Giverny

Monday:

On the bus, and off down the Siene, a couple hours to Giverny, where Impressionist painter Claude Monet had lived for the last quarter century or so of his life.  He took a simple farm, doubled the size of the house, including a fair-sized studio, and added another huge studio on the grounds, where he painted his monumental water lily pieces which are now in the Orangerie Museum in Paris.  And he created perhaps the most famous back garden and lily pond in history.

I didn't take many pictures at Claude Monet's famous home and gardens at Giverny, outside of Paris.  For at least two reasons:  first, any pictures I took would have dozens of strangers in them.  The place was jammed with people from beginning to end.  The line to get in, when we left around 3:00, was over a hundred yards long.  Nowhere was there a spot to be alone, to consider or enjoy any of the gardens, the pond, or the house without sharing them with many of the half million people who visit during the seven-month season.  

Luckily, I had read a couple of biographies and any other book I could get about him and his paintings a few years ago, when I portrayed Monet at the Munson Proctor Williams Art Institute in Utica.  There was a terrific Impressionist exhibition there, and they did a few docent tours a week for the whole time.  They hired Abbey and I to lead three each – she in the character of Mary Cassatt, and me as Monet.  We had to speak extemporaneously and answer questions as our characters, so – lots of research.

So I knew much about his house, more about the gardens, and really a lot about the lily pond across the road.  That did not diminish the magnificence of the gorgeous landscaping in person, and that brings me to the second reason I didn't take pictures.

Monet designed the gardens and pond to be a two-acre Monet painting, a real-life Impressionist landscape that he could wander in at will, choosing some interesting colors or shapes or composition for his next painting.  He was my age when he was doing this at Giverny, and he used a cane, so I suspect he was moving slowly.  All the better to look, see, consider, assess, and then begin.

So any picture I took would just be a low-quality Monet composition; I don't have one tenth the eye or talent that he had, even when his eyes were going bad.  If I want to remember Giverny, I will go to the paintings.

I did sit with Abbey at what is arguable the best view in the place – looking across the lily pond (only a few lilies; too soon) to the Japanese Bridge.  The Bridge was constantly awash with selfie-ers and others just looking.  But we sat there; being an obviously old man with a cane, I enjoyed the privilege of not getting right up and giving my spot to someone else.  And there were two benches at that spot, so – plenty of room.  After a while, a woman from our tour came by, and sat with us.  We regarded the scene.  It was nice.  I felt like I was where I was supposed to be, where I could just enjoy the beauty and not think of anything else – like the Crow's Nest at Turo, like the deck at Brantingham.  But more – rich and perfectly composed, with more than just a great view to look at:  a brilliant collection of everything beautiful, all put together with a master's hand.

Abbey took a picture from the bench, and painted a small watercolor that night to give to our tour guide – who seems to be a Monet fan - in thanks.  The picture is nice, and the painting is very nice, but I'd like to go back to that bench now and then and just look – and maybe see.

Monet's house was, to me, unremarkable with two exceptions – dining room which was bright yellow, to complement the blue china, and the kitchen, which was almost entirely tiled in patterned blue on white, with shiny copper pans hanging on the wall.  Oh, and also:  It's pink.  Outside.  With green trim.  Complementary colors.*

We'll  see more of Monet in Paris.  So let's go to Paris!

• Monday's fact:  Paris has 21 mayors.  There are 20 arrondissements in the city; an arrondissement is an administrative division, and each has a mayor.  And then there's the Mayor of Paris - the head mayor? - who nobody likes, according to our guide, because of controversy over bike lanes.  So that's what's happening in Paris.  

Yellow!

Blue and Copper

...and Pink with complementary Green Trim

NOTES:

* - Abbey liked the house a lot.  It helped that it was full of painted copies of his works.  It really was a nice house, but for me, it was too crowded.