Well, this wasn’t in the plan, especially as we were pushed for time anyway!
Quiet night by the football field and up earlyish (for us anyway)! 😂
Set off on some strange route through farm tracks, tiny villages and miles of Rapeseed, which looks lovely but doesn’t half make you sneeze after a while.
We’d decided to do our walking at lunchtime rather than risk leaving an empty van at Calais, so I was browsing the Rough Guide looking for things of interest around Rouen. Realising we were just over an hour away from Monet’s famous gardens, we decided on a reckless de-tour.
The roads got smaller, the village streets got tighter…the route felt like a joke and took forever!
Eventually, we came into Giverny and parked up really easily. A bit shocked by the number of people walking around and the amount of cars and tour buses, I was beginning to wonder if we’d get in anyway.
We did!! Just a short queue – must have timed it right as it was a mile long later on.
We were completely knocked out by this place – it’s just so beautiful! The gardens are divided into two, with the flower garden in front of the house and then the Japanese inspired water gardens on the other side of the road.
The house itself was a surprise – virtually the same as when he lived in it. The blue and white tiled kitchen with its row of polished copper pans, contained Guy’s next big oven! 😉Then there was a bright yellow dining room, probably outrageous in its time but it was lovely.
Outside, the flower garden was an amazing riot of colour – such clever co-ordinated planting.
An underpass takes you to the water gardens which again, lived up to expectations other than the fact that there weren’t many water lilies around. Could be the wrong time of year for all I know.
It was quite crowded at times, not something we’re used to anymore. Enforced snails pace is quite hard.
Back to the van, we cracked on with another 3-4 hour stint, giving in and getting on the toll road for the last 100 miles …enough is enough!
At Calais now, after a quick trip to Auchan for our next three months supply of coffee. Paid parking behind a fence, ready for our crossing in the morning.