Wednesday, April 14

This is the first morning while in France that the sun is not shinning. But while the morning sky is overcast, the afternoon brings warm sunshine. Like yesterday, everyone meets at the Nogent High School at 8:00 AM. This time the Nogent students are spending the day with us. Two motor coaches pick us up forthe nearly three-hour drive to see Monet's Gardens.

Claudet Monet was born in Paris in 1840. Monet was part of a group of artists who were labeled as impressionists. These artists were ridiculed at first and they struggled financially

The grounds and home have been restored to the condition of when Monet lived and worked there. Monet is famous for his paintings of his gardens, water garden and lilies, and the arched bridge. While the gardens were not yet in their prime yet (we were told that the optimum time is late May) they were beautiful. They were full of tulips, daffodils, and pansies. Thencially. With the support of dealers and patrons, his success began to grow. In the 1880's he acquired the property at Giverny, and lived there until his death in 1926. Monet once wrote, "Apart from painting and gardening, I'm not good at anything".

The water garden was spectacular, even with out the bloom of the water lilies. The house and studio was interesting as well. I'd have to say that this stop was one of the high points of my trip to France. I think most of the students enjoyed the gardens. In fact, there was one who took over 250 pictures of the gardens and flowers!

After a picnic lunch at the Vernon city park on the bank of the River Scène, the students were free to wonder Vernon for a couple of hours. Tom Ham, my host Jean, and I found a coffee cafe and we reminisced about going to college in the late 60's. Tom and I discussed the American perspective while Jean talked about college in France. We spent a great afternoon sharing stories and drinking French coffee, or in Toms case, tea.

We left Vernon, and arrived back in Nogent about 6:30. As usual, Jean and Catherine prepared a wonderful meal of salmon, followed by a type of homemade apple pie. Fortunately, I'm walking enough (I hope) during the day to work off the calories I consume eating fine home cooked French food.

Thursday's schedule is less hectic, so I hope I can get caught up on uploading the blog. Jean does not have a wifi router, and the keyboard on his computer is French style with several of the keys laid out in a different arrangement, which makes typing frustratingly slow. However, most McDonalds here have wifi access. I plan to spend some time there, not for the burgers and fries, but the internet access.