Our second stop of the day was the Gare St. Lazare to get the train to Vernon for the visit to Giverny. (Our first had been the post office to mail home to myself my new bag, with four worn blouses tucked into the pockets to make room in my suitcase for goodies I had yet to buy). After considerable difficulty finding the right ticket window, and a hot dog that was boiled rather than grilled, we were on our way. Giverny is gorgeous!
At first I thought that people who were buying tickets only to the garden, rather than to both garden and house, were missing something, but that was before we saw how extensive the gardens were and how tall the flowers. Then we were similarly enchanted with the house, pleased that we were doing this after rather than before Versailles, to which this is a good antidote with its human proportions and bright, cheering colors. That yellow kitchen is so homey it’s my ideal!
I was very thrifty in buying a postcard only for Alexandra Stoddard – who writes about Giverny and Monet every opening she gets! – and two magnets for the fridge. Then we had something cool to drink at the stand, and caught the bus back to Vernon. Fortunately, we both had naps on the train (which I’ve never done on a commuter train before!).
On our way from our hotel to find a restaurant, a young man standing in the lobby – someone we’d never seen before – said, “Isn’t it wonderful just to be in Paris?” He told us he’d soon be twenty-seven, had rented an apartment for a month in Paris, and was seeing to his mother’s reservation at her favorite hotel.
Dinner was near the Eiffel Tower at La Tour Royal.
Walking back to our hotel, we saw blinking sparkles coming from the Eiffel Tower, which we later learned were hourly for ten minutes each, just for the millennium celebration.
At first I thought that people who were buying tickets only to the garden, rather than to both garden and house, were missing something, but that was before we saw how extensive the gardens were and how tall the flowers. Then we were similarly enchanted with the house, pleased that we were doing this after rather than before Versailles, to which this is a good antidote with its human proportions and bright, cheering colors. That yellow kitchen is so homey it’s my ideal!
I was very thrifty in buying a postcard only for Alexandra Stoddard – who writes about Giverny and Monet every opening she gets! – and two magnets for the fridge. Then we had something cool to drink at the stand, and caught the bus back to Vernon. Fortunately, we both had naps on the train (which I’ve never done on a commuter train before!).
On our way from our hotel to find a restaurant, a young man standing in the lobby – someone we’d never seen before – said, “Isn’t it wonderful just to be in Paris?” He told us he’d soon be twenty-seven, had rented an apartment for a month in Paris, and was seeing to his mother’s reservation at her favorite hotel.
Dinner was near the Eiffel Tower at La Tour Royal.
Walking back to our hotel, we saw blinking sparkles coming from the Eiffel Tower, which we later learned were hourly for ten minutes each, just for the millennium celebration.
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