An Afternoon in Giverny

After finally forcing ourselves to leave Monet's Garden, we walked across the street (Rue de Claude Monet) to this little place which is a combination store and restaurant. Cindy's mom was entranced by the rose covered gateway.

While Cindy and her mom looked around the inside of the store I drifted over to the restaurant side to discover that this was the place our B & B host had warned us catered to the tour groups and that we should avoid eating there as the food was prepared in the morning for the lunchtime crowds and thus was not as fresh as the Hotel Baudy. So, after the ladies finished browsing through the store we walked a 1/4 km down Rue de Claude Monet...

...and saw this fine fellow...

...on our way to the Hotel Baudy...

...for lunch.

I decided to try a French beer known as Hotteterre which is, judging by the label, apparently named after the French musician Jacques-Martin Hotteterre.

This was a most excellent tasting ale and complimented my Fried Goat Cheese with Potatoes and Salad, which was delicious as well.

We had an amusing situation while here. The waiter was bringing our drinks and I had forgotten to ask for water. When we were there the previous evening a young lady had served us and brought us a bottle of water. The bottle had some kind of label on it ("Vittel", I think). Anyway, when we placed our order I had forgotten to ask for water, so as the waiter was placing wine glasses and an unmarked clear bottle in front of Cindy I said, "Oh I forgot, we would like a bottle of water as well". He looked at me in confusion and both Cindy and her mom got these funny looks on their faces and Cindy said, "Honey, this (the unmarked bottle) IS water." Looking sheepish, I responded, "Oh" and the waiter put a mock expression of concern on his face and said, "No more beer for you, sir."

Ok, maybe you had to be there.

The Baudy Hotel is a main gathering point for artists visiting from America, Europe and Asia and it was fun for me (a die hard people-watcher) to observe the variety of folks enjoying meals in this dining room or passing through on their way to their hotel room.

After our delectable lunch, we walked back up the Rue de Claude Monet to the Musée d’Art Américain (American Art Museum), which since 1992 has existed to promote American/French cultural relationships in art, and to provide grants to American and French art students to participate in an exchange program between the two countries.

The Musée d’Art Américain is also surrounded by gardens of bright, colorful flowers...

...and a field that is thought to have been the subject of one of Monet's paintings, "Poppyfield Near Giverny".

Cindy sitting under a tree next to the poppy field.

Cindy and her mom enjoying one of the gardens around the Musée d’Art Américain.

We left here and returned to the B & B for a short nap, then returned to Giverny at dinnertime and the Hotel Baudy for our final meal there. Then it was back to the B & B to pack, get a good night's sleep and prepare for our drive to the Loire Valley the following day.

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