Monet & Me

Today we headed to Giverny. It was a 1 hour train ride outside of Paris, but so worth it! Especially if you have grown up admiring Monet's artwork!  His gardens are to die for. His house is beautiful and sunny. We watched a video about him in the gift shop. I was surprised to learn that he was manic/depressive.  His mood was also dictated by the weather. Bad weather would drop him into a depression where he wouldn't move for several days. He was also OCD about his flowers. If his children picked the flowers, he would go crazy. We joked that hes probably rolling over in his grave watching thousands of people stream through his gardens each day...
Another crazy fact we learned is that he had a gardener to remove the raindrops from the lily pads each day... I don't even know how that is possible? Did the gardener wade into the water and wear like special gloves to gently brush off the the raindrops clinging to the surface of the garden? any way, here are some pictures.  One picture is in the main garden and the other is in the water garden with my friend Ashley.

Now I want to do a small stint on the Paris Metro... 

Parisian Metro Etiquette

A short guide to navigating the metro like a native 

• The doors to the trams open 3 different ways depending on which line you are riding. More populated lines especially touristy ones (like line 1)  open for you.  Other lines have handles that you swing up (Not down! this is an embarrassing mistake because the door won't open! been there done that...) some have big square buttons that say "push here to open" in french. 
• If the train stops for a long time and no one moves and someone gabs rapidly in french over the intercom, they're probably just saying "sorry for the momentary interruption  be patient, we'll be moving soon." If the train stops and everyone gets out... you'll probably want to follow. 
• Know where your going all the way to your destination before you get on your train. Look for the stops at the end of the lines your taking to know which direction you need to head in since the metro will go both ways.  They're usually signs which list all the stops on the particular line so you can make sure that your right
• Keep you pass ready in your hand when your approaching the entrance area of the metro/changing line/exiting the metro. To get through, you simply drop your pass on top of the purple area until a green light shows and it makes a little binging noise. Push through the turnstiles immediately after or you'll be locked out.  Once you've scanned your pass and not gone through, there is no hope and you are trapped forever. 
• if you want to be french, skip the above bullet and proceed to hop over the barriers or sneak in behind another person. Going underneath is also a viable option. If a cop is watching or there is an information desk in close proximity, who cares! They won't stop you so don't worry about it! 
• If you want to look french while riding, simply grab one of the free newspapers and pretend to read.  Big headphones and dazed stares also work. 
• Feel free to squeeze by people to get to an empty seat if the metro is jam packed. If not, try to sit diagonal or side by side. Avoid sitting directly across. 
• sit strait up in your chair so your knees don't poke into the person across from you/into the aisle/ in the way of the door
• there are chairs right by the doors that you can pull down to sit on.  Its fine to use these unless the metro is standing room only. Then it is polite to stand up so there is more room 
• Don't make eye contact with any of the metro performers. Don't laugh when the accordion players play cheesy french music during your ride. They will know you are foreigners and they will lurk for money. 
• Finally, my personal favorite unspoken role is the usage of the escalators in the stations. Right side is standing, left side is walking. Not all over Paris though. Just in the Metro's. 

Have I mentioned that I love riding the Metro's in Paris?