Giverny, France - Fall 2019

There are  many possible day trips from Paris to get a break from the big city. Some popular attractions are Mont Saint Michel, Loire Valley, Claude Monet's House and Gardens, Rouen, Lyon, Strasbourg etc... We chose to visit the Normandy region by train for our day trip. The first stop was Monet's House and Gardens in Giverny and continued to travel to Rouen, our final destination. It was a nice day to enjoy the countryside of Giverny and play tourists in Rouen.

A McDonald's restaurant at the corner of Saint Lazare train station with Halloween decoration. 

Vernon: From the Vernon-Giverny train station, we took a tourist tram to get to Monet's House and Museum.  On the way, we passed by Vernon, a picturesque village on the banks of the Seine River.

Our transportation to Giverny

Vernon by the Seine

Vernonnet Castle-in Vernon 

The "petite" Notre Dame in Vernon

Monet's House and Garden: Last time I visited Monet's property and Giverny was in 1989. The entire property was in the early days of restoration. Time flies and thirty years later...It's delightful to see Monet's beloved house and gardens being beautifully restored. The Claude Monet Foundation had preserved and transformed the property back to its unique place that inspired Monet to paint his many famous masterpieces.  

A main road to Monet's House and Gardens

The kitchen

The Living room

The Dining room

Resident chickens near the house

The beautiful Flower Garden 

Colorful mix of full blooms

Beautiful flowers in the garden

The famous "Water Lily" Pond

The iconic "Japanese Bridge"  

Claude Monet's memorial garden

It's time to catch the early afternoon train for Rouen. We have made good decision in selecting Monet's House and Gardens for our day trip from Paris.

Paris, France - Fall 2019

 First time Michelle and I had a "mom-daughter" trip was London 2016. Since then, we hope to continue our travel together every now and then. For this second time, we had about two weeks to spend in Paris, Bruges, Ghent, Utrecht and Amsterdam. Though we both had been in Paris before, we're still very excited to explore Paris together, especially some of the "off the beaten path" places.

PARIS  ~ We rent an apartment in Le Marais district for our five night stay in Paris. Le Marais is in the historic district of Paris and easy to get to many popular sites on foot. It's also a short walk to Republic metro station and not too far from the Louvre Museum, Notre Dame Cathedral, Sainte Chapelle and La Conciergerie. Occasionally, we used Uber.

The apartment

                                       Spacious kitchen 

Fresh fruits from the outdoor market near our apartment

Breakfast at a sidewalk cafe

Montmartre

We headed out for Montmartre, one of my favorite districts in Paris, soon after we arrived.  The combination of fresh air, amazing views of Paris from the Sacre-Coeur Basilica and a leisure walk to Moulin Rouge was the best cure for my jet lag!.

The Sacre-Coeur Basilica

Inside Sacre Coeur 

A Montmartre street

Van Gogh's house - 54 rue Lepic

Le Moulin de la Galette Restaurant- 83 rue Lepic- named after the historical mills that were located on the hill near Van Gogh's house. Le Mounlin de la Galette is the title of several paintings made by Van Gogh

Moulin Rouge

Dinner at a local restaurant

Along the Seine

Beautiful Sainte Chapelle

Sainte Chapelle

Rainy morning in Paris

View along the Seine - Les Halles

The Louvre Quay


Along the river bank

Enjoying the Seine

A popular bookstore to browse

FAMOUS CHURCHES

Notre Dame Cathedral from across the Seine

Notre Dame Cathedral under restoration - The "Rose" window was not damaged from the fire last April.

Saint Severin Church

Inside the beautiful Saint Severin Church

Inside Sainte Chapelle

MUSEUMS

Since the Louvre and Musee d'Orsay had long waiting lines, we decided to visit others that had shorter  lines. With our two day museum passes, we visited the Picasso,  Cluny Museum, L'Orangerie and Rodin museums, Les Invalides as well as the Pantheon and the Arc de Triomphe.  

The Pantheon

Marie and Piere Curie tombs in the Pantheon

Rodin Museum Garden with Dome Church of Les Invalides

Les Invalides 

Rodin Museum Garden

The Thinker

The Burghers of Calais

The Gates of Hell - in Rodin museum garden

Monet's Water Lilies- in the L'Orangerie Museum



Ready to climb to the top of Arc de Triomphe.

View of the Eiffel Tower from Arc de Triomphe

View of Champs Elysees Avenue from Arc de Triomphe

Eiffel Tower District is a "must" visit while in Paris. We passed by to say "bon jour" to the Eiffel Tower on our way to rue Cler market. 




Eiffel Tower


Rue Cler Market

A fruit stall 

Deli shop

At the end of a bus line, we stopped at Pere Lachaise cemetery. It's a very interesting cemetery and home to many famous residents.  


Pere Lachaise cemetery entrance

 Pere Lachaise cemetery

Chopin's resting place

Oscar Wilde

Jim Morrison - most visited site by fans


A delicious dinner in Latin Quarter concluded our enjoyable visit to "The City of Light". 

Appetizer


Main Course

Dessert