monet's garden at giverney

Well, we had a false start to attending Giverney on Thursday. It requires a LOT of serious metro work, and the trains to Vernon only leave every two hours. 

We didn't make it.

Instead we explored a new area of France and had a divine lunch.

Then we went to the Musee D'Orsay for dinner.

Divine.

But today we left home at 8.30am for a 10am train to Vernon. We made it with plenty of time. Enough time for a baguette and a coffee at Gare St Lazare. 

It was so worth it. Look at it.

Is it any wonder that Monet apparently painted these waterlillies 175 times? Did you know that Monet employed a gardener whose sole role was to polish the waterlillies every day before Monet came down to paint? The house is right by a road, which used to be unsealed, and the dust would settle on the lillies. Before Mr Dust-remover came along.

After a few years Monet offered to go halves with the local council to seal the road. No more dust-polishing required.

I reckon I'd be inspired to paint if I lived here. The gardens are sublime. A rambling array of colours, textures and shapes.

Look at this. How divine are these pink pretties lining the lilly pond? Divine.

Oh, you want to see the lillies again? Don't blame you - they're glorious.

LOOK at these borders! LOOK!

 Dahlias were the queens of the garden at this time of year. Just stunning.

Oh, and did I mention we rode bikes out? We did. What a ride. However, a warning, if you're used to a very upright bike with a lovely soft, squishy, wide seat you may be in for a painful 6.5km trek. It was beautiful, but man, I am saddle sore.

Now we're in our apartment for the final night. Drinking champagne. This one actually, and watching France vs Germany. Tomorrow it's a road trip to the South. Seatbelts on?

 Salute.