This will be a quick post with lots of pictures as we really want to share Giverny (Claude Monet’s home for 40+ years) with you.  We did go on a tour and checked in extra early since we couldn’t print out our voucher.  Because of this, we had time to walk around the Tuileries Gardens where are next to the Louvre.  We had lunch outside there in the Gardens (mediocre but worth it to be able to sit outside).

After lunch, we reported to our double-decker bus and were off.  Giverny is about 50 miles from Paris and with Paris traffic, takes an hour to an hour and a half to get there.  We did go around the  Arc de Triomphe which we hadn’t seen this trip.

When we arrived at Giverny, we were herded like cattle, off the bus, through the tunnel, and down the street to Giverny.  The guide allowed the group to get so strung out on the road, that we had no idea what she was saying, even with our little speakers and earphones.  We were run through the gardens and down to the lagoon where she left us on our own, thank goodness.  The gardens and water gardens are every bit as beautiful as you imagine they would be.  Here are several pictures.  We took well over 100 and won’t burden you with all of them!

As you can see from the last two pictures, we also got to tour Monet’s home.  All the pictures in it are reproductions as the originals are in museums or private collections.

We were herded back onto the bus and set out for Paris.  Rush hour traffic in Paris is something I could have lived my whole life without experiencing, and luckily we weren’t driving, the bus driver was!  We did get some wonderful views of the Eiffel Tower while stuck in traffic.  They are, however, on Alan’s iPad, and as previously noted, we are still having difficulties downloading from the Apple devices.

Today was a day straight out of the movie “The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisies” and when I get the pictures downloaded into the computer, I will write about our adventures trying to find an open museum.