World Quest

Leaving the Clos Normand side of the gardens, we descended into the tunnel that runs beneath the highway and crossed over to The Japanese Water Garden side of Monet's creation.

After Monet's death in 1926, his step-daughter did her best to maintain the premises, but time and German bombs in World War II left the home damaged and in disrepair and the gardens barren of flowers and overgrown with weeds. Monet's son bequeathed the property to the Académie des Beaux-Arts in 1966 and after years of extensive renovation that was assisted by copious notes by Monet himself and eyewitness accounts of those who worked in the gardens, it was reopened in 1980. Today, the gardens are exact replicas of what Monet himself experienced a century ago.

Here's a picture of Cindy and her mom on the first bridge.

One of the small streams through the Water Garden.

I really like this shot of Cindy and her mom.

Here's another art student sketching and, if you look at the inset, you can see she is adding a wash to the sketch. When I stopped and asked, in English, if she would mind if I took a picture of her she looked up a little startled and replied, "Oh, sure" in English as well. The gentleman with her asked me where I was from and I said, "Orlando, Florida, USA" and he said "We're from Gainesville, Florida". It really is a small world, isn't it?"

Cindy and I.

Cindy and her mom in front of the lily pond

The lily pond.

Here's a small video from the Japanese Water Garden.

Another beautiful flower.

Cindy's mom on the opposite shore of the lily pond.

A beautiful flower on the bank of the lily pond.

Cindy's mom in front of the lily pond.

Another...ok you already know.

Cindy and her mom in front of a tree.

Contemplating all the beauty of the gardens.

When you stroll through the gardens, or even just sit and soak in the natural beauty of the flowers, plants, trees, ponds and architecture, it is truly a wonderful experience. To know that, what you have seen painted by a master such as Claude Monet and rendered on canvas in masterpieces that are now displayed on museum walls, these gardens are exactly what he drew inspiration from, not only in visual sense but on a multitude of levels such as the sounds of the wind and birds, the fragrance of the flowers and even the impossible to quantify "feeling" that washes over you and through you.

It is so easy to see why artists are drawn here. In another life, I would love to be here sketching, drawing, painting and gathering inspiration from the surroundings of this town and garden. But it is not only artists who are attracted to this place, it is anyone who appreciates the expression of art and life from nature, which is found in abundance here in Giverny and Monet's Garden. This is an amazing place and I will be forever thankful that we spent time visiting the home and gardens of the father of Impressionism.

Next Post: An Afternoon in Giverny

Claude Monet was born on November 14, 1840 in Paris, France and is generally regarded as the father of Impressionistic painting. Though he traveled across Europe for the first half of his life, Monet settled in Giverny in 1883 and spent the last half of his life with his family in the house and gardens he created in this small (population; 300) rural village. A large number of his paintings are of scenes and nature from Giverny and, in particular, his gardens.

Monet's first garden, the Clos Normand, filled the land in front of his home. In 1893, 10 years after he arrived in Giverny, Monet purchased a nearby parcel of land on the other side of a railway and a small path. By diverting a small tributary of the Epte River, Monet was able to create his Water Garden, which was based on engravings of Japanese gardens he had seen and which hang throughout the walls of his home. In later years, after Monet's death, the path was expanded into a road and so, when the gardens were restored within the last 3 decades a tunnel was built to allow safe crossing between the two gardens. Giverny hosts a half-million visitors to its village and Monet's Garden during the 7 months (April through October) each year that the gardens are open.

I shot more than 300 pictures between the 2 gardens and it has been difficult to choose which few would be included in my post. Even though we first visited the Clos Normand, then crossed the tunnel to visit the Water Garden and then returned to tour the house (because the lines to get in the house were so long due to a tour group, as you'll see in one of the pictures and in the video), I thought it best to divide the posts into 2 separate entries; one showing Clos Normand and one showing the Japanese Water Garden, in order to show as many photos as possible without it becoming tedious to read and view.

After a delicious breakfast prepared by Carl and Maria at the B & B, we arrived around 10am at the parking area for Monet's Garden.

Cindy and her mom are all smiles as they stand in the line to enter the garden.

Here's a blown up photo of The Master himself, Claude Monet.

Cindy's mom standing beside a hint of what's to come.

A beautiful flower...I have no idea what its name might be, but it's still beautiful.

Cindy's mom standing in front a portion of Monet's House.

A view down the main walkway of the Clos Normand.

Tour group lined up to enter the House, so we came back later.

A shot of a portion of the Clos Normand. Artists were in abundant attendance, sketching, painting and drawing flowers, plants or scenes throughout both gardens. I felt the old familiar yearning to pick up a sketch pad and pencil in order to capture my own vision of the beauty of these gardens, but contented myself with using my camera.

Another beautiful flower. I can't show you all the shots of the gorgeous flowers I took, so I'm just trying to pick out a few to share.

But before we go any farther, I should let you see the video shot in the Clos Normand. Turn up the volume.

Cindy's mom beneath an absolutely spectacular rose tree.

A stunning rose

Cindy and her mom.

We finally made it into the house. Here, Cindy and her mom gaze out the second story window of Monet's study to the gardens below.

Cindy's mom, back on the ground in Clos Normand.

It is difficult, if not impossible, to explain or even capture with a camera the beauty of the garden and the feelings that well up inside you as you stroll among the flowers, plants and trees. Everything seems to almost become sublime and calm, yet at the same time your spirit feels refreshed and energized. This is a trip I shall not soon forget.

Next Post: Monet's Garden - The Japanese Water Garden

Sitting in the parking lot of Versailles, we got out our road map of France and plotted our route to Giverny, where we would be spending Friday and Saturday nights at the Le Petit Logis Bed & Breakfast and visiting the world famous Monet's Garden.

After looking over the road map (and ignoring the in-dash GPS because we could not find instructions on how to properly operate the device) we decided on what looked like the best route for our 1 hour drive and got underway.

We finally arrived in Giverny almost 4 hours later.

A few things we did not take into account; choosing what looked like the most direct route also took us through undeveloped countryside and small towns where speed is negated severely, French road signs on these back roads are either relegated to being a small cement marker 2 feet off the ground or are simply non-existent (we passed one road because we missed it, turned back around and still missed it and finally saw the sign on our third return pass), traffic in even the small towns is brutally heavy and no one is any particular hurry.

In actuality, this would not have been all that bad except we were hungry and I was aggravated at missing roads and signs. The truth is the countryside and small towns were beautiful and after a while we realized that we were getting to see some wonderful scenery. Later in the week, when Cindy finally figured out how the GPS worked, we discovered we could have taken the same or a similar route to enjoy the scenery, but would not have missed roads or turns because the voice guidance system ("In 250 meters, at the roundabout, take the second exit") would have accurately directed us along the way.

But we finally arrived in Giverny, parked at a lot near Monet's Garden and our host at the Bed & Breakfast we were staying at, Le Petit Logis, drove out to meet us and lead us back to the B & B, which is a scant 4 kilometers outside Giverny. The place is beautiful, as you'll see in the photos below and Carl & Maria are absolutely wonderful hosts!

After we unloaded our luggage, Carl directed us to the well-known Hotel Baudy for dinner in their restaurant. While it is true we were hungry, their food was excellent in and of itself because of the freshness of the ingredients, talent of their chef and the atmosphere that surrounded you in the dining area. In fact, we enjoyed the food and the ambience so much that we also indulged ourselves with lunch and dinner there the next day.

Our appetites sated and our bodies weary, we returned to Le Petit Logis, took the photos below and retired for the night to prepare for our visit to Monet's Garden the next day.

Here is a view of the outside of the portion where we were staying. Carl and Maria live on the other side of this and Maria's parents live to the right.

As you step through the sliding glass doors you enter the dining area and beyond that the living room area. The stairway to the left leads upstairs to the sleeping area and you can see a bit of the second floor at the top of this picture.

Looking back from the living room area to the dining area and out the sliding glass doors

Going upstairs. (I didn't fall down these, thank goodness)

Looking up from the dining area to our bedroom with Cindy waving from the opening.

Looking down on the dining area from Cindy's vantage point at the opening.

The view of the sleeping area where Cindy's mom slept from our bedroom. She had her choice of 3 beds to choose from and the bathroom is at the far end of this room straight ahead.

Opposite view from the bathroom with our bedroom at the far end straight ahead.

Our bedroom from the doorway (yes, we had already messed up the bed).

Our bedroom facing back toward to door.

I mentioned our fantastic hosts, Carl and Maria, earlier. Here is a photo of them in front of the fireplace downstairs. They were always so gracious to us, prepared fabulous breakfasts for us (Maria makes homemade strawberry jam and oh, it was SO delicious!) and gave us so many tips and helpful pieces of advice, as well as working out directions for us to the Loire Valley the morning we left. I can highly and without equivocation recommend Le Petit Logis Bed & Breakfast to any and all travelers who find themselves in or near Giverny. Contact them at lepetitlogis@yahoo.co.uk I guarantee you will fall in love with them and their B & B.

After a night of blissful sleep, we were ready to visit Monet's Garden on Saturday morning.

Next Post: Monet's Garden - Can We Just Live Here?

I was not looking forward to this day. Paris has been a wonderful experience, one that I do not wish to see come to an end...and yet it must. Like any good book, movie or experience, this one has left me wanting more. More time to enjoy the artistic atmosphere of Montmartre or the Louvre, more time to lazily indulge in the rich historical past of this City of Lights, more time to stroll arm in arm with Cindy beneath the Eiffel Tower and more time enjoy the things I did not have time for on this trip. Perhaps another time, but if not, well, as Rick says to Ilsa, "We'll always have Paris."

So, this morning we finish packing our suitcases (now bulging with souvenirs, brochures, books, etc.), so I can take them down those 4 flights of winding circular stairs to await the 9:15am arrival of our shuttle service that will take us to the airport where we can pick up the rental car we'll be using for the remainder of our time here. When we arrived 6 days ago we had 3 large suitcases; 1 weighed 39 pounds and 2 weighed 47 pounds each. We now have those same 3 AND a 4th that we brought along empty for extra packing that is now filled. And we each have a carryon.

At 8:30 we start our game plan. Since I am freshly rested from a good night's sleep, I will take the 2 suitcases that weigh 47 pounds each (one in each hand) down the stairs, followed by my mother-in-law (so if she should fall she would fall into me and not the hard wood stairs) and then Cindy with one of the carryons. In the courtyard outside the apartment, we will leave the 2 heaviest bags and the carryon with my mother-in-law seated next to them on a bench to watch them while we return for the remainder of bags and carryon. Here's a picture to remind you of what those wonderful stairs looked like.

So we start our first trip down the stairs. As we're approaching the landing of the 2nd floor I turned my head to look back at my mother-in-law and said something along the lines of "Watch your step" and promptly missed the next step below me, falling forward to the landing and smashing my right knee into the last step and then into the landing itself, as well as slamming my right elbow first on the wooden stair rail and then into the landing. Only the suitcase in my left hand kept me from hitting the landing face first, acting as a barrier that my chest ran into.

My first instinct was to stand up immediately so that neither Cindy or her mom would rush down the stairs and fall themselves, but my right knee had other ideas. It was feeling like I'd been in a Ric Flair figure four leg lock and made it clear in painful statements that it did not care for my first instinct. But I still managed to stand, assure them I was ok, and then continue down the next flight of stairs.

I must have subconsciously enjoyed that first fall so much that I decided to repeat it again just before the NEXT landing. Somehow, as careful as I was trying to be, I still missed a step and crashed down onto the first floor landing. Maybe my knee was proving the point it tried to make earlier. Or maybe I really, really didn't want to leave Paris, lol.

But leave we did. We were picked up and taken to the airport where we in turn picked up our reserved rental car, a nice Citroen C5 mid-size sedan, which was a free upgrade from our original compact model. It turned out to be a good thing we got the upgrade as it meant Cindy's mom only had to sit with a suitcase and a carryon next to her in the backseat, instead of baggage on her lap. Oh, and the car had a beautiful, built-in GPS system with voice, except we had no clue about how to use it that first day. We would regret that ignorance later in the day.

Our plan was to drive to Versailles and, after consulting our maps and our host's directions, we were on our way. About an hour later we arrived and were a little perplexed by what we saw.

The entire complex was being renovated, outside and inside and even the parking area was a temporary lot with rocks and dust. Lots of dust. Still, the former palace WAS open for business and we were here so...in we went.

And then around to the back

We then returned inside to see the famed Hall of Mirrors

Our necks in pain from looking at painted ceilings, we returned to our now dusty car and hit the road again, on our way to Giverny.

Next post: Do You Know The Way to Giverny?

When we were preparing for our trip to France, Cindy and I watched several of The Travel Channel's shows about the country, including one that Samantha Brown did on Paris and the world-famous pastry shop/tearoom on the Champs-Élysées known as Ladurée. This 145 year old pastry shop opened in Paris in 1862, added the tearoom in 1930 and today has locations in London,Geneva and Monaco.

Knowing we would be in France during Mother's Day, we thought it would be a treat for Cindy's mom if we took her to Ladurée to enjoy some of their renowned sweets in the tearoom as a Mother's Day gift. The only hitch would be that we would have to do it before we left Paris on Friday and so we planned to go today after leaving Notre Dame.

After getting to the subway stop closest to Ladurée on Champs-Élysées, we were walking the short distance to it when Cindy stopped dead in her tracks at this sight:

Of course, Paris wasn't really melting, it was just an interesting piece of artwork on the wall of a building. Still, it does get your attention, doesn't it?

Here is a photo of Cindy and her mom looking over the menu posted outside the private party entrance to Ladurée. I know it's a private party entrance because the nice gentlemen inside informed me of that when we stepped through the curtained doorway; first in French and then, seeing our dumbfounded looks, again in English. Turns out the regular entrance is down at the other end. Stupid Americans!

Of course we almost walked right past the public entrance because they had it practically covered in construction scaffolding, as you can see in the video below. If you have your volume turned up, you'll also hear my fantastic commentary.

Once we finally found the right door and made our way inside, we were escorted to the tearoom upstairs. I only took the one picture below, as the atmosphere was not really one that was conducive to taking photographs.

We had a wonderful time and enjoyed some of the best sweets and tea I have ever tasted.

Next post: We leave Paris