Today, Tuesday, was the best so far, because we spent most of it in Monet's garden at Giverny. Words really cannot describe what it is like to be there. The village itself is very charming - lots of stone cottages, roling hills with big trees, and artists painting along the side of the road. The Fondation Claude Monet is where his house and gardens are, and the flowers were in glorious bloom. Many irises, peonies, tulips, roses and other flowers in every color you can imagine. When you walk amongst them, it is like being inside one of his paintings.

The Japanese garden with the lily pond was breathtaking. We first went through in the morning, and it was a little cloudy, so none of the water lilies were open. Later in the day, the sun was fully out so we ran back before catching the train to see if they'd opened, and sure enough they had. There were all sorts of pink and white lilies floating in the pond. It was such a happy moment (despite the loads of the other people who were there). It is awesome to think of Monet painting these with his deteriorating eyesight. He created a place where he could paint the nature he loved so much, and I think he would be very happy to know it is enjoyed by so many people.

Ate lunch outside in a garden cafe and had a huge crepe stuffed with chicken and cheese. Yum. We stopped at an artists' gallery and both fell in love with a painting. It was a good thing he doesn't accept credit cards. :)

After getting back to town, it was time for a pastry (no comments!) so we stopped at a cafe and watched people rush by. After we left, we were almost on the metro when we realized we had both left our bags with all of our Monet stuff on the ground by our table, so we went racing back. Our sweet waiter (who went to school in the US) had seen them and put them away for us. Another example of the great people here.

After a brief nap, we headed out to explore our neighborhood a bit more. About 2 blocks away there's anything you could ever want. The oldest chocolate store in Paris (opened in the 1700s), tons of ethnic restaurants, food markets, and these really quaint covered shopping arcades, called galleries or passages, that are filled with little specialty shops. We had Lebanese food for dinner at a table on the sidewalk where we could watch everyone. It was the best food and great, fun people. We had a terrible laughing fit over something really stupid (a little drunk) and then walked around some more. AMC bought a bunch of khotchkes and bargained with the shop owner.