Giverny and Versailles

For our second day in France, we took a day trip to Giverny and Versailles.

Giverny is the town where Claude Monet had his gardens and famous water lily pond. The town is so cute! It is everything you think a rural French town would be. There was one main road and lots of art galleries celebrating the Impressionist art movement.



Luckily, we got to Giverny early and didn't have to wait in line. By the time we left there was a line of about 100 people. The gardens were HUGE! If you like flowers, this is the place to be. They have tried to keep the gardens the way they were when Monet resided in the house.

Our first stop was the water lily pond.



Then we went to the main garden and the house. Seeing all the beautiful flowers really made me wish I loved gardening, but I would rather pay someone to do it for me. That's how I contribute to the economy.





After finishing at the gardens, we went to a restaurant in Fourges. It was in an old mill. We tried salmon terrine. I liked it, but Daniel hated it. If you can get past the congealed fat, it's not so bad.



After driving through the French countryside, we made it to Versailles. I have never seen so many people in a line in my life. Apparently, Easter is a popular time for Europeans to on vacation. We stood in line to get into Versailles for almost 2 1/2 hours. Maybe I would have appreciated it more had we not had to wait, but I was underwhelmed.



It was amazing to think that people lived like that, but we felt like we were in a cattle call. We were pushed all the way through, so it wasn't so fun. If I go 100 years without seeing a Chinese tourist again, it will be too soon.



The moral of this story is, don't go to France in the summer or around Easter. You will be surrounded by tourists and won't get to enjoy all there is to see. Regardless of when you go both Giverny and Versailles are both worth visiting.