(8) Paris Untour 2010 (Day 9)

[Bill Kover]

Day 9

Wednesday, April 28, 2010  - Giverny

Mercredi, 28 Avril 2010

 

We were both awake at 6:30am and up by 7:00am.  At 8:00am we went downstairs for breakfast.  Our choices included orange juice, 1/2 banana, apple sauce, yogurt, croissant with apricot jam and coffee.  A group of gentlemen occupied the other side of the room.  Meanwhile Herve presided over the meal that signified the beginning of another beautiful day. 

We were finished with our simple breakfast at 8:45am.  I took one last photo of Katia and Herve.  They gave us their email address so I could send them the photos that I took of them.   

 

 

 

 

Our bill was settled next, 157€ ($211.95 U.S.) which included charges for the room as well as the meals. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Musee des Impressionnismes did not open until 10:00am.  So the plan was to walk to the other end of the town for a visit with the grave of Claude Monet before returning to the Museum.   

 

 

 

 

 

Photo left:  Intersection of rue Claude Monet and rue Blanche Hoschede-Monet as we walked towards Monet's Grave.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Photo right: Musee des Impressionnismes

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As we continued, it became clear that our planned walk was much longer than we thought.  It was not worth stressing Eleanor's good foot.  At 9:46am as we passed Hotel Baudy, Eleanor stopped, picked out a shady spot and sat down.  She would wait there until I returned from my photo session with Claude Monet's grave.  It was already evident that this would be another glorious day.  Except for some high Cirrus clouds, there was nothing but blue skies overhead. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I could see the tip of the church steeple as I approached.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When I finally arrived at the grave, another fan of Monet was already there waiting for me.   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

During my visit I noticed an unusual memorial nearby.  Embedded in the memorial is the propeller blade from a Royal Air Force Lancaster bomber that crashed near Giverny the night of June 7-8, 1944.  The seven crew members are all buried here. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I looked one last time back at the church as I was leaving.  It was under renovation.  Even scaffolding is done artistically in France.

 

 

 

 

 

 

While I was visiting with Monet, Eleanor decided to walk back to Musee des Impressionismes, and wait for me there.  At 10:35am, Eleanor spotted me returning as she stood near the gate to the flower garden and museum.  It was such a beautiful day we decided to skip touring the interior exhibits, and enjoy the scenery outside.  While Eleanor sat on a bench, I took some photos of the flowers.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We considered having lunch at Terra Cafe.  Instead we opted to catch the 12:20pm bus back to Vernon, have lunch there and explore the town before taking the train back to Paris.

 

 

It was a gorgeous day.  The birds were all chirping.  But now large crowds were pouring in. 

 

 

Before heading back to the bus, we did some shopping across the street from those poor souls in the endless line.  Our purchases included flower seeds, and a brightly colored table cloth with matching napkins - 118€ ($159.30 U.S.).

 

Finally we headed for the bus.  Once back at the bus, we found out that the 4€ ticket we bought he previous day was a round trip ticket.  I pulled my ticket out of my wallet.  But poor Eleanor had to search for about 5 -10 minutes before finding hers. 

By the time we arrived back in Vernon, we had changed our minds again.  We decided to take the 12:53pm train which would have us back in Paris at 1:40pm.  That would give us time to get organized before having a relaxing lunch at Au Bistrot de la Place in the eye-pleasing square called Place du Marche Ste. Catherine in the Marais.

 

Arriving at the Vernon Train Station at 12:35pm, we boarded 2nd Class at 12:49pm.

Once at Gare Saint Lazare, we headed for the Metro.  The Metro trip back home went as follows: Line 13 (blue) direction Chatillon-Montrouge and got off at Metro Station Champs Elysees Clemenceau.  Then Line 1 (yellow) direction Chateau de Vincennes and got off at Metro Station Bastille.   From there it was a short walk to our apartment building.

 

By 2:30pm we were back in our apartment.  D'Jamila had changed the bed as well as the towels in the bathroom.  Around 3:00pm we arrived at Au Bistrot de la Place for our late lunch.  Eleanor wanted escargot.  They were out of escargot.  Our complete meal included the following:  Salade Cesar (which we shared), Bill - Entrecote (grilled beef ribsteak, which I had taken a liking to), Eleanor - Fondant de Boeuf (beef stew), Carafe Vin Rouge (red wine), Carafe D'eau (water) and A deguster (assortment of French cheeses).  Total cost of the meal was 69.50€ ($93.82 U.S.).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                 Caesar salad

 

                                                                                                             Grilled Ribsteak

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                            Beef Stew                                                                           Assorted Cheeses

 

While we were away in Giverny our friends, Larry and Claudia, had sent us an email agreeing to meeting us at 8:30am (Thursday April 29th) at Cafe Francais on Place de la Bastille, corner of rue Saint Antoine.  We would have a reunion over coffee and pastries.

 

Also in email correspondence with us were Eleanor's cousin, Richard and Danielle, who were in the middle of a 6 week tour in the south of France that also included stops in Barcelonna, Spain, Monacco and Genoa, Italy.  They were due to return to Quebec on Monday, May 10, 2010, flying out of Charles DeGaulle Airport.  Richard is a well known artist in Mont Tremblant, 80 miles north of Montreal.   Their European trip was resulting in a lot of paintings.   The plan was to meet with us in Paris, Sunday May 9th.  They had use of a car borrowed from a dear friend, Marjolaine.  Richard said to pick a location within 50 kilometers of Paris which we could visit by car.  We chose Vaux-le-Vicomte.  However, since then Danielle and Richard had reconsidered the wisdom of that plan.  The trip to Vaux-le-Vicomte would be quite difficult because they would be staying in Chartres, which would mean driving 50km to Paris, pick us up and then drive another 60 odd km to Maincy and back to Paris.   The new revised plan was to meet us Sunday morning, May 9th, at Jacquemart-Andre Museum which was having a Goya exposition.  We didn't know it at the time, but Sunday, May 9, 2010 would become a day we would never forget, a day that would bring much happiness, and later heart breaking sadness.

 

After a long day, we finally went to bed 9:45pm.

 

According to our pedometers, total distance walked that day was:  Bill - 4.80 miles, Eleanor - 4.07 miles.