A trip through Monet's paintings

Waking up before dawn is occasionally worthwhile, especially when it leads to a visit to Rouen and Giverny, two towns outside of Paris where Claude Monet painted some of his most known tableaus, like the Cathedral series and his most famous, the water lilies. After a sleepy bus ride, our first stop of Rouen approached. I was expecting a "ye olde village" kind of place, but it was actually relatively modern and had more stores than old town charm. It was still very cute and quaint, with a huge, golden clock in the center square and a few small chocolate and pastry shops on the corners. One of my favorite parts was the memorial to Joan of Arc, the patron saint of France. Rouen is where she was eventually burned alive for heresy. Deep stuff. Instead of the plaque I kind of wish they had an empty stake where I could stand and later photoshop flames around my body. It's been 600 years, I can make jokes right? After passing through the village, we came upon the snazzy chapel that I recognized from the paintings in the Musée d'Orsay, which I had conveniently gone to see just two days prior. It's enormous, with a huge tower added onto the roof that you can see from outside of the town. Unfortunately, part of it was under renovation so, alas, getting a good picture was out of the question but I did my best. Inside were enormous red and blue stained glass windows as well as a row of old, crumbling statues that slightly resembled humans. Except for one which I'm pretty sure was just a lump of stone with a name put over it. As if the good times could not stop rolling, our next stop was the site of an old plague cemetery. I think I could still smell the old plague-smell. Luckily, after a pit stop for macarons and souvenirs, we were back on the bus to Giverny.


Giverny was much more like an old village of yore than Rouen, complete with cows along the road and what appeared to be an emu. Giverny is known for being the home to Monet and his family and where his famous gardens are located. The first garden was located just in front of his house and was in full bloom, complete with flowers of every color, butterflies, and swarms of bees. We leisurely walked along the paths, enjoying the late summer weather and fresh flowers. At the edge of the garden you come upon Monet's house, looking straight out of a country cottage fairy tale. Inside, each room was painted an overly bright yellow or purple or green. I'm not sure if this was how it looked when Monet actually lived there, but it reminded me of Minnie and Mickey's house in Toontown. Besides the old staircase, the house just seemed odd but the upstairs offered a nice view of the garden and the enormous kitchen had a cool copper stove with a built-in coffee carafe. Eyes burning from the neon walls, we changed course to the second garden: the famous water lily pond. It was full of asiatic bridges and greenery, although only a few lilies in the water; I guess October isn't their blooming season. Nonetheless, it was gorgeous and looked exactly like the paintings, even after all this time. I could see why Monet fell in love with Giverny and decided to live there. I walked over the bridges, eating macarons and sneaking peeks at the cows through the bordering fence. If there weren't so many tourists, it would be the perfect place to sit and read a book in peace. Or better yet, paint a picture.