More Giverny and Monet's House

Another favorite.

This appeared to be a feeder stream to the pond.

 Using their camera, I took pictures of these ladies with the pink roses (on the right) between them.

Monet collected Japanese woodcuts, including Hokosai. 

 Embroidered table cloth

Monet chose these tiles from a 19th century tile maker located in Rouen, France.  These blue and white tiles mirrored  the 17th century  blue and white Chinese porcelain which had been imported to Amsterdam via the Dutch East India Trading Company. 

I did not go upstairs to see the bedrooms because it was so crowded and hot that I was done by then. The house was last, after walking through the gardens a lot.

Giverny

From Wikipedia:

Claude Monet noticed the village of Giverny while looking out of a train window. He made up his mind to move there and rented a house and the area surrounding it. In 1890 he had enough money to buy the house and land outright and set out to create the magnificent gardens he wanted to paint. Some of his most famous paintings were of his garden in Giverny, famous for its rectangular Clos normand, with archways of climbing plants entwined around colored shrubs, and the water garden, formed by a tributary to the Epte, with the Japanese bridge, the pond with the water lilies, the wisterias and the azaleas.

Monet lived in the house with its famous pink crushed brick façade from 1883 until his death in 1926. He and many members of his family are interred in the village cemetery.

 Cafe before the entrance to Monet's Garden.

Entrance. Don't be disappointed -- I did not edit these. Many are overexposed, but it was a HOT day with brilliant sunshine and hordes of tourists. I was lucky to get any shots because the crowd wanted to push you along.

This stand of bamboo was a surprise until I learned that Monet had been to Japan and was crazy about all things Japanese. Hence, the name is the Japanese Garden. I was also surprised that there are two bridges, not just one.

This is one of my favorites.

Eiffel Tower and After

At the end of one excursion (to be honest, I don't remember which one, possibly the Louvre), the bus parked and we could get out if we wanted a picture. I was so exhausted from not only walking around, but also this was one of the 90 plus F degree days, that I gladly took the bus driver up on his offer. He collected cameras from those of us who needed the a.c. on the bus and took pictures for us. When we looked to the right, there was the Eiffel Tower. When we looked to the left, there was a fountain with many people cavorting in it to escape the heat. I later learned that one of the women on our cruise had stripped off her shorts and was in the water with them. Her husband thought it was funny. He is an accountant and he was the most personable accountant I have ever met!

Excerpt from History.com:

On March 31, 1889, workers riveted the last of more than 18,000 iron pieces into place to complete construction of the Eiffel Tower. To inaugurate the magnificent metallic structure, Alexandre-Gustave Eiffel, the tower’s designer, climbed its 1,710 steps and unfurled a French tricolor flag from its pinnacle.

I would really like to put these two pictures side by side and frame it. What do you think?

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After freshening up, we went to the dining room for a gourmet meal. Dinner was served at 7:00 p.m. After dinner, I went up to "the Sun Deck" to view the night as we were underway. I cannot describe how peaceful this was. Perhaps the pictures will do it.