JACK-DAYTRIP FROM PARIS-GIVERNY AND MONET(2)
Jack
Loire, Belgium and Holland posts are visible with pictures on
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DAYTRIP FROM PARIS-GIVERNY AND MONET(2)
Before you start really to visit the house and the gardens be aware
not one original work of the master is to see in this house. People
come only to observe 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 is made in two parts. Near the
pink house you will discover the walled flower garden and behind that
the pond with the nenuphars, located at the other side of the road
accessible by an underground passage in the garden
The garden in front of the house is dazzling with colors. You have
flowerbeds of 1 meter wide of only one colour. In other places it is a
variance of colour nuances to infinity, from pure white to soft pink
and heavy red to deep carmine. Also spots where the contrary colours
are assembled. The ensemble playing of tender and strong colours are
the essence of this garden. When you will move to the water pond I
guarantee you deep emotion with the water lilies when it's the 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 world famous "Nympheas". The reflection in the water of
the green bow bridge in Japanese style was the most important element
in the garden. Each period of the year there are wonderful flowers to
admire, which gives the garden a total different aspect when you
revisit it six months later.
Without the colours explosion of the garden, the visit loses a lot of
its interest. Maybe that's why they close it for 5 months.
Let's get back a few moments to the house, is touching due to its
moving simplicity. A beautiful kitchen dressed in azulejos, personal
pieces of Monet's collections like the Japanese prints
Interesting is what I discovered in a contemporary guide who is fond
of that sort of anecdotes: (quote): the "Academie des Beaux-Arts" took
possession of the premises in 1966, discovering Monet's house in a
terrible state of decay: furnishing, woodwork, inlaid floors and beams
were so badly damaged that they were on the brink of dislocation. One
of the staircases was even partially collapsed. 46 paintings of the
master bequeathed to the musee Marmottan by Monet's son were at once
sent away and the Japanese prints, mouldy and musty, put in a safe
place. Only the chinaware, ceramic vases, furnishing and kitchenware
stayed in the house. Restoration works began and the house regained
slowly its colours and original aspect. The facade is painted in pink,
the benches and iron-works in green, like the doors, the shutters and
wood of the terrace where the painter loved to sit. (Unquote)
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). More in next article.....
Bibliography
A little tour in France, by James Henry (ed.Farrar, New-York 1983),
Guide du Routard 1998 (ed.Hachette), Normandie, pays de miel et de
lait, by J. Kahane (ed. Duseuil, Paris 1972)-Le monde retrouvé des
Impressionistes, by Bellony-Rewald A.(ed.Seghers Paris 1977), Claude
Monet, sa vie, son temps, son oeuvre, by G.Geoffroy (Paris 1922)-Sur
les pas des Impressionisted, by Sophie Monneret, (ed.de la Martiniere
1997)
Jack
My Paris,daytrips from Paris, Provence, Cote d'Azur, valley of the
Loire, Belgium and Holland posts are open again at
http: http://i.am/jack_travel WITH pictures and at
http://home.mminternet.com/~nowhere_man