More like Pads, Less like Lilies.

Last night we had dinner at L'Industry, just down the street from Hotel Royal Bastille. I ordered the escargot (for the first time) to start. Whatever they cook the escargot in is amazing for dipping baguette in. My main was confit de canard (roasted duck leg) and it was the best one yet! Duck is my favorite and it's on almost every menu here. After dinner, we made our way over to Rue Saint Antoine to share a bottle of red on the street.


It's fun to sit and chat, watch people walk down the sidewalk, watch cars drive down the street and watch the scooters drive all over the street (the rule of the road for scooters seems to be drive where ever you like). On this occasion, a classic Jaguar E-Type passed by!


Having a light conversation with my true love at the time, the distinct shape and radiant presence of the car (recently named Britain's best creation or something like that by Jeremy Clarkson of Top Gear) caught my eye. With super speed (almost ninja speed) I took out my camera, pressed the on button, zoomed in and pressed the shutter button. Got it! Happy.

After our bottle of red, we made our way back to Hotel Royal Bastille for about 6 hours of sleep. We got up early today to get traveling to Giverny via Vernon. Giverny is home of Claude Monet's home and gardens. As usual, the day starts with the Metro.





Despite our best efforts, we were 10 minutes late for the first train leaving Paris for Vernon. We would've made it had there been more than 2 people working the 15 available ticket windows at the ticket office. It was sort of like when you're at the grocery store and there's a huge line and you wonder what all the other check-outs are actually there for. Not a total loss of time though, because we were able to get tickets for the next train and then go for breaky overlooking Gare Saint Lazare.


The train station is busy. If you don't like being in busy places, the train station is your kryptonite. They have these cylindrical displays listing the departing destinations and times. From a distance, they look like giant bug zappers as people curiously walk toward them to see their train number.



It's a brilliant design. The display is static and covers the full circumference. The image rotates around the screen. This eliminates the problem of people staring at a fixed round display and moving to find their information (potentially disturbing any kind of pedestrian traffic round them) and also eliminates the possibility of image burn on the display. Anyway, let's just say I liked it.

When traveling in a busy place or on a schedule, I tend to race (a trait I believe I got from my dad). I do not want any chance of not getting somewhere because someone else got there before me or missing the train, so to speak. We watched the bug zapper until our destination had a corresponding train number. "22". The race is on. Right hand grips shoulder bag strap, left hand holds true love's right hand. We navigate through the bustling crowd, reach train 22, get in punch ticket line, wonder what's taking the people in front so long to figure out the ticket puncher, eventually punch our tickets, race to the second available train door (everyone goes to the first one in a race, so the second one will have more seating), step in, look up, look down, go up, sit in 1st class, realize it's 1st class and we're only 2nd class, go through a nice glass door to 2nd class (the nice glass door is for 1st class of course, but 2nd classers get to enjoy it also), see two available seats and sit. The race is won. We still have 20 minutes before departure.





When we got to Vernon, we have the choice to walk, bike or bus to Giverny. I didn't pack a bike lock and the bus was only €4 each, so we got in line. I'm not sure why it took so long (everyone made it on the train in record time, but getting on the bus was super slow), but it filled up and we had to stand. The driver was Italian and drove like a lunatic.


We arrived in Giverny! It's a quiet little town full of rural French houses, restaurants, art galleries, streams, skinny streets and gardens.


There were walls that needed holding up.


Our main motive for visiting Giverny was to see Monet's house and gardens, specifically the water lily pond. We thought we should have lunch before going in, so we had a couple beers and paninis at a little sandwicherie. Because Giverny Is full of gardens and flowers, it is also full of pollinators. A war broke out between me and some wasps while we ate. I am happy to report that I was the victor and now claim that territory.

Once fed, we went to Monet's place. There was a line, so my true love got in it and I fetched a couple ice cream cones. A scoop of ice cream in France is about the size of a tea spoon.


Those scoops look small. The Americans in front of me at the ice cream place ordered triple scoops and then complained that they were only as big as one scoop back home. On a day like today with the sun radiating down in it's full glory, I kind of agreed with them.

Standing in line was entertaining. There was a family in front of us (two guys probably in their early 50’s and one of their's mom and dad). The dad was wearing this ridiculous hat and it was inside out. They tried to tell him, but he was like "you just never mind! This is the way I wear my hat!". They were speaking another language, so I might be completely wrong. Either way, the old guy is a trend setter.

Once inside Monet's place, life seemed to slow down.


We perused the gardens a bit and toured his home when we first entered. No photos we allowed in the home (this I couldn't understand because it wasn't really that nice), so I can't show any of that. The gardens were where it's at anyway.


Louis XIV's gardens were extremely well groomed. Monet's gardens were more like a case of beer, BBQ and lawn games with your friends kind of gardens. More my speed.


We walked around the lily pad that influenced the famous painting. I saw photos of the pond on our way in with the lilies in bloom. It wasn't that time of year.


A couple hours later, we said goodbye to the gardens and made our way back into the town.


I loved the town. It felt inviting and secure.





We were on our way to walk back to Vernon. In my mind, I thought it's only a 4 mile walk and we could spend the €4 x 2 we would save by not taking the bus on a couple bottles of red when we get back to Paris. Then my true love let me in on the secret tip that the €4 we paid to get on the bus in Vernon included a return trip. So we made the much shorter walk back to the bus area.


We got back to Vernon about an hour before the train to Paris came, so we enjoyed a couple beers in the shade.


Then we waited for the train.


A little bored, my true love read the buttons on her sweater for the first time and I experimented with my little camera.


It was a great day and a nice break to get out of the city for a while. Tomorrow we get to see the Moulin Rouge!