Cycling in Ile-de-France

This post has nothing to do with cycling in Ile-de-France, or, for that matter, cycling of any kind. "Cycling in Ile-de-France" is the title of an article on a web site called "Freewheeling France." Yesterday I received an e-mail from the site's webmaster, Lynette Eyb, requesting permission to use the following picture from my Flickr account to illustrate the article:

Château de La Roche-Guyon, Ile-de-France

I was honored, although I didn't have the heart to tell Ms. Eyb that I wasn't cycling when I took the picture. I was on a bus. Also, there's a good chance I didn't take the picture. Loretta might have taken it. I honestly don't remember. It was ten years ago. But I will be happy to take the credit.

The picture was taken (by either Loretta or me) on the road between Versailles and Giverny, on a day trip we took out of Paris on June 11, 2003. When we purchased the tickets for the tour, Loretta told the Parisian at the ticket counter that we wanted to visit "Versailles and Givenchy."

"Madame," the man replied in that wonderfully disdainful tone that can only be achieved with a good French accent, "Givenchy is the perfume. Giverny is the home of Claude Monet."

I'm pretty sure I'm the one who took this picture of Monet's water lily pond:

Le bassin aux nymphéas de Claude Monet

I thought there were too many tourists in the picture, so I removed them with Photoshop:

Le bassin aux nymphéas de Claude Monet (sans touristes)

Even with all of the tourists, it was a tranquil and incredibly beautiful place. If you're ever in Paris, make sure you visit it.

Just remember—it's "Giverny," not "Givenchy."