Tuesday, June 5th -- Getting ourselves out to Giverny on an early train meant leaving the apartment at 7:15 am.  No easy task, but somehow managed. Taking the metro to the train station was pretty easy, and after purchasing a round trip ticket to Vernon we waited for the trains arrival. Although scheduled to depart Track 3, it posted to Track 23 at the other end of the terminal. We wanted to board early and close to the front of the train (which had to be a 1/4 long) to be sure we got seats together and would be among the first off the train in Vernon. The train ride was amazingly quite, smooth and fast. You could set your watch to the trains departure and arrival in Vernon. We were off the train quickly and boarded the first shuttle bus to Giverny, home of Claude Monet.

The village of Giverny is quite lovely and Monet's property is a short 10 minute walk from the parking lot where the shuttle left us off, with what seemed to be thousands of similar minded tourists trying to beat the crowds.  We made a bee line for the house as we knew that would be the bottleneck, and sure enough, upon leaving the house, the line to enter had grown very long.

The gardens and pond where he painted his water lilly canvases had been fully restored and is beautiful. The crowds, although heavy, didn't interfere too much with the enjoyment of the surroundings. After spending about an hour there we wandered about the town and ended up at an 11th or 12th century church still in use, L'eglise Sainte-Radegonde. The church was closed but we walked through its grounds and cemetery, finding the grave site of Monet still well maintained and prominently placed.

We stopped for a coffee at the museum shop cafe and then took the earliest shuttle back to the train station in Vernon and the ride back to Paris. We bought sandwiches at the Paris train station and headed off to the Musee D'Orsay. Converted from a train station, the museum itself is a delight to see.  Its prestigious collection of impressionist paintings makes it a wonder (and a marathon event to see in one visit).  There are so many works by Renoir, Degas,Monet, Pissarro, Cezanne,Sisley, Morison, Latour, Manet, Bazille, Rousseau, Buillard, Gauguin, Van Gogh, and so many others that it is impossible to fully comprehend or take in the vast collection.

We were on full overload and finally gave up after about two hours. And it was a really long day starting with our leaving that morning at 7:15 am.  Time for a timeout.  Karen wanted to find a particular sidewalk cafe that is famous and frequently seen in movies taken in Paris. We were too tired to look for it though, and found a lovely corner cafe to sit and have a drink.

It was late however, after 3:30 pm and we had made plans to have a drink at the home of a cousin of a friend of ours from Bellingham, Larry Stahlberg. After a quick rest back at the apartment, we took the metro to a stop near her Paris apartment. It's a very old building with five floors of apartments and no elevator. She lives on the fourth floor. We were greeted warmly by Jeannie and found that she had prepared quite of bit of food for us along with both wine and an unusual mixed drink of Pastis, Grenadine and soda.

She was a most gracious host and we had a very enjoyable hour talking with her. We met her son John, preparing for his bar Mitzvah and waited to leave until her husband Stepahn returned from work at his dental practice, around 8:00 pm.

We hadn't made dinner plans but found a neighborhood restaurant not too far from our apartment. We had our very first rain of our trip, although it never amounted to more than a light shower. After a light meal of open faced sandwiches, we walked back in the rain to the apartment, again completely exhausted from a full day of very enjoyable sight seeing, made especially memorable with our visit to the home of a Paris resident.  Thank you Larry.