counter on your blog for the number of times that french (or flemish) fries make an appearance.