Claude Monet’s House and Gardens and the beauty of the French countryside // Day 4 – Giverny, France
Wow, it’s been 5 months since my trip to Europe back in
August of 2014! I spent 10 amazing days in Germany and France and published posts
only about 3 of them and then…well, then happened life. Yes, life happened and
carried me away into a swirl of events, not letting go from its tight grip.
School, job, another job, a couple of vacations, my Mom’s visit (yay!), my
boyfriend’s demands to stop spending all my time with the laptop and to
actually pay attention to people around…and lots and lots of other things, good
things mostly, which took all my time and energy and kept me away from writing.
Oh, one day, I promise it to myself out loud here, I will
quit doing all the things I don’t enjoy (meaning my current jobs) and will
concentrate entirely on what I actually love and what I am passionate about –
writing, photography, travelling! Yes, this day will come, maybe because I want
it so badly, or because I’ve already seen this day million of times in my day
dreams, or because I am one lucky girl, who knows, but it will be here! Ok, I
must stop my ramblings and actually get back to the topic of this post, which
is the 4th day of the Germany-France road trip, spent in Giverny,
France.
It was August 27, Wednesday, when me and my sister checked
out from the hotel in Paris and headed to our next destination – Claude Monet’s
House and Gardens in Giverny.
One hour drive from Paris, Giverny is a beautiful country
side, an absolute heaven for artists, photographers and romantics of any kind.
This place is both incredibly picturesque and amazingly tranquil. No wonder
Claude Monet decided to settle down here and purchased the house and
surrounding land for his gardens. He painted most of his best-known works in
Giverny.
Being very much living-in-lala-land kind of girls, me and my
sister both loved the gardens and the house and everything about Giverny. This
place is definitely worth a visit if you:
1) Heard of Claude Monet (pardon my bitter sense of humorJ);
2) Love Claude Monet’s works and impressionist paintings in
general (there is the Museum of Impressionism, besides Claude Monet’s house,
and multiple art studios nearby);
3) Appreciate quiet places to slow down and walk around,
enjoying beautiful nature and daydreaming;
4) Love plants and flowers, gardens and country houses.
Open from April to November. Tickets can be purchased in
advance here (it was worth it, as we did not have to wait in line).
After the tour of the house and the gardens go explore the
village itself. The place is well prepared for tourists with multiple cozy
stores selling adorable souvenirs and antiques, little cafes in the shades of abundant
greenery, art studios and plant nurseries. You can rent bikes and tour the winding
streets of the village or simply walk around and relax.
By the way, the myth about French love for baguettes is not
a myth – baguettes are everywhere! They are in the bags, on the counters, on
the plates; people are either carrying them or buying them or biting them. I wasn’t
an exception and ate baguettes and as much cheese as I could!
Only a few minutes drive from Giverny is a little town
Vernon, lying on the banks of the Seine River. It has some amazing fairy landscapes,
crazy narrow cobblestone roads twisting in most unexpected ways, bewitching old
buildings. You can rent bikes or get a bit more adventurous and rent a canoe to enjoy city
views from the water. We were short of time and chose walking.
This old mill on the broken bridge is probably the most
photographed place in Vernon. No wonder – the view is absolutely lovely!
Right next to it there is a small park perfect for a lunch picnic.
And that’s what we did – ate plums, cheese and baguette, drank apple cider,
watched the slow motion flow of the Seine dark waters and felt peaceful. Peaceful
– probably the best word to describe Vernon.
You can find and read the first post covering Day 1 – Metz (One Day Guide) Here
Thank you for visiting my space!
Amazing pictures!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Masha!!
DeleteWow! How are the people like over there? I know what you mean btw about doing what you love, I'm also in pursuit of it and believe we can all acheive our dreams.
ReplyDeleteHector, you should definitely go for it! People in France, the ones we met, were very nice and friendly and super helpful! Once we asked for directions and the guy did not speak any English (and we didn't know a word of French), so he actually walked us for like 10 minutes to the place. Can you imagine? So yeah, the French are cool :)
ReplyDelete