Jour 11 Giverny

Quel beau temps! We are so lucky; today's weather was perfect for visiting the gardens and house of Claude Monet.  Many of us are familiar with the impressionist movement, the artist Claude Monet and his paintings of the water lilies.  Monet once said, " all my money goes into my gardens, I am in raptures." And so were we.  How could you fail to be charmed by the explosion of colors dancing on the water of the pond and the seemingly haphazard arrangement of exotic and common flowers in his garden? 

We split into groups, but don't worry, you won't miss a thing!  As you can imagine there were numerous large groups, from nursery school to seniors.  We loved hearing the little ones chant the colors of the flowers in French as they passed us two by two holding hands.  The French instill art appreciation at an early age, and we had fun reciting the colors with them! Then it was on to house tour.  Although many of the paintings on the ground floor are reproductions, the two bedrooms upstairs contain original art work including a Renoir in Monet's bedroom.  Look at the dining room room and the kitchen: Monet only used 8-9 colors on his palet; can you identify 2?

Monet purchasing the neighboring land with its meandering stream the following year.  To the dismay of the community he dug the pond, now famous for his water lilies.  

Lunchtime! The more things change, the more they remain the same.

Déjeuner sur l'herbe -Édouard Manet et...

Picnic on the grass...Auks

  

OR...la dame aux coquelicots par Claude Monet ET students in the poppy fields par Auks

Quelle belle journée!  We bid au revoir to our French teacher from St Vincent and our driver and guide. Everyone signed the cards, and kudos to Seth, Maryellen and Katie who expressed our thanks, en français bien sûr.  

But the day is not over. The group is heading into town for a dinner organised by their hosts.  Bon Appétit et à demain !