Paris Day Four

Another early morning and started our trek to Giverny to see Monet's gardens and residence where he spent the last half century of his life. I have never been so confused on how to get to a train station in my life. We walked for walk seems like miles on the underground system of tunnels until we finally popped up at the right location and got on our train to Vernon, the closest stop to Giverny. The train to Vernon is about 45 minute ride through the French countryside immediately surrounding Paris. From there a public bus takes you Giverny, about another 15 minute drive away, seeing some of the wheat fields that were famous paintings by Monet.

Once arriving at the Gardens we immediately headed to the famous Lily Pond and Japanese Bridge. Amazing. That is all that I could say. The flowers were not all in bloom, but you can definately see Monet's work in these areas. You can imagine huge canvases spread along the shores catching the light from a particular time of day.

We grabbed a quick bite in Giverny, and headed back to Vernon around noon. We were early for our train back to Giverny, and thus waited around, getting some ice cream in the mean time. Hopped on the train and slept the entire way back to Paris. From here we decided to hit up another museum that housed multiple Monet paintings. It turned out that the Musee Marmottan was pretty much entirely dedicated to the life of Monet. There were works spanning the entire distance of his life. It was interesting to have paintings housed in a single large room that ranged from hand-drawings as a teenager to some of the last works before his death.

From here we walked down Rue de Passy (a shopping road apparently) until we hit the Eiffel Tower and went home. We were planning on heading back out that evening, but that did not happen. Fell asleep and didn't wake up until 11:30 at night!