La Pruniere, Vernon

This is the second post about visiting Monet's home and gardens. As I said previously, I decided to spend the night in the area in order to, hopefully, avoid the huge crowds. Monet's estate is visited by over half a million visitors each year, and most of them are day tripping in from Paris. This means that most people arrive in the morning and start making their way back to Paris a bit after 4pm.

I booked La Pruniere, a lovely Bed and Breakfast in Vernon, which is situated a thirty-minute walk from Giverny.

The guesthouse is owned and managed by a lovely woman who welcomed us very warmly.

I found this 18th century traditional timber framed house to be incredibly picturesque.

Our room was beautiful and spacious, although there was one beam in the middle of the ceiling that I had to watch out for. My mom is much shorter so she was ok, but since I am 5'9" I had to duck a little. It was fine for one night but I can see that getting a little annoying after a while. I'm sure that not all the rooms have a beam like that, and again, if you are 5'8" and under you will be fine.

We were treated to some drinks and snacks.

They had a beautiful garden with roses, cherry trees, lounge chairs and lights.

In the morning we enjoyed a lovely breakfast.

La Pruniere
4 rue Georges Carpentier
Vernon

Joanna

Comments

Bordier Butter - The Best Butter in France

France is in the midst of a butter shortage! Due to a decrease in milk production and a substantial demand for French pastries all over the world (mainly China and the Middle East), the price of butter has increased by 60% in one year. The French are stocking up and thus creating shortages. French newspapers are publishing articles titled "A guide to cooking without butter". So, with hopes that the shortages are temporary, here is my ode to the best butter in the world. I'm not kidding. The. Best. Butter. In. The. World. Mr. Bordier, a grandson and a son of cheese mongers, became a butter artisan in 1985. He acquired a creamery originally founded in 1927. The supreme taste of the Bordier butter was first recognized by a chef from the Plaza Athenee while vacationing in Brittany, a beautiful region in northwestern France. Bordier is the lone butter master to still use the old method of kneading the butter according to the 19th century t...

Grandma's Kitchen, Hangzhou

In need of some traditional cooking, we made our way to Grandma's Home/Grandma's Kitchen. We were prepared for a long wait since this is a very popular restaurant, but got lucky and only waited for 15 minutes. It was after 8pm, maybe that was the reason. There is a computer at the entrance where one can register for a table. We just gave our name to the girl inside the lobby, she in turn handed us a paper with our number on it. As we waited outside, we kept our eyes glued to the screen in the lobby showing the ticket numbers. When our number came up, the lobby girl gave us the number of our table and we took the elevator to the 8th floor. The numbers are on the edge of each table. I really liked the design of the restaurant. It was creative in the use of old jars with words scribbled on them, chalk like drawings on the walls and bamboo beams creating a roof above us. The menu was in Chinese but we...

Indian Accent, NYC

Often when a question arises as to what to eat for dinner, I think of Indian food. I am a very happy gal with chicken makhani, basmati rice, an onion kulcha or a nan laid out in front of me. I have heard some very good things about Indian Accent, a relatively new restaurant in midtown Manhattan, adjacent to the Parker Hotel. The décor here is unlike most Indian restaurants I have visited; no boldly colored fabrics, beautiful tapestries, intricately carved wood, or lanterns. Indian Accent restaurant looks like something that Daniel Boulud would envision. There are about fifteen wooden tables and a few small booths, fabric covered modern chairs, a lit bar with glass shelves and golden accents throughout, and large glass vases filled with flowering branches. The menu is complicated, however, our terrific waiter took his time and explained each dish and even made some wonderful suggestions. Actually, everyone at the restaurant was really professiona...

A Fork And A Suitcase

Search This Blog