We spent our last full day in Paris by getting up at 6:00 a.m. to take a trip to Giverny and the artist Claude Monet's house and gardens. Later in this trip we went to Versailles and visited even more amazing gardens. There is no way to describe the splendor and opulence and total self indulgence of the kings of France, including the ill-fated Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette.
Sandwiched in between we stopped at a quaint pastoral setting where there was a country inn that served us all delicious luncheon. I took many pictures of the French cows for Brent and then was informed that even though they lived in France the black and white cows are Dutch cows.
During the tour we met a 4-5th grade teacher named Colleen, from Melbourne, Australia. We adopted each other and enjoyed the bus ride. We also met two couples celebrating their 30th birthdays, a brother and sister with their spouses, originally from Kansas. We would have loved to have spent much more time in the Gardens of Versailles but were sort of forced to finish the indoor tour first. We only had about 45 minutes to explore about 1,000 acre park, which was disappointing. We got a good taste of what was there, but would advise any other person to go to just the gardens in the beautiful weather and take the metro from Paris.
However, I loved Giverny and Monet's gardens are inspiring and relaxing, especially his japanese garden. I hadn't known that he loved Japanese art. His home was filled with it.
At the end of the day, we picked up a souvenir for Bruce from the shops on Rue du Rivoli and walked until we found our favorite cafe. We spent our last night enjoying a delicious dinner, and the great chocolate cake for dessert.
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