We needed a few items so our great hosts, Asha and Vincent, stopped by Wednesday morning. Afterwards we headed to Giverny to see Claude Monet’s House and Gardens.
5.36 miles, overcast, 52 degrees, humidity 90%.
Richard’s ReLive covers our travel to and from Vernon and Giverny so I won’t repeat it. His ReLive video is here: https://www.relive.com/view/vYvrzDrEgxv
Asha and Vincent, our apartment hosts.
Between the Vernon train station and Giverny, we rode a small train, ala Disneyland. Here the driver is explaining how we would get the return train since we had to buy roundtrip tickets on the way out.
The driver did his best to point out sights along the way. Here we passed an old mill of half-timbered construction that straddled two piers of an ancient bridge. The mill is probably from the 16th century, and it has been represented many times by painters, including Claude Monet. Now it is the symbol of Vernon, and is the postal logo of the city.
Space is also important in Vernon as we learned that the Ariana rocket motors are manufactured here.
Monet bought his house in the town of Giverny and proceeded to design his gardens and expand the house. He attracted other artists to the area and often had them in his home and collected their paintings as well.
It’s not a colorful season in the garden, but we tried for as many colorful sights as possible.
Monet built his Japanese bridge over his water feature. Now it is a favorite tourist pose spot, but the greenery could use a trim.
Monet loved water lillies and frequently painted them. He employed 20 gardeners, some of whom were tasked with making sure there was no leaves or dew on each water lily leaf. I don’t think he’d be happy today.
After a quick visit to the Giverny Impressionism Museum, we hopped back on the little train to the Vernon station and rode the big train back to Paris.
4 Responses
A great reminder of one of our favorite day trips from Paris. Your pictures have been a reminder of how special France and Paris are and how special it would be to plan a vacation there again. One more day in Paris and then on to Milan. Will be interested to see what highlights you visit there. Dan and Wendy
We enjoyed Giverny and it was a different kind of day. The impressionist museum was not worth it.
I remember those gardens well! Nice to see pics of them in the fall/winter season. I don’t remember the museum you visited, however. Such great transit options now!
Glad you have seen the gardens since you love to garden yourself. Every time we visit somewhere like this, I wonder why my garden at home doesn’t look like this ?!?