It took me many years and many failed attempts before I finally saw Monet's The Water Lilies, at the Musée de l'Orangerie in Paris. On this trip to Paris, I thought it would be nice to visit Monet's house and garden in Giverny, where he painted the water lilies.
Giverny is less than an hour's train journey from Paris, when the trains are running. SCNF, France's national rail carrier, is on strike at the moment and the trains were only running one day of my 4 day stay.
I booked a ticket for the first train of the day to Vernon-Giverny. I didn't pre-book my ticket to the garden because I figured I'd arrive sufficiently early to beat the crowds. Well that was a rookie error.
I arrived at the station with plenty of time to spare. I couldn't see the train to Vernon-Giverny on the indicator board so I asked for directions to the correct platform. I waited and waited but unfortunately the train failed to arrive. The next train arrived 40 minutes later and it was packed.
The sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach only grew larger when we boarded the scenic train with commentary for our journey from Vernon to Giverny. I walked up from the parking lot only to discover a massive queue snaking it's way to the ticket office.
I waited 45 minutes until I had inched my way to the front of the queue, then walked in single file through the garden, down to the water lilies and back through the house.
It must take an army of gardeners to maintain the property.
The tulips were in bloom and planted in colour-ways.
Unfortunately I wasn't able to take a photo of the Japanese bridge. It was full to bursting with fellow travellers taking selfies. Below is my favourite view of the lily ponds.
Another scene of the water lilies.
I returned to the queue leading into the house.
I had plenty of time to take photos of the flowers whilst in the queue.
Another view of the tulips, my favourite flower.
Once I'd made my way through the house I walked through the picture postcard village of Giverny.
I walked from one end of the village to the other.
The wisteria was in bloom.
Monet's final resting place.
Giverny is an utterly charming village, but would I return? Unlikely.
I'll be back again soon with some images from my trip to Glasgow.
See you all again soon,
Jillian
So much happens in a week when you're travelling. When I last wrote I was in Paris. Since then I've been in Glasgow conferencing and in a blink of an eye, here I am in London. Before I start exploring today I thought I'd post some more photos from Paris.
I stayed near the Canal St Martin and would wander past most days.
Someone really loves the area!
The beautiful Hopital St Louis is a short walk away.
I just love the peaceful interior courtyard.
I visited 2 of my favourite galleries, the Musee Picasso and the Musee D'Orsay.
I visited the Musee D'Orsay on the first Sunday of the month when admission is free.
Maybe that was a mistake because the gallery was uncomfortably busy.
I decided to pre-book my ticket to the Musee Picasso, which had an excellent exhibition featuring Picasso's work, Geurnica.
I love the building in which the museum is housed, the Hôtel Salé, as much as I love the artwork.
On my last day in Paris I decided to visit the Palais Royale. It was a gloriously sunny day so everyone was out enjoying the sun.
A shady spot.
After my walk, I stopped for a nice lunch at Ellsworth.
Giverny is not far from Paris, so I decided to take a day trip. Here are a few little flower shots from Monet's garden to tide you over until I can get my next blog post together.
Time for me to explore London, so I better go and get ready.
Until next time.
Bye for now,
Jillian
