En Route to Somewhere Else

I have often used my trip to Paris as a frame for a trip to somewhere else. Mainly because I can't imagine going to Europe without going to Paris. I have done the Paris-London thing, Paris-Perigord, Paris-Kiev, Paris-Eindhoven, Paris-Amsterdam and Paris-Venice.
I loved Lviv but wasn't too keen on Kiev. Kiev was cheaper than Paris but had nothing I wanted to buy and far too many Russians for my comfort. I was happy to get to Paris and not just for the plumbing.
 Paris and London compliment each other nicely; although each are equally outrageously expensive, people in London are definitely friendlier than their Parisian counterparts. There's something about being called "Love" that's a soothing antidote for Parisian pushiness.
Doing Venice on the same trip with Paris is asking for sensory overload. And if you think the German and American tourists are obnoxious in Paris, wait til you hit Venice, where the streets are only a fraction as wide. You're in a squeeze almost everywhere you go, almost any time of year. Venetians themselves are very friendly, if you can actually find any.
And I've been meaning to go back.
But there's something about Amsterdam that's a balm to the French experience (and no, it's not the coffee houses, though it could be). I go to Amsterdam so my wallet and I can recuperate from Paris.

It's nice to have someone waiting!

Another View of the Garden

                                                                                                                                                                                            I'd been to Monet's Garden before but always with one of those overpriced tourist outfits. I reasoned that it was easier to  show up at the Paris Vision office and just be whisked away rather than try and find my own way there. This time I wasn't willing to be rushed or pay the 150 Euros it cost for a guide and minibus. So I asked the concierge at my hotel how to get to Giverny.
I hopped the metro to Gare St. Lazare and picked up a round trip ticket for the train to Vernon for less than 28 Euros. A waiting shuttle as big as a city bus cost 8 Euros and entrance to the Garden itself, another 9.  And boy, did I feel stupid for not doing it this way sooner.
Only days before closing for the season, the garden still had plenty of flowers. The lilies in the pond may have disappeared but so had the hoards of tourists. The only place I really encountered them was in the  gift shop and the house itself (where I got to round someone up to take my picture). The last time I'd done this was nearly 20 years ago and the only thing that had changed was me.

Then

And now

The last stop before leaving 

A peek on the way out