Story from a Birthday Girl. One of My Best Birthdays in Paris and Giverny

Today it's my birthday. We had big plans but my little daughter is sick and we had to reschedule.
We almost always try to get out for my birthdays. We celebrated it in France, Spain, Rhodes, twice in Germany (Trier and Romantische strasse), Israel, Sicily. And I would like to tell you about one of the best birthdays I had.

It was 2005 and my future husband brought me to Holland to meet his parents for the first time. He suggested having my birthday somewhere in France but didn't tell the exact place . The day before my birthday we went to France by car and he gave me a map appointing me as a navigator. My future husband pointed the city Beauvais as orientation. I was very surprised that we wouldn't go to Paris as it was very close to it on the map. But he didn't say anything.

Brussels

We stopped at the main square in Brussels. It was gorgeous and we decided to have a lunch with good beer there.

And the beer was good. Frankly speaking I love German and Belgian beer a lot.

Surprise

Our drive to France took about 5 hours and finally we got to our destination. And it was a surprise!!!!!!!! As I love Claude Monet we stayed in GIVERNY where Monet lived and created most of his landscapes. Moreover, we stayed at the house of his step daughter. We were accommodated on the second floor of the house which seemed to me very French (I always imagined French houses like that). It was a very nice cozy room and in special French style. All this French atmosphere made my head spin.

When we woke up in the morning it was my birthday and I got this!

It was not really a hotel, they just rented a room. The funny thing was the toilet. When you flushed it , everybody in the house could hear it. We had breakfast downstairs at their sitting room. It was an unbelievable feeling. Breakfast was also really French. Then my boy - friend finally told me that we would go to Paris! I was in heaven.

Paris

We took a train to Paris. Paris is a city you want to come back to. Unfortunately, we had only one day there and I hope I will see it again.

Moulin Rouge reminded me one of my favourite artists Henry de Toulouse - Lautrec where he spent many nights, and painted many billboards for it. And the characters of his paintings were mainly from Moulin Rouge or similar places.

Of course, the gorgeous and unique symbol of Paris - Eiffel tower. It sounds strange now that there were times when people were against it. As I have written in my previous post, be tolerant to the piece of art (but don't forget that not everything is art)))).

Champs Elysees. Frankly speaking I imagined it very differently but it reminded me of Tverskaya street or Kutuzovskiy prospect (because of the Triumphal Arch) in Moscow.

Sacre Coeur and Montmartre. In this area you have a special feeling of freedom. You just want to walk and enjoy paintings and people around.

Notre Dame de Paris. Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful.

We spent an hour just sitting on a bench in the backyard and looking at this amazing creation.

Luxembourg garden. I was really impressed with this garden. It was full of friendly people. The heady atmosphere there made you happy and a little bit drunk.))

After it we started to look for a restaurant for my birthday dinner. It turned out to be a problem. As mostly there were touristy places and all of them had stuffed animals on the walls. I don't know the reason but all these animals were everywhere. I am far from crazy about them. So, dinner was not spectacular and next time we will just take a bottle of wine, baguette or pizza and go to the bank of the Sienna as many people do. The finale of my birthday should have been a boat trip at night in Paris. But we couldn't find the boat platform. We were running and running but it was too late when we found it. Unfortunately, we couldn't take the next one as we were afraid to miss the last train to Giverny. But it didn't spoil the day and some surprises were waiting for me next day.

Giverny

The next day we visited the house of Claude Monet. To say I was impressed and overwhelmed is an understatement. It was one of the most beautiful places I have ever visited. You can see the pond which inspired Monet.

Paintings of Claude Monet made in Giverny

Image Source

Image Source

And my boyfriend fed me my favourite chocolate in Giverny Garden as he promised when we just met on the dating site. ))

Claude Monet also had the most beautiful garden I have ever seen. Just have a look.

Thank you, my dear husband, for that wonderful birthday! I hope you will stay romantic forever. Love you.