PARIS TO NORMANBY LANDINGS AND BACK TO PARIS


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Europe » France » Upper Normandy » Giverny
April 5th 2017
Published: April 10th 2017
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PARISPARISPARIS

So Paris but a tapas place
Made it to Paris no problems and got to the meeting point for the boat at the Pullman Hotel and were taken by bus to Avalon Creativity on the Seine, absolutely beautiful boat.Brrrrhhh! the air has a real nip to it, only 17 degrees. Sailed at around 6.00p.m. and woke up in Vernon. From here buses took us to our optional tours, we chose Monets House and Garden, it was sensational, but what made it that much more interesting, was our guide Pia, a fantastic storyteller and puts so much passion into telling you about everything...she obviously loves her job! The gardens are only open from March to October so we are the first Avalon tour to visit for the season, and of course the gardens change with the season, so if we went back in a couple of months completely different flowers will be in bloom. John as you know is not really a garden person but he absolutely loved the tour, mainly because of Pia. Back to the boat for lunch of savoury crepes, guest chefs are on board to prepare the crepes, yummo! Sailed along the Seine and late afternoon docked in Les Andelys, very pretty and did
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The famous name
walking tour up to Chateau Gaillard, scenery from here amazing! Back on board for a Paris Brest pastry demonstration and guess who got roped in to help? Sailed overnight to Caudebec and spent the day on a Normanby Villages route to Vieux-Port, just like something out of a fairytale, cozy thatched houses on a loop of the Seine River then onto Pont-Audemer nicknamed the Normand Venice, little rivers running all throughout the village and the architecture again different. Nippy mornings but beautiful sunny days and quite warm in the afternoon. Some went to Honfleur, which we visited in 2013, such a pretty place but opted to do something different. Friday was D-Day Landings Tour or a Taste of Normanby, we did D-Day Landings in 2013 also so opted for the Taste of Normanby, it was fabulous, great guide, beautiful places, gorgeous day and grog, food!!! What more can you want. First stop was the town of Bayeux to view the Bayeux Tapestry, truly amazing a 70 metre tapestry illustrating the story of William the Conqueror, the Norman invasion of England the Battle of Hastings, even more amazing it survived from the Middle Ages. Great little town and we had a
MONET'S HOMEMONET'S HOMEMONET'S HOME

Our beautiful guide Pia
choice of three restaurants for lunch and we chose the Norman Gastronomy one, Le Petit Normand, it was gorgeous, thoroughly enjoyed it sharing a meal with two girls from Malvern and Camberwell. Next stop was Putin en Auge...another beautiful picture perfect postcard place...considered to be one of the most beautiful villages of France..we really have to come back to France for a month or so to experience all these beautiful villages. Next stop the Calvados Distillery....wow!!! was it good!!! This apple brandy is so good, we had a special guide from the distillery and he was fabulous, took us all around the whole production line of the estate, then for the tastings of 3 different Calvados, then to their cafe where we tasted apple cider that was served with the most devine apple tart! 8.15 to 6.15pm....big day back to ship and front up to meet new friends for dinner and wine again!! We really have experienced the true Normand Experience. Clicked with a gorgeous group from Maryland in the US, lots of fun and laughs..they are on the Trump line! Sailing tonight to Rouen....beautiful chateaus and homes along the Seine here. Saturday spent the day in Rouen, the capital
MONET'S HOUSEMONET'S HOUSEMONET'S HOUSE

Quite a grand house
of northern Normanby, best known for its connection to Joan of Arc, luckily only part of Rouen was destroyed in the 2nd World War so we had a lovely walking tour through the medieval part of the town, with a wonderful guide who was born and bred in Rouen and would probably be about 65-70 years old and had so much knowledge and also a great sense of humour, and then had free time to explore around the bustling markets and shops of Rouen. Continued on the Seine to Conflans where we visited Chateau de Malmaison that Josephine Bonaparte bought in 1799, she was a keen gardner so the huge grounds were great for her collection of roses and exoctic plants. Lots of pieces of the original furniture from then as well as crockery and personal items. Seems a pretty posh area around here lots of grand old homes. In the afternoon went to visit Versailles which we did in about 2006 when we met Amber in Paris but the queues were miles long and it would have taken hours to get in so just enjoyed the gardens at that time, this time our tour had an allocated time and
MONET'S GARDENMONET'S GARDENMONET'S GARDEN

Gardens consist of 2.5 acres of absolute beauty
we got in straight away and really the crowds inside were pretty easy to get through so a fantastic experience. The waiting time here today was around 4 hours in the hot sun!!! Magnificent place to visit but its the gardens, fountains and lakes are just as gorgeous! Since we were here last they have massive speakers perched in amongst the gardens and play classical mussic throughout the day...just beautiful! Exhausting day, very sunny and hot, but fabulous. Met the boat close in near Paris and are now parked on the Seine a few hundred metres from the Eiffel Tower - great spot! Monday morning awoke to 10 degrees cooler than yesterday...bbbrrrr! did a walking tour of the islands..which was interesting including Notre Dame! Well this has been an action packed 8 days in France and we leave tomorrow, but after our farwell dinner tonight we had a booking for 9.30pm to go up the Eiffel Tower, it was amazing! Have been up there before but not at night, amazing views and you could see all the landmark monuments and sites all light up at night! This Avalon Waterways Trip has been fabulous, too much food and wine but that's
MONET'S GARDENMONET'S GARDENMONET'S GARDEN

Beautiful old trees
life!


Additional photos below
Photos: 81, Displayed: 26


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MONET'S GARDENMONET'S GARDEN
MONET'S GARDEN

Gardner tending to the lily pond
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MONET'S GARDEN

Even have the same breed of chooks, Monet used to eat 15 eggs a day!!!
MONET'S GARDENMONET'S GARDEN
MONET'S GARDEN

Horizontal apple tree!
MONET'S GARDENMONET'S GARDEN
MONET'S GARDEN

The famous bridge!
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GIVERNY

The local church where the Monet family are buried
MONET'S GRAVEMONET'S GRAVE
MONET'S GRAVE

Very simple but beautiful
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GIVERNY

Coffee stop
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GIVERNY

Typical village house only 500 inhabitants here
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GIVERNY

Fresh out of the oven!
PARIS BREST DEMONSTRATIONPARIS BREST DEMONSTRATION
PARIS BREST DEMONSTRATION

Fun arvo on board!
CHATEAU GAILLARDCHATEAU GAILLARD
CHATEAU GAILLARD

Very imposing from the river
CHEATEAU GAILLARD - LES ANDELYSCHEATEAU GAILLARD - LES ANDELYS
CHEATEAU GAILLARD - LES ANDELYS

View back to river from the Chateau
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CHATEAU GAILLARD

View over the river
CHATEAU GAILLARDCHATEAU GAILLARD
CHATEAU GAILLARD

Great walk to here


10th April 2017

Hi guys
Some familiar places.....your spelling is fantastic Glor....I struggle with pronunciation of most of these places!!!!!! I really love your night photos...just spectacular. xxxxxxx
11th April 2017

Yes we have been to a few of these places too but nice to go back again. Its been a great trip xx

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