Giverny & La Nuit aux Invalides

Finally a weekend in Paris, and what a glorious weekend it was!  After days and weeks of cool, grey, and rainy weather, we finally got some sun and warm temps in May, and we took full advantage of it!

Saturday morning we got up bright and early to make the 1 hour drive out to Giverny, Monet's home and gardens.  It was a perfect day for it, but apparently everyone else thought so too as 15 minutes after it opened, it was inundated with tourists and tour groups.  Despite all the people, we enjoyed the visit and many of the flowers were in full bloom.  I think it's a bit more tricky to get here by public trasnit (45+ min train plus bus ride), but if you have a long extended time in Paris, it's worth the trip.  Just go early (we were there 15 minutes before it opened!)

Afterward, we took full advantage of being in the 'burbs and having our car for the weekend, and after a pit stop at Pizza Hut (complete with a clown for kids...you know you're in the suburbs when....) we headed to Auchan (think Wal-Mart/Target) to stock up on our favorite Mexican goodies, which are not easy to come by in Paris.

Next we headed to the pick your own portion of Ferme Gally.  We had been in the fall and loved it, so we were excited to go back.  Sadly, not much was in season yet, and after scouring every strawberry plant, we only found 2 ripe ones, which we ate on the spot.  We did pick handfuls of rhubarb, which was very exciting because you rarely see it at the markets in town.  It doesn't seem to be a very popular fruit (?veggie?) with the French.  It made me happy though, and I promptly made rhubarb crisp with it!

Saturday night after a little picnic in the park, we decided to check out La Nuit aux Invalides with our friends Chris and Lindsay, and their friends who were visiting from the US (Wisconsin!).  It was very impressive laser, light, and music show detailing the history of the building of Invalides through present day...in French of course.  While the main concepts and even a few of the details made it through to my brain, I'm sure a native French speaker would have loved the show even more.  Regardless, it was fantastic and thoroughly entertaining!

The rest of the weekend was spent lounging in the grass of parks, trying to soak up the sun while it lasts.  Rain and cooler temps are called for again by the end of the week, so we have to take what we can get!  Good thing we have lots of visitors coming up the in next month to keep us entertained!