Days 16-17

Day 16 - a day of great sites and impossible lines.  We arrive at Giverny in the a.m., a bit crowded but no real long lines. Lovely, lovely place. The spring flowers are spectacular.  I haven't said enough about them, but everywhere we go things are in bloom and we've really enjoyed spring here.  The only thing that was behind schedule here was the wisteria on the famous Monet bridge over the pond (the one he painted). We have seen wisteria everywhere (purple flower on vines on sides of buildings, etc.)  Next we drive a short distance to Versailles, but a world apart. From the natural, free flowing lines of Giverny to the rigid, precise overpruning of Versailles, even the weather changed from sunny and pleasant to cold and windy.  The crowds were oppressive, except in the gardens because it was so cold! The line for tickets, we were told by a Versailles employee, would be an hour, and the line to enter, 2 hours. And she said we probably would not be able to see everything due to the crowds.  We opted to not go in.  This theme of crowds was to repeat itself a few more times in the coming days. Versailles in general was a bit off putting to me. Too big, too much gold, oppressive somehow.

Day 17 - Off to Paris!  We drop the car at Orly airport and arrange a fairly easy transport to Paris. I was fearful of this because it did not appear to be a direct route, but the ticket agent gave us a ticket all the way to the station closest to our hotel with 2 transfers, so no problems.  We walked to the Louvre and the surrounding areas, everything was closed because this is Labor Day (May 1) in France!  Lots of happy, relaxed people, families, everywhere.  The weather was pleasant till late afternoon when there was a prolonged rainstorm.  We had to while away the time in a cafe, eating and drinking. What a pity....We took an evening boat cruise on the Seine, delightful.  The Eiffel Tower "sparkles" every hour at night with lights for about 5 minutes. Then we took a city bus back, but it turned out to be going the wrong way and we rode the entire route.  It would have been nice except that I had to pee and couldn't get off the bus as I didn't know where we'd find a bathroom anyway that late at nite!!