An Afternoon in Normandy

If you're in Paris and you want to spend an afternoon out of the city for a little peace and serenity, then I recommend taking the train from Gare St. Lazare in Paris to Giverny, Normandy, to visit the home and gardens of impressionist painter Claude Monet. It is the perfect weekend getaway for anyone who is a fan of Claude Monet's artwork or even if you're just interested in nature, because Giverny has a lot of both. Giverny is about an hour's train ride northwest of Paris and it is a tiny medieval French village in the middle of nowhere. The town of Vernon is where you actually get off the train, and then you take a fifteen minute bus ride to Giverny. I didn't have to pay anything for the train ticket because I have a Eurail pass, but for people without a Eurail pass, it it only 18 Euros for a round trip ticket (not bad, eh?).

The train ride was comfortable and the scenery was amazing. We passed quaint little villages nestled in the French countryside, untouched by tourism or urbanism. They were so authentic and so very French. I kept getting songs from Beauty and the Beast stuck in my head the whole time because these towns looked the towns from that movie. Every time that we passed a village, I kept thinking, "just let me out here so I can explore this little nook of France." Little did I know, I would soon be getting off in one of these untouched places.

When the train pulled into the town of Vernon, it was like stepping into a time warp. Cobblestone streets, half-timbered houses, dirty laundry being hung out windows to dry. There was a medieval Gothic cathedral, just hanging out like it were the most normal thing in the world (which to these people, it is). The medieval cobblestone streets were so narrow that I seriously worried about how the bus would fit through them(it somehow managed). There was a patisserie on every corner, and even a little candy shop with a little boy standing outside the window, pointing to the candy and looking at his mother quite persuasively (some things just happen across all cultures, don't they?). There were many streets that the bus really couldn't have fit in no matter how much the grumpy, chain-smoking bus driver tried. I was waiting for a horse and buggy to driver by at any moment with a knight in full shining armor. Some of the buildings were so old, that they looked like they were just houses stacked on top of each other, but they were still pretty and retained their centuries-old elegance. And there were flowers everywhere. Whoever the gardener of Vernon, France is, I hope that he or she is being paid well, because not one street corner, not one single window in that town was without flowers. Even the bridge that crossed the Seine had flowers all over it.

Giverny was across the river Seine from Vernon and it was a beautiful drive there. The trees and flowers were in full bloom, people were riding bikes along the road and there were random cows hanging out on the side of the road near farm houses that had probably been there since William the Conqueror was the duke of Normandy (eleventh century).

We finally arrived in Giverny, and walked up the narrow land that lead into the village. The first thing I see as soon as I entered the village was a barn and a house that must have been several centuries old. it was built completely of stone and timber. It was beautiful! The lane was very narrow, and there were high walls on both sides, closing off properties. By this point, it was cloudy and dreary, but it fit in with the mood of the town perfectly, with all of the old stone and half-timber buildings with bright green shutters and cobblestone streets built centuries ago.

When you get to the first street, you take a right and Monet's huge pink house is on the right hand side - a blind person couldn't miss it. The house takes up most of the block - as well as the line to get in to the house. We probably waited in line for about a half an hour before we finally got in. This is where I ran into a familiar practice: we had to enter and exit the property through the gift shop! Sounds a lot like home!

As soon as you walk onto the actual property, you are immediately surrounded by vibrant gardens, with bright colors and fragrances jumping out at you from every direction. The gravel walkways guide you through a labyrinth of flowers and trees and bushes and vines of every kind. Bees are busy at work pollinating the flowers (be careful, they are everywhere!), and butterflies of all shapes and colors are fluttering all around, blending in with all of the flowers. Walk a little farther and Monet's big pink house with green shutters, covered in vines, jumps out of nowhere.

The house was really big, but only a few rooms were open. I couldn't get any photos because photography was strictly forbidden (go figure), but the inside wasn't that terribly fascinating. The most fascinating thing about it was that it was really old, and all of the rooms were either egg yolk yellow, robin egg blue, or a mixture of the two. It was very strange. Even the furniture was painted to match.

The gardens were the best part. The landscaping was so beautiful. Every type of flower, tree, bush or vine you could ever think of or have never heard of was there. And of course, the famous Water Lily Pond, which inspired some of his most famous paintings. The pond was lovely. It was surrounded by graceful weeping willows and luscious shrubbery and grasses and flowers. There were bridges on either side, both painted in the same green found on the shutters of his house. One of the bridges was covered on top with vines, providing shade as well as beauty (and bees).

After spending about an hour or so in the gardens, we left and went to a little restaurant in the village. It was a cute restaurant/hotel that served everything from crepes and french fries to seafood and steak. Kaylin and I got a table on the balcony, which ended up being a mistake because the tables were bright white and it was blindingly sunny outside. I ordered french fries and hot chocolate crepes. I wanted cheese on my fries, but after a few minutes of trying to explain to the waitress in French that I wanted cheese on my fries, not on the side or after my meal, I just decided to go au naturel (plain) with the fries. And apparently you can only eat one type of food at a time in France, because they wouldn't bring the crepes until we had finished the fries. Which was another ordeal. I tried to explain to her in French that I wanted them at the same time, but she just kept saying, "Do you want the fries or the crepes first." I gave up and told her I wanted the fries first. When I wanted my crepes, the waitress came over to the table and I told her I was ready for them. They immediately took away my fries (I still had a few left). Oh well. It was delicious anyway.

On the way back to Paris from Giverny, we rode on a double-decker train! I didn't even know they made those. We sat on the top and I fell asleep on the ride back.