Monday, September 17, 2012

Giverny

Last week the Trinity-in-Paris program treated us to a two-day excursion to the nearby provincial town of Giverny, where Claude Monet lived and painted his famous water lily series. We also visited two famous chateaus (old medival fortifed mansions, basically) and spent a lot of quality time bonding. It was actually a great trip, even though I wasn't expecting much. I've always though those hyper-organized, pre-planned bus trip things are stupid and not much fun. I'd rather figure things out on my own and get more of a full experience. But for a group of 35 obnoxious college kids, it worked out really well.

View of the Seine, an orchard, and part of the medieval chateau  Roche Guyon
The first "appointment" was a tour of Roche-Guyon, a medeival chateau on the banks of the seine River. Barely an hour outside of Paris, the Seine looks nothing like its urban counterpart. It's about twice as wide, and instead of harsh cement barriers along either side, it lazily laps against green pastures and trees. The water is (presumably) less sewage-filled as well. After climbing the hundred or so steps to the top of the dungeon tower of Roche-Guyon, a long thread of river could be seen twisting and turning through the countryside, extremely calm. It made my friend Molly and I miss the crew team back at Trinity (I'm still an honorary member). The chateau itself is still home to a French family, but the museum part is run by a regional organization. It has some weird modern art installations alongside historic replicas of the house. I couldn't tell you much about it, though, because we only had half an hour to look around and I spent 25 minutes climbing the stairs to the tower, which were cut right out of the limestone cliffside and quite a steep affair. After the climb, we bought some apples and pears from the gift shop, which are famously grown in Normandy (where we were). They were spectacular. We also visited the Impressionism museum, which was interesting but not entirely too captivating, since I was more interested in seeing Monet's actual garden.



My Water Lilies
Monet's Water Lilies




Our coach bus managed to make it through the narrow streets (more like trails) and we only got stuck about three times before making it to the hotel. It was sort of a dingy place with no atmosphere, but perfect for 30 rowdy newly-legal college kids. First thing we did is hit the crappy hotel bar and start bonding. It turned out to be a really fun night and I met/bonded/made new friends within the program. We all went to bed pretty early, luckily, so the next day wasn't too much of a struggle. We saw the gardens and the famous water lilies and weeping willows and bridges. It was a little overcrowded but still wonderful to finally see. His house was also amazing. He married a woman with six kids and had two of his own, so it was a full brood. There is a huge industrial kitchen fully covered in blue and white tile, which is actually one of the most popular highlights, along with the yellow dining room. I really enjoyed the history, culture, and natural beauty!

Our last stop was one final chateau, which used to be a fully working farm and had very lavish, landscaped grounds. Unfortunately, we had a guided tour of each and every room of the house, and I just couldn't enjoy the slow-moving account of each and every piece of chair upholstery and its historical significance. It was a lot of sightseeing packed into less than 48 hours, but it was generally very nice to get out of Paris and also break through some of the pre-exisitng friend groups on our program and all spend some time together.

The trip was topped off by stopping at the newly-opened Chipotle upon our return to Paris. A burrito bowl remains a burrito bowl no matter the language. (The tortillas are different, though).


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