There is a little town called Vernon which sits about half the distance from Paris to the English Channel. It is adjacent to Giverney, the famous home of Claude Monet . . and his water lilies.
That day we were headed to see the famous gardens. We passed through Les Andelys with the great expectation of arriving at Giverny in the morning hours. However, the Seine was winding, and I was slowly noodling my way through the countryside.
We followed the road signs until Vernon appeared. The modern part of the city was across the Seine and was accessible via a new bridge. However, next to it was the old bridge, still standing guard even though it had long ago lost its wooden beams. The only thing left were the concrete stanchions on the banks.
Our tortuous journey through the countryside had taken us a long time. So, now it was time for lunch and, fortunately, we were in the historic part of the city.
We found an old café. It had open seating in a beautiful garden of grass and trees. It had five or six old, round metal tables with refurbished red metal chairs neatly placed around them. They were carefully stationed under the trees and had tablecloths decorated with red roosters. The green plaid place settings stood out against the table cloths. The white napkins sat on the place settings, pointed and well folded. The back of the garden was the entrance to an old church.
The proprietor told us that Monet would eat there after church on Sunday, white suit and generous gray beard flowing along with the wine which was always plentiful.
We ate sausages, drank wine, and talked for hours in that beautiful garden.