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Monet's Garden
The lake where Monet got his inspirations
Thursday 8th May 2014
Up early this morning, sheets and towels in the washing machine, then the dryer. Mopped the floors and the house looked as if we hadn't even been there!
This was confirmed when Fred & Helena, who oversee the house, came for coffee and to collect the keys. What lovely people they are, they had tulips on the table when we came and they gave us a gift of macaroons when we left.
The weather was the worst it has been since we came here, it rained almost continuously all day. This didn't make for relaxed driving on the motorway where the speed limit is 130kph in fine weather and 110 kph when raining. The rain obviously wasn't noticed by most, we sitting on about 120kph and many cars passing in excess of 150kph. No problems though, everyone makes way and merge, so unlike what we are used to. The only thing that irks Rags is the way drivers cut in only about 2 car lengths maximum when they pass. No need to, plenty of space ahead.
Besides that, was an uneventful trip and with breaks we covered
Monet's Garden
Flowers everywhere! Judy on the bridge which was covered in these. the 600kms in less than 7 hours and stopped at the Altina Hotel in Pacy-sur-Eure. Nice enough room, has wifi so Judy happy, is clean and has heating so we both happy!
As we had picked up some food from one of the highway stops on the way, and we still had a few things left from before, we had a “picnic” dinner in our room and relaxed for the rest of the evening.
Friday 9th May 2014 We were lucky in that the weather was kind to us, no rain and the clouds thinned during the day, a contrast to yesterday.
We set off fairly early for the town or village of Giverny, made famous by an early inhabitant, Claude Monet. The town is filled with little galleries and many gardens but today we were only interested in seeing the real thing, Monet's House and Garden.
Due to a wrong turn early in our trip, the gps took us through winding roads and small villages with ridiculously narrow streets. We managed to get through however, without marking the car!
Once in Giverny we weren't helped by the lack of
signage, eventually stopping at a carpark near the entrance to what appeared to be a museum. People were already lining up there and not knowing where to go, we drove off to ask directions. Frustration after frustration, people we asked either didn't know or couldn't speak English.
After driving around we found a parking area, left the car and followed the crowd. Ended up at what we thought was a museum earlier and agonizingly slowly we made our way to the entry.
The gardens themselves were quite spectacular, although due to yesterday's rain many of the blooms were past their best. Monet collected plants and seeds from wherever he went, planting them in groups of colour, not in variety. This has allowed patches of colour with plants of different heights being together.
The lake was where he was inspired to paint his works featuring water-lilies, these set off with the flowers and trees lining it. Frogs croaked loudly, we seeing a few sitting on the lily leaves and expanding the membranes from which the noise emitted.
A walk through his house followed, paintings lining the walls of the rooms and anywhere else they could be hung.
The final room we saw was the kitchen, this having lines of shiny copper pots and pans set in a rustic room with a huge black stove.
The nearby town of Vernon was then visited, this based around its church, Collegiate Notre-Dame. We had a quick look inside but both of us are a little “churched out” at this stage. We did walk up and down the streets looking at the 15th Century buildings still in use as houses and shops albeit that they have been restored and refurbished inside. A good mix of old and new, displaying the best of both. Because of his engineering background, Mark had earlier shown interest in buildings such as this, he pointing out that many of them were out of square and not always vertical. This was most obvious with many of them.
Lunch was at Domino brasserie, we having the menu of the day from which we chose an entree of pickled herring on a salad with warm potato, followed by duck with chips and salad. Together with a glass of wine or cider, this was a fitting meal for one of our last in France.On our return to Pacy-sur-Eure
Monet's Garden
We practised our close-up shots on the various flowers we walked down the main street, this consisting of some bigger shop fronts than many we have seen, still set in the older buildings.
A visit to the Intermarche supermarket concluded our day out, here we picking up a few things for our dinner.
Last minute repacking of our bags was done, being aware of the single cabin bag and our weight limit of 20kgs for our flight out tomorrow. We are now both keen to start our next part of the trip in the Czech Republic.
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Chris (Looooiiii)
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Great to see the two of you enjoying the sights...but Jude...who's the old man with the grey beard?...and that's coming from another grey bearded person. Enjoy the catch-up with the Shrakkers. Cheers