Giverny-worth it?
Don and Debbie
worth it? Not from a money standpoint, although I hear its about 60$
a person or you need to spend most of the day between train and bus to
save on fees. More from a standpoint, is it now a Disneyland atmosphere
with tons of people running all over the place and a busy road? Is the
serenity he painted gone into history? Appreciate all the help you have
given us for this trip, especially Ted, another California native!
Don
kco...@yahoo.com
quite a few times. Yes, it is teeming with tourists, but I would not say that
it has a "Disneyland" atmosphere. Within the gardens themselves there are
pleasant footpaths and lots of benches with no garish signs or kiosks to mar
the view. The tourists tend to spread out and the traffic jams are only in
Monet's house and the giftshop. The gardens do look a bit tired by the time
August comes around, so the earlier in the summer the better. The surrounding
area is still pretty quiet- no McDonalds here- and the American
Impressionists Museum down the street is a worthwhile visit if that's what
you're interested in. Note: I was nearly taken for a ride in a nearby cafe
when the waiter kindly charged me for a whole bottle of cider instead of just
a glass, no doubt hoping I wouldn't notice :)
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Jack
<don...@ix.netcom.com> wrote:
>Giverny or Monet's house outside of Paris. If time is limited, is it
>worth it? Not from a money standpoint, although I hear its about 60$
>a person or you need to spend most of the day between train and bus to
>save on fees.
Giverny is 72 km from Paris. By car you can take the autoroute A 13
direction Rouen and exit at Vernon or Bonnieres.
By trian take the line Paris-Rouen at the gare Saint-Lazare and get
out at Vernon. Duration of the train ride is 60 minutes. So it's not
whole day.
>More from a standpoint, is it now a Disneyland atmosphere
>with tons of people running all over the place and a busy road?
Certainly not. During the summer there can be a lot of people but
there is nothing Disneyland about it!! I don't know who told you that.
The place is wonderful and exhales the spirit of Monet very well. And
there are other things to see in Giverny. To have a full review about
what to do in Giverny log on my web site
http://www.worldtable.com/Jack/guides.html
and take the link to Ile de France posts. There you can reda several
posts about the road of the Impressionist called
ESCAPADES EN ILE-DE-FRANCE-THE ROAD OF THE IMPRESSIONISTS(1)
ESCAPADES EN ILE-DE-FRANCE-THE ROAD OF THE IMPRESSIONISTS(2)
THE ROAD OF THE IMPRESSIONISTS(3) coming to Giverny
THE ROAD OF THE IMPRESSIONISTS(4) Giverny 1
THE ROAD OF THE IMPRESSIONISTS(5) Giverny 2
Here as an example the post Giverny 1
We're entering GIVERNY. We are impatient to get to Monet's house, see
finally that so famous garden and walk in the footsteps of that great
genius, artist and painter who gives us so much emotion when we look
at his works. Beware!! The house of Monet is closed in the winter!! To
be more precise from Oct 31 to April 1. Be aware of that before
scheduling a day trip to Giverny!
But let's start the visit of the village as it should be: it's a
village, so let's try to get you in the atmosphere.
Giverny!! Charming village rising gradually on a sweet slope at the
shores of the Seine. Monet contributed of course a lot to its glory
when he decided to settle down here in 1883 until his death in 1926.
He rests in the parochial cemetery. And it's under Monet's impulsion
that a lot of artists (of which numerous Americans) came to Giverny.
Today, outside the house of Monet and its gardens, the "Musee
Americain" is also very visited.
Now....if Giverny owes a lot to Monet, the contrary is far from true!
Accepted with great difficulty by the natives, Monet lived without a
real contact with the inhabitants, who made him pay very dearly the
hay stacks he wanted to fix on the canvas. Monet needed genuine
natural settings to paint, and above all, the different light shades
of the different moments of the day , more specially the early morning
light. He was one of the first, advised by Boudin, to paint at the
site spot, symbolizing the images to the extreme to "reduce" them to a
luminous impression, a light effect. The way of panting goes beyond
the painted subject. "Impresssion, soleil levant" was the work that
gave birth to impressionism. If Boudin approached very close to the
delicate lecture of this natural light, Monet became the indisputable
master of the genre. He painted a few of his most renowned master
works, like the Nymphea series, in the garden he created entirely
himself.
In Giverny, Monet settled down in this long pink house with its green
window-shutters. He rose at dawn , took a copious breakfast and ran
off to study the light before it dissolved into unusable one. He
worked often on several paintings at the same time , obtaining the
light nuances at different hours for the same subject. Numerous French
artists will follow him to Giverny but also a lot of Americans, from
whom some will lodge at the hotel Baudy (now open to the public).
To reflect the American presence in Giverny, an American museum opened
his doors. A reason more to come on the footsteps of the master.
Let's start with the most wanted: THE FONDATION CLAUDE MONET (House of
Monet). Tel 0232512821. Open from April 1 to October 31. Closed on
Mondays (except on festive days).
The house and gardens of Monet were returned to their original aspect,
but it would be honest to warn the Monet lovers that not one original
work of the master is to see in this house. People come only to
observe the life cadre and especially to admire the superb flourished
garden of the master who diverted the waters of the river Epte to
water its Japanese little universe.The garden in front of the house is
dazzling with colors. The pond with the nenuphars, located at the
other side of the road, is accessible by an underground passage in the
garden. I guarantee you deep emotion when it's the water-lillies
season! In Monet's time, the spot was much more romantic because only
a dirt road and a railway (trains passed very rarely) separated the
garden from the famous water surface. It's of course at this place
that he painted his "Nympheas".
Without the colors explosion of the garden, the visit loses a lot of
its interest. Maybe that's why they close it for 5 months.
The house is touching due to it's moving simplicity. Notice the
beautiful yellow sparkling dining room and the kitchens dressed in
azulejos. Besides the furnishing, you can see superb Japanese prints,
personal collection of Claude Monet. Marvelous!! The atelier houses
the boutique of the foundation.
The story of Monet's house after his death is worth an other post. I
will tell you how the "Academie des Beaux-Arts" took possession of the
premises in 1966, discovering Monet's house in a terrible state of
decay.
More in next post: Giverny 2.
Jack
My Paris, Ile -de-France and Languedoc-Roussillon posts on
http://www.worldtable.com/Jack/guides.html
Amsterdam,Provence Cote d'azur, Normandy landing beaches and
memorials, Loire valley and its chateaux,
Languedoc-Roussillon,Belgium,and Dublin posts are now available on
http://home.earthlink.net/~primos/
Maria Gladd
Don and Debbie wrote in message <373478...@ix.netcom.com>...
>Giverny or Monet's house outside of Paris. If time is limited, is it
>worth it?
It was my highlight of all the sidetrips we took from Paris. Of course I
am a tremendous fan of impressionist art. The lilly ponds looks the same
as when Monet painted. We have a photo of my husband and I on the bridge.
It wasn't terribly crowded but we arrived when the doors first opened and
were gone by noon. I think we took a France Shrinkers tour. This was
several years ago so things may have changed. I hope not.
Have a fun trip.
Maria
Martin Rich
<don...@ix.netcom.com> wrote:
>Giverny or Monet's house outside of Paris. If time is limited, is it
>worth it? Not from a money standpoint, although I hear its about 60$
>a person or you need to spend most of the day between train and bus to
>save on fees.
I can't really comment on the cost, as when I was there we were
staying in Rouen, and going to Giverny certainly didn't cost the
equivalent of US$60. Giverny is just half-way between Rouen and
Paris. Take a train from Paris to Vernon (45 minutes) and local bus
from there. You don't need to spend a whole day doing the trip,
though it would be a shame to try to cram too much else in the same
day.
> More from a standpoint, is it now a Disneyland atmosphere
>with tons of people running all over the place and a busy road? Is the
>serenity he painted gone into history?
Well, it's crowded, and there are queues, albeit reasonably fast
moving ones, at busy times. But the site is well screened from the
main road and you can certainly still get a sense of Monet's
inspirations
Martin
--
Martin Rich M.G....@city.ac.uk
City University Business School, London, UK
(0171) 477 8627 (Home email mar...@jackdaw.u-net.com)
Fax (0171) 477 8628 http://www.city.ac.uk/martin
Rotman99
highlights of our trip. The trains were on a "slowdown" , so we took one of the
Paris city tours ($60/p) which is about double taking trains, but worth it for
no hassle and waiting around and direct route to gardens and house.
We had plenty of time in gardens, which were not overrun with tourists, but
were not empty, of course. There is plenty of room for walking. The gardens
were beautiful and fresh and the colors were astounding.
This is a good time of year. Plenty of space to sit on benches beneath the
wisteria trees and gaze across the pond. The bridges were dripping with lilacs.
Most people were quiet and respectful.
For us, it was a relaxing last day.
JohnR
Definitely worth it. Everytime you see a Monet painting you'll think "Hey,
I've been there". It was very peaceful & nice to get out of the city & see
some of the countryside. Enjoy....
Rotman99 wrote in message <19990512093734...@ng-fe1.aol.com>...