Last day at Rue Du Churche Midi

Today we are to join our Avalon Tour group, and having a late  checkout enabled us to have another day to take a tour.   This time is was to Giverney,  (pronounced  Shivanay) to visit Monet's house and garden.

We had an early start with a taxi to the coach depot.   Surprisingly, this taxi cost about €8 less than the one the other morning that took us to the same place.  There is a strange system here;  the driver can charge to come for you, then each passenger above one is an extra €1.   Luggage is also charged extra by the piece. 

Once we arrived at the depot, there was time for a coffee again, but this time we sat inside the cafe.

A very pleasant drive to Giverney, with our guide talking all the way there, explaining various buildings and points on interest that we passed on the way.

Once there, she took us for a quick whip around the gardens.  There are two, one on the house block, and the other across the road, that Monet turned into his Japanese garden.  They are both very beautiful, and being late summer, the house garden was simply a picture of color of every hue.  There were many different flower plants.

Once we had hurried through the gardens, our guide left us queuing for the house entrance.   She assured us the queue was not long, TRO and myself were inside in five minutes, but Kath and Kwong had a much longer wait. 

Monet's house was quite large, he and his second wife and eight children rented it for a year or so, and then purchased it.  As you can see in the photo, it is very attractive.  The decor inside is light and airy, with big windows overlooking the garden.   I think anyone would be able to paint living in this idyllic   atmosphere.

This is the lily pond, that is part of the Japanese garden, inspiring some of his work.

After walking through the gardens again, and buying a small print in the gift shop, we took a little walk around the village, and enjoyed coffee and a crepe in a garden cafe.

Arriving back in Paris, we took our bus back home, and went out for lunch at our cafe with the friendly waiter.

The kiddies playing in the autumn leaves below :)

It's really time to pack up properly now and leave our apartment.  Again, we had a taxi pick us up, and bring us to the Pullman at Montparnasse.   It's so close we could have walked, but the luggage would have been a problem.   

This hotel is huge, and very busy.  We are on the 12th floor of 25.    Very disappointing are the paper cups in the rooms for tea and coffee though.

Out for dinner again, and lol and behold...more friendly waiters!  Three of us ordered milkshakes, and then watched the poor barman having to shake them up in his cocktail shaker because the machine would not work.

They were delicious just the same.   The area we are staying in now is extremely busy.   The Gare Monparnasse is just across the road, and the trains go all over France from there.   There are many people pulling their cases along the streets, and many backpackers.   There is also a big shopping centre just five  minutes walk away, which we had visited early in the week. 

We were all very tired tonight, so had  an early night.