Northern France, Rouen and Monet at Giverny on the Seine

I’ve been a bit remiss haven’t I, but it’s all caught up with me. I’m feeling a bit tripped out, not to mention showed out. Should go to bed earlier of course – might help. However most of us are looking forward to the sea days between the Faeroes and New York!!

Back to France now and on the 11^th July we had a pleasant day driving through the French countryside to Monet’s house at Giverny. The French guides have a habit of repeating the name of the town over and over again, so I can remember that very easily – shame you can’t hear me say it!! Not as bad as “the Principality of Monaco” repeated every third phrase for 4 hours!! We went through Monet’s garden and house. So quaint. All the furniture is still there; even the bed he lived and died in. He had a cold bath every morning at about 5am but we didn’t see the bathroom. Why tell you that? Well I hate cold water and he was quite grumpy at times – any connection there??? The colours of the rooms have been kept as he chose them and his bedroom windows, when he lived here, were always open onto the riotous beds of flowers. The kitchen, once again, was fabulous and so interesting; the dining room, too, was lovely, even in a light yellow. Lovely big table with four chairs each side and two at each end, very welcoming and “real”. The colour in the gardens was amazing and seemingly random but it is all planned by the current head gardener and his twenty weeders.  Quite a feat of organised chaos.

Just come from a Lionel Ritchie Tribute show. It was good. It’s 11 o’clock at night; for once, I am not fighting to keep my peepers open and it’s STILL LIGHT OUTSIDE!!!!! What with an hour back here, and here, forward here and back here, then forward here, I’m quite out of whack! And then it’s daylight and the moon is rising; we’re heading east and it seems like west; the sun is setting at the back of the boat instead of the front, and north is in the wrong place!!

Back to Giverny. We went under the main road via a tunnel and into Monet’s water garden. There were the waterlillies. Our luck to have a very black man in a very ancient wooden punt clearing the weed from the ponds, and a frog croaking (as in making a noise not dying – I think)So like his paintings.(Monet’s)  We had to exit the property via the shop but with the queues, not to mention the prices, weren’t inspired to buy anything. Could have bought a hair clip for E6 – but then the queue – so back to the bus and on to Fourge. Here there was a beautiful house and water wheel on the river Seine. This was our lunch stop. Back on board and off to Rouen. The Cathedrale  Notre-Dame de Rouen is an interesting conglomeration of partly Roman but mostly Gothic architecture, still in a state of disrepair from bombings and pollution but certainly different from other churches we have seen. We also saw the place where St. Joan of Arc was burned at the stake and a very modern church built on the site in the 1920s; it was designed on the plans of an upturned wooden boat and very interesting. The shape and roofing outside make it look like a reclining dragon covered in scales.

Well, early start for another tour in and around Copenhagen tomorrow so better get at least this blog done.

Love and hugs  to you all. XXXXXXXXXX

Have fun skiing Lynda and the Royal family!!!!