A year ago in Giverny (photos)

A fabulous perk of staying with the French branch of kinije's family tree was being able to do a couple side trips/daytrips. kinije's cousin took us on a car ride to Giverny and while it wasn't exactly on my own itinerary, it turned out to be a great experience and I was glad to see a side of the country that isn't metropolitan.

The time we spent in the car wasn't very long—especially by an Angeleno's standards—but what separates Paris from the countryside? Not much! Large expanses of green. Clouds on the horizon. Hills. It's not like here where you see a Starbucks every so often and McDonald's a lot more frequently than that. There isn't city after city of similar-looking suburbs. Just farmland and toll booths. A farmhouse or castle(!) now and again. So, while being overall very beautiful, it gave kinije and I a touch of scenery fatigue. We nodded off here and there. The highway wasn't winding and was very smooth surface to travel on, but the exhaust on the road made us a little nauseous.  This is why our love for the mini-marts along the way flourished.

We'd stop to use the very clean restrooms—it reminded me of my travels with Mr. Alex across the U.S.—much cleaner than the inexperienced would believe. Then we'd look around for snacks. Are we not Americans? I usually picked up a Coca Cola Light (Diet Coke) and a water. And perhaps a candybar or some chips. I'd only glance at dvds (not region coded for the States) and magazines (afraid they might be pornographic). Personally, I was looking for product anomalies, like this one

Found alongside hot coffee in the drink vending machines. I tried to get kinije to try it since my own system is a bit temperamental especially concerning dairy and artificial dairy substances, unknown processed food and such. Not knowing exactly how long we'd be on the road and how long it would be until the next stop, neither of us went for it. I think she bought a coffee? I stuck to my Coke Lights and Gauloises.

We finally reached our destination. Monet's house and gardens. Oh, of course! [NOTE: A funny thing about kinije's cousin is that when he took us someplace, we never were quite sure where we were going until we got there. We are guessing it is a language/cultural difference and we look upon it as an amusing and endearing quality.]

Here are some photos from the excursion...

It was like looking at his paintings come to life. And of course, it was very quiet without the city noise. Photography wasn't allowed inside his home which housed his personal art collection and still has many of his belongings on display. I am a little creeped out by buildings and items that are that old; the garden and the house exterior are the real attraction for me.
We ended with a little snack before our drive back to the Paris suburbs.