MIROMESNIL AND GIVERNY

June 28-29, 2005

Leaving Honfleur the next morning, we went across the pretty bridge and into the big industrial city of Le Havre.  I wanted to get to a Bank of France because I had some French Francs and I wanted to change them for Euros.  Before we came to France I had dug these out of my money jar where I keep leftover foreign money. 

We did find a Bank of France fairly quickly.  It is a stodgy, ugly old toad of a building and it is fortified like a medieval castle.  When I went up to the door I had to ring a bell and after looking at me through a camera lens the gatekeeper pushed a button somewhere and opened the gate for me.  From there I crossed a courtyard to another locked door.  Again I had to push a buzzer and someone, somewhere looked at me through a camera, and then that door could be opened into a vestibule where I had to push a third! button and a human person examined me through a glass before unlocking that door.  This entire description is exactly the description of the medieval castle entrance procedures we have learned about at all of the castles in the Loire.  Anyway, after all of that I did get into the bank and I did get my francs changed into euros and it turned out to be about $90. I didn’t realize it was so much.  This whole operation took me about an hour, and Don waited patiently in the car.

We left Le Havre as fast as we could.  Big cities are not my interest, especially industrial cities.  Then we drove along the coast road, enjoying the scenery, the huge, dramatic, jutting sandstone cliffs, the ocean, and the quaint seaside towns.  We stopped for our picnic along the way.

In the afternoon we went to the chateau of Miromesnil.  I wanted to go here because I saw a photo of the pretty garden.  This is a nice little chateau in the countryside.  It has been well kept and survived the French Revolution without being damaged because the Marquis of Miromesnil was such a nice guy and was very generous and kind to the peasants.  Guy de Maupassant was born here and there was some memorabilia about that as well as some interesting old books from the library of the Marquis.  One of the books was quite large and it was an accounting of all of the Marquis’ holdings.   Quite impressive.

The garden was very pretty, as billed.  It mixes the vegetable gardens with pretty flower gardens, so I enjoyed strolling through the lanes looking at the crops and different flowers.

Leaving Miromesnil we headed south, through Rouen and then east.  We stopped for the night at a nice country B&B in Les Andelys.  Mme Lelievre offers lovely comfortable rooms, with lots of nice extra touches.  In our room, la Chambre Jaune, we had a very comfortable bed with a satin sheet and a spacious modern bathroom.  We had planned to go into the town for dinner, but the garden was so pleasant we sat out in the yard and had some snacks for dinner.  We picked a few raspberries and cherries for dessert.

The next morning we set out to the south to visit the beautiful gardens of Claude Monet at Giverny.  There we found his home, which was decorated with many Japanese engravings and nicely decorated.  We toured the house, which overlooks the abundant gardens, and then we strolled through the extensive grounds.  We saw the famous lily pond and Japanese bridge of his series of lily pond paintings.  We saw plot after plot of beautiful flower gardens.  The gardens are set up, as I have wanted my garden to be, so that there is color and beauty all year.

Here we learned about how other artists came to visit Monet and then to stay in the village to paint in his style.  I don’t think it was Monet’s idea to found an artist’s colony, but that is what happened.  Even today there are many artists who live and work here.

After our visit to Giverny it was time to get ourselves close to the airport for our departure the next day.  We decided, since we had a car, to stay in the country near the airport.  We found a nice B&B in the town of Plailly. 

AUBERGE de la CHASSE

As we drove up to the entrance of the B&B there was a huge clap of lightning, and then we heard the thunder roar.  As I opened the door to check about a room raindrops began to fall.  Before I could get to the front door it was pouring!  Another car had driving into the courtyard and I was afraid that these people would get the last room.  I ran out, through the storm and buckets of rain, trying to find the door and host.  The other fellow had emerged from his car and was standing in an alcove.  I ran over there and joined him.  How was I going to get the room???  My mind was working a mile a minute.

The fellow, who was much dryer than I, smiled and said; “Bonjour” and I smiled back and said the same.  We stood there until I finally realized he was waiting for me to say something. He wasn’t another guest; he was the proprietor!  Thank goodness!  I got the room and Herve brought us towels and drinks.

This B&B is a really nice choice for anyone who arrives or departs CDG and wants to just be somewhere close to the airport for the first or last day.  The rooms are very nice and the price is moderate.  There is one very big room with a queen bed.  The other 4 rooms are nicely decorated.  The house is a 17^th century hunting lodge used by Francois I, and over the chimney is his crest, the crowned salamander, painted in glorious salamander colors. The hostess, Celine, speaks excellent English.  The trip to the airport is only about 15 minutes and this is so much nicer than an airport hotel.

That evening we joined other guests for the table d’hote, which was a lovely green salad with breaded chevre cheese melted on the top, a nice salmon dish, and calfouti for dessert.  Nice wines complimented the meal.  The presentation was beautiful.

Stay here!  Celine & Herve PERREAU, 19 Rue du Docteur Laporte, 60128 PLAILLY.  Telephone +33(0)3 44 54 72 77.    perreau.celine@wanadoo.fr

I wish we had some photos, but Don dropped his camera in Azeville, so no photos.