We sailed the Seine until around 11:00am when de docked at the town on Vernon in Normandy. We boarded a bus and went to Chateau De Bizy, which was originally built in the 1500s and destroyed during the French Revolution. The stables, which can house 60 horses, originate from 1740 but the rest of the chateau was built in the 1800s. It is a former royal residence of King Louis XV, the Duke of Penthievre and King Louis-Philippe, the last king of France who died in 1830. It has since been owned by the dukes of Albufera, descendants of the brothers of Napoleon Bonaparte. The current owner is a descendant of Marechal (Marshal) Suchet. The furniture had all been sold by past generations and the valuable tapestries were hidden away when the Nazis used it as a headquarters. Mush of the original or similar furniture was repurchased after WWII and furnishes the public viewing areas. It hasn’t yet opened for the 2013 season so we had a private tour, 2 groups of 15, and had no crowds to distract us. The carved panel walls were impressive as was an ornate wood stairway going square shaped up 2 floors. The gardens cover 240 acres and have several fountains giving the chateau the nickname the Versailles of Normandy. Since the snow has only been gone for 2 weeks, the gardens haven’t been planted and the fountains are empty, however it is still a spectacular place to visit. Following our 2½ hour visit we went back into Vernon to wander on our own for 1½ hours. Normally the ship would have remained there until we returned, but the lock keepers weren’t going to work Saturday evening or Easter day so the ship went through the locks to Les Andelys and we had to wait until it got there, hence the extra free time in Vernon. Vernon was founded in the 9th century by Rollo, the first Duke of Normandy and a=was incorporated into the Kingdom of France and the castle was fortified by King Philip III Agustus (1180 – 1223) but only the archives tower remains. It’s close to Giverny where Monet’s house is located. Unfortunately Monet’s extensive gardens haven’t been planted for the season and there are none of his original paintings there. People who took that tour were very disappointed and it appears that we got the better deal of the day. Once we got back on the ship, we sailed down river to Rouen where we docked at 11:00pm.
we found out that 80% of the crew is new, mostly from Hungary & Bulgaria, and 70% of the guests are first time river cruisers so we're having lots of fun watching all the goof ups from all the newbies.
