I Survived Paris

I didn't have internet here until this morning, so here is a post I wrote earlier this week.  On another note, I don't have access to Facebook, so I won't be posting links to my blog there anymore.  So people, BOOKMARK THIS PAGE!! Merci.

Well, here I am in Verdun.  As I am writing this, it is Monday and I have just finished unpacking my previously very heavy suitcases and am now sitting on my new bed, enjoying some fresh air.  I don’t know how to use the internet here yet (I may not have access to it in my room), so I don’t know exactly when this post will be published.

Before I describe my new surroundings, I should probably back up a couple of days to when I was still in Paris.  On Saturday, Laura and I and a friend took a train to Giverny, the home of Claude Monet, the famous impressionist painter. (If you haven’t heard of him, you must live under a rock.)  First, we went to lunch at a charming country café that was called…something about water lilies. I tried their cider (or cidre, en français) and a “poppy” salad.  That said, the salad didn’t actually have poppies in it, but was an artistic arrangement of cheese and tomatoes on a bed of lettuce.   Because of the gardens and generally country atmosphere, there were actually bees and sparrows flying around the café.  (One bee was so bothersome that our friend Jonathan had to kill it with a resolute smack of his knife.  These were among the first insects I’ve seen out here.  Perhaps Paris is only their summer home, or they don’t like cities at all).

The gardens were beautiful, but they are probably more in bloom in spring.  The most interesting part is the pond across the street where Monet painted his water lilies.  There are actually several green bridges throughout the garden (I guess I was expecting only one). 

Here are some pictures:

Monet’s house was pretty too; each room was a different bright color.  My favorite was the dining room which was a bright yellow.  After we finished looking at the gardens we walked around the town for a bit, took a bus to Vernon, and had a drink at a café while waiting for our train.  Giverny, it seems, is off the beaten path, so to speak.

Since we didn’t have any dinner plans, Jonathan took us to one of his favorite cafes where we ate Nutella Tiramisu (after the real food, of course!). Mmmm…

The next day, we went to Versailles.  Unfortunately, we bought tickets only for the general gardens, which we only realized by the time it took to walk out to the Petit Trianon (which costs extra, by the by).  So we just chose to walk around a bit.  Then, to our surprise, the fountains went on!  That’s why our ticket was so expensive.  We’ll have to go back to see the chateau, but the fountains are definitely worth it.

I’ll write about Verdun soon,

--Mary