Water Lilies and Sculpted Chocolates

It is now Saturday, June 19, the cruise actually ends tomorrow morning. Most of my blogging efforts have been trying to get pictures to load, but still no luck, so I give up until we get to the hotel in Paris.

I’ve got lots of catching up to do! The cruise has been fun and a different experience for Tom and me. We’ve met lots of nice people (and a very few that we avoid like the plague), but it’s all part of the atmosphere. The group is at least 90% Americans, the rest are Australian and British. In other words, all English speaking. Oddly, the staff is mostly Eastern European, (Czech, Serbian, Croatian, etc.) and some don’t even speak French!

Last night they had a “musical quiz” in the lounge (bar) after dinner. It sounded corny at first, but it was a lot of fun. Each couple or group got a list and a pen, two of the directors acted as moderators and the keyboard player played parts of twelve different songs from different countries. The object was to name the song and then answer the bonus question about the song. Everything from the familiar Don’t Cry For Me Argentina (bonus question: who played the male lead in the movie Evita) to some Russian song that most people never heard of. It was all very goodnaturedly competitive and by the end everybody wanted to win. When it was finished, they collected the sheets, quickly compiled the scores, and announced the winners—a group of about eight who had pooled their knowledge (we didn’t think of that), and I guess had come up with all of the answers. The prizes must have been pretty good because there was lots of whooping and hollering in the winners’ circle.

After leaving Paris last Monday, we cruised along the Seine, through the six locks, made a quick stop at Conflans to pick up some people who had opted to take an afternoon tour of the Louvre and then be bussed to Conflans to meet the boat. We cruised through the night and when we woke up the next morning we were in the little town of Vernon--pronounced the French way. Tom and I always stop in Vernon, Texas--pronounced the Texas way--on the way home from Colorado in September to eat lunch at the world’s finest catfish joint, but this Vernon is quite different—no catfish, but lots of timbered houses, a few creperies, cobbled streets and shops filled to capacity with the most beautiful cheeses, baked goods and chocolates sculpted in elaborate designs, fresh fruits and vegetables, olive oils, spices and preserves, and profusions of flowers.

In the afternoon we went to the famous estate of Claude Monet in Giverny where he painted his wonderful water lilies among other masterpieces. Monet apparently was happier in his garden than in his studio and according to our guide he didn’t really like to paint. He was never satisfied with the outcome and always thought he could do better. I always assume that artistic geniuses need their art like we mere mortals need air and that they simply must paint, or write, or sculpt or whatever. Apparently not so, at least for Monet.

Monet’s property is a 96 acre estate in the village of Giverny which he acquired after he became successful. The gardens and water lily ponds are extensive, but frankly it was so crowded with people that the mood that Monet must have cultivated there was impossible to capture. He would no doubt shake his head in dismay if he could see all these people traipsing through the gardens, crushing into his house, snapping pictures of the bed he slept in and the table where he ate. The paintings in the house are not originals, but copies! They are copies in the museum that is adjacent to the house as well—because of security according to our guide. The originals are all over the world, but here at the home of the artist, there are cheap imitations. He would turn over in his grave.