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Wednesday, October 28, 2009

A Fall Day in Giverny, Normandy

The Fall brought many colors to Monet's home and pond in Giverny. The weeping willows, normally green, were lightly painted with golden yellow.

I think that these two trees are Japanese Maples. One was brilliant orange and the other was breathtaking red.


Some flowers remained in bloom around the pond.



This shot is from the far side of the pond. You can see the yellow and deep purple leaves on the left, and in the lower right is the vine covered bridge (blue).


This is taken from underneath a willow, with the red, orange and purple trees in the background.


After visiting the gardens and the house, we walked through the town of Giverny to a restaurant in an old tavern. The name was Hotel Baudy, once a hangout for American impressionist. It was located at 81, rue Claude Monet (pretty snazzy).

We sat outside in the terrace overlooking an open field (someone's back yard). We had the "menu" for the day. Goat cheese with mushrooms and Pepperoni (the waiter explained that "pepperoni" was an incorrect translation and it really "peppers".), turkey with cream gravy and mushrooms, and scallopped potatoes, and homemade apple torte (pie) for desert. Oh, yes, and since it is lunchtime in France, we had wine. And ended the meal with cafe and creme. Yummy.



Travel for the day took us on Metro 4, changed to Metro 3 and on to St. Lazare. Walked to Gare St. Lazare (rail station) and took the 8:20 AM train to Vernon. Hopped a ready bus from Vernon to Giverny and walked through town. The town is small and situated on a hill. Looks a lot like southwestern Pennsylvania.

1 comment:

Ginan said...

Beautiful scenery, but as usual, it's the lunch that facinates me!

Ginan