Wednesday, October 7, 2015

Monet to Monet


We started our trip to France with a visit to the Musée d'Orsay, with a focus on wallowing in Monet paintings there. And we ended with a pilgrimage to Giverny and Monet's (surprisingly large) house and garden. Another item (along with Mont St. Michel) off my bucket list on this trip.





The lily pond didn't have any lilies in bloom, but still managed to exude the serenity of Monet's paintings (or rather the paintings capture the serenity of the pond).

























Of course, I needed to have a picture of myself on the bridge, to have the sense of living in a painting:


As I was standing there, a clutch of young Australians arrived and squealed "We're on the bridge. THE ACTUAL BRIDGE". I was of course more restrained, but I felt the same way about being on the actual bridge! And then there were the trellises, familiar from another painting:



The garden was glorious - so much more was in bloom than one would expect for end of September. We met a young intern gardener (from PEI no less) who informed us that there were eight full-time gardeners as well as two apprentices and two interns, the same contingent as in Monet's day. He had started the garden with just his family - mind you, he did have eight kids - but ended with eight gardeners. Despite all the effort put into it, the garden managed to look ever so natural and almost unplanned. My camera was constantly clicking to provide me with a permanent record. Here's a sample:









Giverny was a perfect ending to a perfect trip.

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