And off to Normandy

The day started pretty slowly with a leisurely breakfast before we were off to face the challenges of the Metro once more. We walked to Magenta and spoke with many people (my stock apology for being Australian and not speaking French didn’t seem to work so well) before working out that we needed to be at Saint Lazzare – a short train trip, lots off walking through long tunnels, up 3 floors and we were there – it turns out that Saint Lazzare has Metro, RER and the Regional Normandy service running from the same centre but in 3 different parts. We found the right ticket office and after further prolonged queueing we sorted out our tickets to Vernon-Giverney, by which time the train had actually arrived and we were able to board and soon we were on our way
We enjoyed the 50 minute trip through the country side to Vernon and then onto the shuttle bus (at the station – 10Euro return) to the Village of Giverny. This was the home of the impressionist painter Monet for almost 40 years and the gardens were apparently a great source of inspiration for him so we wanted to see them. We purchased a “couple billet” which was a double ticket granting both entry to the Impressionist Museum and the House and Gardens of Monet (16,50). The museum had a special exhibition on showing the works of Maugain a contemporary of Monets (plus there were a few other Impressionist works and one Monet). To be honest I wasn’t really keen on the works – they seemed a tad crude and rough compared to other impressionist pieces.Read more