Paris & Giverny
May 2023
While my cousin was still living in Paris, I finally had to take the opportunity to visit him before he moved away again. I travelled from Zurich to Paris by train to the Gare de Lyon.
We went to the city centre with my cousin. We started at the Palais Royal. This houses the Council of State and the Constitutional Council, among other things. Although it is right next to the Louvre, I had never visited it before.
We had a very tasty crepe for lunch in Rue Mouffetard.
View of the beautiful apartment blocks in Paris from Coulée verte. It was a very pleasant walk, as you walk a little higher and partly in the shade. It’s also a different perspective.
The great mosque in Paris is open to the public. Until now, I had only seen beautiful photos of the inside, but I had never been there before.
The Grand Mosquée de Paris is located directly behind the Jardin des Plantes. The façade already gives you an idea that you are about to enter another world. As soon as you enter, the street noise becomes much less and you find yourself in an oasis of calm in the middle of the hustle and bustle of the city. As with the palaces in Marrakech, you first enter a relatively simple inner courtyard. Then you follow the corridor with its beautiful, colourful mosaics until you reach the large inner courtyard. This is lushly planted, there is a small fountain in the centre and the walls are richly decorated with mosaics. The wooden doors and windows are also decorated with carvings.
Giverny
As I already know the most famous sights and have seen them several times, I wanted to explore some unknown corners. So I finally fulfilled my wish and took a day trip to Giverny and Claude Monte’s garden.
I travelled from Paris to Giverny by train and bus. I arrived quite early and as I had an online ticket, I didn’t have to wait long at the ticket office. It was still quite cloudy and not too crowded. First I made my way to the famous water lily pond. I was able to take some nice pictures without the crowds of other tourists. It is a beautifully landscaped garden. Many of the flowers were in bloom. I took a leisurely stroll around the water lily pond, sat on a bench and watched the people and nature. Then I went into the garden right in front of the house, where nasturtiums were growing on the paths, just like in the children’s book by Mr Blümchen and Linnea. What a great garden! I also visited Monte’s house. By now the sun had come out and the colours of the flowers were really bright, but there were also lots of other visitors scurrying around.
To round off my little trip to the garden, I took a walk through the little village of Giverny. I also passed the church and the cemetery where the Monte family is buried. There were hardly any tourists around.
