Day 4: pick up car and drive to Beauvais

 We arrived in Paris around 1.30 in the afternoon. It was reasonably smooth sailing getting our luggage and picking up the car. Took a while to figure out how things worked on the Peugeot and after a wee while we were on our way to Beauvais. The trip took about an hour and gave BR a chance to get a feel for the new car and driving on the other side of the road. I was the key navigator and driving instructor.

Stayed in a little BB run by the archetypal old French man (that looked a little eccentric). He had virtually no English and we had the bare basics…I’m talking 2-3 words in French. Somehow, we made it happen. The room was upstairs in a little old house built in the early 1900s. It was very cute from the front and had tiny narrow stairs….no way we could get luggage up, twisted around like the old steps leading up castle towers. The room itself was very quaint its original wooden beams and odd roof angles…in fact we had a large bedroom, a sitting room and then bathroom. We had a very comfortable sleep, which was most welcome after 7 hours on a plane. 

Our host prepared the most beautiful breakfast in the brekkie room the next day. Windows were open and large hydrangeas were creeping up and in the window. The setting and the food were very French and it was a lovely way to start our trek to Claude Monet’s home and gardens in Giverny, which was a little out of the way enroute to Rouen, but it looked like it would be stop over. 

We decided to check out a few key sites in Beauvais before we headed out to Monet's gardens. We had read that the cathedral was stunning. We, very fortunately, found a car space right outside the first church. For such as small town, this church, Saint-Etienne, along with the Cathedral Saint Pierre were stunning. We walked around Saint Etienne. You could not enter it as it looked a little rundown, but it was still lovely to walk around. 

Using our trusty Google Maps, powered by the data only E sim I purchased before we left, we were able to walk around to the Cathedral.....though we could see the towering spires a short distance away. On our way we passed through Place Jeanne Hachette, which was a beautiful large pedestrian square that had a lot of shops and cafes. A few photos and we continued to the cathedral. As we rounded the corner, we were struck by how impressive the cathedral was. we spent some time exploring both inside and out before we headed back to the car...after buying some cheese and ham baguettes for lunch and a coffee. 

We headed to Giverny to check out Monet's garden. The inspiration for a lot of his art. The weather was perfect, and we explored the area that paid homage to Monet and other impressionist artists. It was pretty cool to see the lily pond and other areas of inspiration for his paintings. Spent a few hours here, strolling, enjoying the gardens and picnicking in the apple orchard with ham and bread we had bought earlier. It’s weird to think that the entry into the gardens (11 Euro) is cheaper than a latte. Go figure.  After a lovely afternoon we headed to Rouen, capital of Normandy. 

This will be the beginning of exploring not just the city, but up to the coastline, fishing villages and maybe World War 2 sites. This time we have an apartment in town, walking distance to everything we need and want to explore here. But that’s in the next post...