Paris Day 5 (19 Apr)
Today started with a burst of energy as we are up and out of our airbnb and on the train by 7.10am. We arrive at the meeting point for our all day Monet's Garden & Palace of Versailles Tour with 20 mins to spare. Taking a breath, we are directed to a big orange bus around the corner and proceed to board it with a few other early comers.
As luck would have it, the bus isn't even half full, so we can spread out. Majority of fellow travellers are from America, 2 from Australia and 2 from Asia. Bus Driver was fantastic as he navigated the narrow streets outside Paris on our 90 min trip to Monet's Garden in Giverny.
Sun wasn't playing nice today, but the rain stayed away for our Monet's house and garden wanderings. His family home was a lot bigger than I expected:
I especially liked this piece of furniture in the front room (old fashioned writing desk, I'm guessing):
I couldn't resist taking a photo of their stove/oven - makes my tiling and oven look boring!!
The gardens were mostly in bloom, although the tulips and their impressive colours were coming to an end. The garden area is so serene and when you walk into the Japanese garden (not visible from within the house) and see the creeks running through particular parts, the huge pond with waterlillies and the beautiful bridges (some covered in purple wisterias), one can appreciate why he was inspired to paint particular types of scenery. Here's what the garden looked like from the house:
After about 90 mins enjoying the ambience of Monet's family home, we ducked into the toilet to discover no toilet seats 🚽 - that's one experience I hope to not have to repeat again!! We then commenced our 10 min walk back to where our 🚌 bus was parked in readiness for the 45 min drive to a restaurant for lunch (which was a nice surprise, as we'd both forgotten that was included in the tour). We sat with a newly retired couple from Texas who required a bit of prodding to converse with. Thankfully a glass of champers arrived for each of us, which seemed to grease their wheels enough to get the ball rolling. At one point Sue alluded to the upcoming election, but they didn't bite - which was just as well as I believe the majority of Texans are pro T and it may have put a damper on our remaining conversation!!
Our 3 course lunch was lovely and I really enjoyed the apple pie for dessert and the red wine!! Back to the bus we all trotted with full bellies for our 45 min trip to the Palace of Versailles.
Other than the Palace' name, I didn't know too much about Versailles. I was impressed with it's grandeur and obvious opulence of wealth.
The Ladies wing and beds were interesting as I hadn't seen anything quite like it before - they were ridiculously high and to me appeared to be sideways, or the ladies were really, really short. Take a look for yourself:
What I found really impressive was his Gi-normous garden. It truly was impressive. Sadly, by the time we'd wandered around the Palace, it had started to rain and was quite chilly, so our time in the gardens was short - probably saw about 5%. Here's some of my snaps:
As the rain continued, we were very happy to see our Guide and last couple of stragglers so we could jump back on the bus and get warm. To fill in the time while waiting for it, we chatted to the other 2 Aussies from Sydney. Their trip is partly the mirror of ours - but it was great to be able to easily chat to some peeps.
Back on the bus for our 50 min drive back to Paris and look who decided to make an appearance. Calm as a cucumber he is:
Grabbed some cheese, bickies and wine (just for a change) on our way to the airbnb and were grateful to walk into a very warm and cosy place.
Tomorrow off to the Louve and a night cruise (so best be rugging up for that one).
Be happy 😀😁
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