Normandie 2019 Day One

Sunday 31 March, we said goodbye to our wonderful neighborhood and excellent flat, and took a taxi to Charles de Gaulle airport where we were to pick up our car. The size we ordered was not available, so they had to bring another car from a different lot. It took two bloody hours for it to arrive, so we lost our visit to Rouen, at least for now. With Annie at the wheel, we whizzed up into Normandie with our first stop at Giverny. Even in late March it is slammed, maybe because it was Sunday. The house is charming and the gardens are lovely, even if overrun with tourists like us. For some reason, I feel entitled and don't want anyone else where we are. We arrived in Bayeux in time to settle into the Churchill Hotel and walk out for dinner.

 We loved Anthony Bosson

 The people were wonderful and the fresh baguettes or croissants

every morning were otherworldly

 Our comfortable and attractive flat: kitchen

 Kris and Ann figured out the washer/dryer

 When we first walked in last week, Ann thought

this might be the sitting room

 Bathroom -- toilet up a small set of stairs in a 

separate room

You can see "the bog" up the stairs in the left rear

 Comfortable sitting room

 Dining table was our work surface

 Stephen and Ann's room

 David and Kris's room

 Up the A 13 with Annie at the wheel

 Quick and easy...

But no better than at home

 The Autoroute gave way to country roads

 Beautiful forests and fields

 And interesting villages and buildings all along the way

 Monet's garden at Giverny

 Monet's house

 His studio

 Lesser-known Monet portraits

 Monet's buddy Cézanne

 The splendid view of the garden from his bedroom

 Another bedroom

 Dining room

 He liked blue and white porcelain with his yellow wall, too

 Copper in the kitchen

Kitchen stove and fireplace

 Brass and tile

 This stream feeds the Japanese Lily Pond

 The stream 

 Lily pond with the Japanese Bridge (double enlarge to see)

 Selfies have ruined so many sites

 Not sure what this is, but it's beaux

 The Churchill Hotel is old, but charming

 Dinner at the La Table du Terroire, which doesn't

mean terror, but roots -- whew

 I took the plunge and had snails, which were the texture

of clams and the flavor of butter and garlic

A local chicken recipe

Hake (fish)

 Back to the hotel

A prettyish little alley leads to reception

Tomorrow we are headed to the Normandie beaches. This is all for now.

OXO

D.