I had a great day. I left the apartment before 7:00 in order to be sure I would get to my train on time. I was going to Giverny!! Actually, the train goes from Gare Saint-Lazare to Vernon. From there it’s a short bus ride to Giverny, the location of Monet’s house and gardens, and the subject of many of his paintings. I tried to buy my admission ticket last night, but after an hour of frustration I gave up. Thankfully the ticket line wasn’t long. I chatted with a few people while waiting for the bus and to buy my ticket.

When I got in I headed directly to the water garden. I was hoping to beat the crowd. I didn’t succeed. I went through the water garden, flower garden, the house, and back to the water garden.

I ran into the couple I had met from Orlando and mentioned a nice restaurant I had heard about in town called Baudy. After I left Monet’s place I set off to find the restaurant. It was in a lovely outdoor setting. I should have taken a picture. Who should I see there but Terri & Ken from Orlando! They invited me to sit with them. I had a delicious lunch and glass of wine. It was a very warm day and the restaurant was nicely shaded.

We were on the same train back to Paris and sat together. I thanked them for taking in a stray. Ha!

From Gare Saint-Lazare I took the metro to meet up with Philippe and his mother. I hadn’t met her yet and was looking forward to it. He was running late, so I met him at the bar where he works, Boteco. It’s a Brazilian place. He made me a Brazilian Mojito. They also serve food kind of like tapas. His mom couldn’t make it, but we did FaceTime with her. I got to meet his “little” brother though.

It was a wonderful day!!