Wednesday October 21, 2015 – Giverny, France

We got up at 8:15 am, again before the sun.  We slept pretty good and fortunately there was no baby crying.

Breakfast by Sandrine was good – some yogurt, apple sauce, breads and home made jams, and fruit.  We enjoyed talking to a couple from Perth, Australia – Mike and Liz.  They will be at our table d’hote tonight.

We headed into Giverny on foot to the Van Gogh house and museum.  We had tickets that Emilie had sent to us.  We first went to the gardens – beautiful. 

The beautiful gardens at Giverny

Even though it is September, there are many flowers blooming in the gardens

The lily gardens at Giverny

Calm and serene

A small man-made canal used to irrigate the gardens at Giverny

A beautiful field of sunflowers outside Giverny

Many unusual flowering plants

Beautiful flower gardens at Giverny

Then we went into the flower garden which still had lots of blooms.  Van Gogh's house museum was next.  It was all very interesting.  The flowers in the flower garden were spectacular.

Beautiful tile work in Van Gogh's kitchen

The outside of Van Gogh's house

We then walked around Giverny and went to the impressionistic museum.  Not much there.  We bought sandwiches at a shop in Giverny before we left town.

We headed back and got the car and headed for a short ride out to La Roche Guyon Castle .  There is a huge castle used by Rommel in the war.  It was closed for lunch, so we walked about the small town, got some lunch, and then ate our sandwiches on a bench in a small park.  The sandwiches were awful again!  I went next door and bought a pastry (figue) that was a good ending to a bad lunch.

Part of La Roche Guyon Castle

Then we headed back to the ticket booth at the castle, got tickets and headed into the castle for our tour.  The route wasn’t marked very well, but we saw all of the sights.  Walking up the tower to the dungeon was very hard and my knees are hurting me.  But I made it to the top.  Getting back down was also hard.  My knees were killing me.

La Roche Guyon Castle as seen from the gardens on the river

Beautiful river scene at the gardens

The had some interesting art in the gardens

From the top of the castle looking toward the river in the distance

Panorama of the view from the roof of the castle

The dove headquarters

A winding stairway to the turret of the castle

The parade grounds of the castle

Beautiful tapistries inside the castle

The extensive library

We then headed to Les Andelys to see the Chateau Gaillard.  It is a huge ruin that has a magnificent view of the River Seine and the town of Andelys below.  It was another hard walk up the hill.  We paid to go in but there wasn’t much to see.

The castle ruins at Les Andelys - Chateau Gaillard

Some of the remaining walls of Chateau Gaillard

A selfie through the old walls with the River Seine in the distance

The village of Les  Andelys at the foot of the mountain

Mostly ruins with very little restored at Chateau Gaillard

Tranquil land to the west along the River Seine

Panorama from the castle

We walked back to the car and then drove into Andelys to get a coffee and crepe – no one was open!  We went through Andelys and then to Petit Andelys.  I found a creperie but it was “ferme”!

We then heading back to Vernon.  We stopped and parked and had café allongees at a café.  No crepes though.  We had to laugh that when we didn’t want crepes, they were everywhere and now that we want one, there are none to be found!

We got the car and headed back to the B&B.  We packed, caught up on email, read, and took it easy for the rest of the afternoon.

At 7 pm we opened a bottle of wine to enjoy before Sandrine’s table d'hote dinner.  This is the last bottle that we purchased on this trip.

We met the others at 8 pm for the table d’hote.  It was Mike and Liz, Robert and Sheila from Chattanooga, Sandrine and her husband, and us.  A delicious meal and engaging conversation, mostly about France and travels.  We got into a hot subject when the conversation between Tim and Sandrine’s husband turned to politics. Uh Oh!  Sheila got into it too and it is apparent she is a Tea Party Republican.  I tried to steer the conversation to other things and then Liz got into it too, but she is quite liberal.  We really liked her.

We went to bed about 11 pm and fell right to sleep.  Tomorrow is a long travel day.