Two more days of cruising pictures

Just to clarify a point that would have caused me some confusion, we were not always moving along the river. Most of the time we spent the night docked in a city, sometimes two nights in the same city. Only once did we actually leave a port in the middle of the night.

So, on this second day of the cruise we were still in Conflans where we were bused out to Auvers sur Oise to discover Vincent Van Gogh. Whatever I might have learned about him many years ago in school was reinforced by a knowledgeable guide. It was so interesting to see the actual structures that featured prominently in his paintings. This, too, was the place where he died and was buried. The afternoon was spent cruising, passing through locks, and enjoying activities on board.

Here is a link to the photo album.

Waking up in Vernon, Graham and I took an early morning stroll through this lovely village before leaving for Giverny. What I was discovering was that most of the towns (cities) we stopped in left the river side in original condition, while expanding into a more modern city inland. The medieval charm of the old cities certainly made for stunning pictures!

Talk about stunning! Monet's Gardens absolutely captured my heart. I could have taken a hundred pictures and still not convey the natural beauty I encountered. No wonder Monet spent his time painting here. Rick Steves says it best:
"It's fitting that Giverny, located 50 miles outside the hustle and bustle of Paris, would become a colorful, flowering monument to Monet. In 1883, middle-aged Claude Monet, his wife Alice, and their eight children from two families settled into a farmhouse here, 50 miles west of Paris. Monet, at that point a famous artist and happiest at home, would spend 40 years in Giverny, traveling less with each passing year. He built a pastoral paradise complete with a Japanese garden and a pond full of floating lilies.
In 1890, Monet started renovating his garden, inspired by tranquil scenes from the Japanese prints he collected. He diverted a river to form a pond, planted willows and bamboo on the shores, filled the pond with water lilies, then crossed it with a wooden footbridge. As years passed, the bridge became overgrown with wisteria. He painted it at different times of day and year, exploring different color schemes."

After lunch on board our ship we set out again to visit a lovely chateau - de Bizy - and then our home-hosted visit with a delightful French couple, Andre and Annette. It turns out that Andre is a retired dentist, so he and Graham had much to talk about. They served us Kir, an aperitif, and a selection of French cookies. Another incredible dinner awaited, after which we gratefully turned in for the night.

Enjoy these photos from Giverny.

I'll get busy with more albums and be back to show off Rouen.