Glorious colour

 Monday 5th May

Today was the piece de resistance of Kerry's time in France - a visit to Monets Garden. So far we have managed to avoid most crowd situations in France, but as we got within 500m of the gardens, we saw that we were going to be right in the thick of tourist central. I was not able to buy tickets online (bank wants to send me sms code to my Aussie phone) so had no choice but to join the queue. Was a long queue but thankfully only 20 minutes wait.

Just beautiful! 

Think this was an iris - very unusual pink and green.

Mrs Monets sewing room. Where's her stash?

Box for fresh eggs on the wall.

Lots of colours and varieties of tulips.
A lot of them at their end.

Odette was pretty impressed too.

Embroidered irises on the tablecloth.

Boats on the lily pond.
They feature in some of Monets paintings.

That famous bridge over the lily pond.

Many varieties and colours of irises.

We moved around the gardens at a slow pace due to the number of people (bus groups, school groups, hundreds of people), but the slow pace meant you could really absorb it all. The wisteria on the bridge over the lily pond is how you see it in promo photos. Lilies were just budding - a bit too early for flowering. A wonderful couple of hours. 

Back to base via a sandwich lunch in a nearby town. Unfortunately the microwave in the apartment wasn't working and no restaurants open nearby (Monday a lot of stuff is closed), so we took the easy option offered and had dinner at Macca's. Wasn't too bad actually - comfortable seating and warm.