Sept 22, 2023 - Journey to Paris

On the way back to Paris, we stoped by Giverny to visit the house and gardens that once inspired Claude Monet's exquisite Impressionist works of art. The famous water lily ponds and colorful gardens created by the Master of Impressionism, Claude Monet, at his home in Giverny gave him his greatest artistic inspiration and have made this tiny river Seine-side village famous all over the world. 

It was raining, however, the beauty of the Monet’s garden and house did not impacted by the rain.  We got our umbrella out and went forward with our visit to this historical and artistically famous place.  There are two parts in Monet's garden: a flower garden called Clos Normand in front of the house and a Japanese inspired water garden on the other side of the road. 

We followed the crowd to visit the lily ponds first and the beautiful bridges and the ponds are exactly like what we saw in his famous lily series of paints.  

Then we visited his house and Clos Normand.  We enjoyed so much, we even went to the souvenir shop and brought quite a few items.

In the afternoon, we got back to Paris and stayed at the same hotel as we first got here.

Then we ventured out by ourselves via subway to see Place du Chatelet, Nortre-Dame, Pont Nuef. We also walked along the Seine River Bank and finally got to Saint-Chapelle.  

Sainte-Chapelle is a 13th-century royal chapel with a magical interior of golden Gothic arches and 1,113 stained glass windows, plus a storied history. Due to the entry system they have, we were not sure about the time for pre-booking the entrance tickets, therefore, we were planning to just looking this chapel from outside.  Since it was getting close to their closing time, Fei just tried to ask the guard to see if there is any chance to get in. Surprisedly, they just asked us to stand in the waiting line and few minutes later, we purchased the tickets and got in.  This was definitely our luckiest day.  

Once we stepped in the chapel, we were totally wowed by the beauty of its stained glass windows.  We were there for quite a while and admired its beauty and also took a lot of photos.

Then we took the subway to The Place du Trocadero which is located just across the Seine River from Eiffel Tower.  the Place du Trocadero offers a stunning panoramic view of the tower, and is especially beautiful at night when the tower is illuminated.