Monet Saturday!

Bonsoir!

Our second day in Paris was a fabulous one! We got up early and walked over to the Maison d’Isabelle, the 2018 winner of the best butter croissant, for a couple of pastries (croissants, pan au chocolats, and pomme chasson) to start our morning right. The croissant was by far the best, with the Pan Au Chocolat as a close second. My only concern with the Pomme Chasson was it crumbled a lot making it difficult to eat on the go!

We then caught the metro over towards the Eiffel Tower since we had a 9 AM appointment with Fat Tire Bike Tours. Since we had a bit of extra time, we went to Au Mocha for a quick coffee before we left. It wasn’t quite what we were expecting (probably user error) but got the job done for a caffeine boost. We then went over to Fat Tire to check in for the tour.

Back when my mom and I visited Paris in 2010, we did a tour to Giverny (where Monet’s house was) with the same company. I loved it so much back then that I wanted to go again! While the substance of the tour remained the same, they made some changes - this time, we were on an air conditioned bus to and from Vernon (rather than a train), and the tour had time for Monet’s grave at the church right by his house. The tour group this time was a bit smaller with only 9 total people, but the gardens were definitely busier. Our 9 people consisted of our awesome tour guide Olugjan (“OJ”), three ladies from Austin, one solo traveler from Boise, one solo traveler from California, and one couple from Connecticut. Our bus left around 9 AM from Paris, passing by the Eiffel Tower along the way, and arrived in Vernon around 10:30. We were allotted 30 minutes to procure our picnic - Ray and I picked up a baguette, some butter, cheese, strawberries, and a chocolate eclair - but were surprised at how quickly the time went! We encountered a small language barrier in the fromagerie (cheese/butter store) but ultimately got what we were looking for.

We then walked over to pick up our bikes from the Fat Tire storage spot. Each bike had a fun label on it so you could tell which one was yours - mine was named “Take a Brake, Have a Kit Kat” and Ray’s was “Red Blush.” With bikes in hand, we took off on a short ride through Vernon. On this part of the bike ride, we learned that Ousmane Dembele, World Cup forward from France, is from Vernon - but he and Monet are the two most famous people from Vernon. We then biked over to the castle in Vernon for our picnic. Everything we procured was great, and the view was nice! At the end, Ray went to throw away our food and a nice French man noticed and said “Bon Apetit” - Ray was a bit caught off guard but was laughing once he realized :)

 

We then headed to Giverny for our timed entry into Monet’s house, passing through scenic Giverny and along the French countryside. We entered the gardens around 1 PM and enjoyed walking through the manicured, lovely flowers, pond, and scenery including the Japanese Bridge. The gardens were more expansive than I remembered which was a pleasant surprise! We loved seeing all the different varietals of flowers as well.

   

The next part of our visit was Monet’s house! We walked through the bedrooms including his and two others upstairs, then saw the famous yellow room (dining room) and blue room (kitchen). The primary bedroom had a fabulous view over the gardens! It was also cool to see the art that was displayed in Monet’s house at the time he lived there.

     

We wandered back over to our bikes once we were done touring. On the way back, we stopped by the Church where Monet is buried (in Giverny) as well as the Ancien Hotel in Giverny, where some American artists discovered that Monet lived there (he was somewhat antisocial) and let out the secret prompting larger crowds of artists to visit. 

 

We eventually headed back into Vernon to drop our bikes off and catch the bus back to Paris. A few Monet facts from the day included:

• Towards the end of his life, Monet was losing his vision. While he still painted during this time, he was not planning to get cataracts until the prime minister at the time suggested he did so that he could donate a magnum opus to France. Monet eventually got cataract surgery. After the surgery, he painted the works that went into the L’Orangerie Museum and tore up several of the paintings he completed while he was losing his vision. Some say that Monet could see UV light as well since he could see colors that other artists could not.
• Monet didn’t really find his footing until around age 43, and he had a tumultuous relationship with his father. His father often didn’t approve of his choices, including of wives, career, or other decisions. His mother also passed away when he was 16 years old.
• Monet’s real name is Oscar Claude Monet, but he changed his name and sign off on his paintings to Claude Monet after a particularly bad falling out.
• Monet was a bit of a grifter - he often could not pay his bills and would instead attempt to donate paintings to cover his debts. This included at the hotel for his honeymoon!
• Monet was married to a lady named Camille, with whom he had two sons Jean and Michel. Camille passed away at age 32 of severe illness, and Monet painted her on her deathbed (very sad). At the time, the Monet’s were living with the Hoschedé family (Monet’s art dealer). Monet eventually married his friend’s wife, Alice Hoschedé, after her husband passed away after declaring bankruptcy. It is thought that one of Alice’s sons was actually Monet’s as well. Monet and Alice Hoschedé raised their children (Jean and Michel plus Alice’s six children) together after their spouses’ tragic passings.
• Monet started his art career by drawing and selling caricatures to politicians.
• Monet was one of the founders of Impressionism, and his work “Impression, Sunrise” gave the art movement its name. His art was rejected from the Salon which dictated which works were the “preferred” by the Academy.

Once we arrived back in Paris, we stopped by the Eiffel Tower briefly for a quick visit on the way to the metro.

 

We went to dinner at Cafe Gisele near our hotel. It was a super fun spot to watch the world go by - though I ordered way too much food! 

We grabbed a “nightcap” dessert at Maison Georges Larnicol - one raspberry macaron and one almond macaron. Both were great!

Excellente journée,

Amy