This Change In Travel Plans Is Brought To You Courtesy Of A French General Strike

We are on the last leg of our river cruise and have experienced what one should expect while travelling in France, a general strike. As a result of the strike we had to moor at Rouen again last night rather than cruising to Vernon due to the fact that none of the locks on the Seine were working due to the strike. So today, rather than ten minute bus trip from Vernon to Givenchy, we had a one hour ride from Rouen to Vernon. We roll with the punches.
Monet's garden at Giverny was a highlight of the cruise. Yor really feel that you have walked into a Monet painting and just drink in the beauty. The tour of his house we could have done without because it was quite crowded and we felt like cattle being herded from room to room. After Giverny, we went to Vernon with a very small crowd, had a nice lunch, and a tour of the town and museum. Since we had our travel plans changed, Uniworld gave us each 15 Euros for our lunch and paid our admission to the museum. Our guide was Patricia, a delightful local guide who is also a painter, so she was able to point out fine points of some of the paintings we saw in the museum. There were two Monets on display in the museum. One of the best parts about the museum was that it was not crowded. The majority of our boat took an optional tour to Versailles this afternoon, and from what we hear, it was packed, possibly due to the stike yesterday. I am so grateful that I got to see Versailles on my own at the beginning of the day while it was relatively uncrowded.
I need to correct some information I gave out in the last post about Champlain. He did sail from Honfleur, but he founded the city of Quebec. It was La Salle who left Honfleur and eventually sailed down the Missississippi and claimed all the land for Louis XIV. There, I feel better. Honfleur is cute but very touristy. I know, I know, we were there as tourists, but many of us felt that way about Honfleur. Rather than stay in Honfleur for lunch, we returned to Caudebec where our boat was, had lunch, and then I had a very enjoyable stroll around the town with camera in hand. A lovely day. I was going to visit the church in Caudebec and heard the bell of the church start pealing. As I approached the church, I heard organ music so was looking forward to perhaps another private organ recital. As I rounded the last turn in the bend, I practically bumped into a vehicle which turned out to be a hearse delivering the deceased to his or her funeral. I did not go into the church.
I would have been more regular about posting on the blog, but the computer onboard is linked to a satellite and unless the moon is in the seventh house and Jupiter aligns with Mars, it can be difficult to get on the internet. It is kind of hit and miss and there have been more misses than hits lately.
Tomorrow we return to Paris and disembark on Sunday then on to NYC on Monday.
It is now several hours later. The satellite may have gone on strike because I could not publish this last night as I intended. Fortunately, since I have such a vast store of technical savvy, I was able to save the draft, don't ask me how. As our trip in France winds to a close, some things I have learned. The Seine meanders through some beautiful countryside and though it goes west, it snakes in a north south fashion to meet the sea. Think of a snake slithering and you get an idea of how the Seine moves. Paris is a shopper's paradise. Any of you who know me know how much I love to shop so a shopper's paradise is lost on me. I kept on looking for Ross but could not find one. Could not find Target either. But I did find Starbucks. Europeans use their forks differently from Americans. They cut, stab, and lift food to mouth without switching the fork to the other hand. French coffee is good and strong but the idea of refills is foreign to the French. And never drink coffee with your meal. It is served after. Paris is a beautiful city, but you know that if you have been here.
For now, au revoir.
Art