Mother’s Day, Giverny, Impressionnistes

I’m going to the Orsay, Paris au temps des Impressionnistes exhibit today.

A visit to Giverny to amuse you till the Orsay report is ready

Monet at Giverny and the May Paris letter

I hear it all the time, "Oh visiting GIVERNY is on my 'bucket list'". Well cross it off and JUST GO!

The May Paris Letter comes complete with train and shuttle schedules.

Only 42 minutes from Paris. What are you waiting for?

Don't forget - take the underpass and visit the Lilly ponds and famous Monet green bridges.

I admit my favorite is Monet's kitchen.

You can take his stunning blue and egg-yolk yellow porcelain home from the gift shop if you're so inclined.

I ran to Giverny on overcast Wednesday and it was still beautiful. Afternoons and mid-week are less crowded than mornings and weekends.

My Monet doodles and

1st sketch struggles.

*Do not forget to buy some Normand Camembert or Neufchatel right from the source at a Vernon fromagerie or even at the local Monoprix.

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Mother’s Day, Giverny, Impressionnistes

I’m going to the Orsay Impressionnistes exhibit this morning.

 

Today a visit to Giverny to amuse you until Orsay report is ready

 

Musee des Impressionnismes Giverny

When you get off the shuttle bus from Vernon, don't be like the others and tear off for Monet's Maison.
 

Instead right in front of you at 99, rue Claude Monet is the excellent Musee des Impressionnismes, and the only place you'll find a few haystacks in Giverny.
 

The landscaped gardens are the perfect preparation for the gardens down the road. I loved this witty haystack-shaped hedge.
 

And there are pergolas too.
 

The various gardens (rooms) are colored like paintboxes, each one a different color.
 

Purples
 

Reds
 

 

Yellows
 

Rose
 

Inside the current exhibition is an homage to Monet by Japanese artist, Hiramatsu
 

I loved his color tests and watercolor box of course
 

Some of his paintings are huge screens in traditional Japanese style, but then Monet was very influenced by Japanese woodblock prints so the referencing goes on and on.
 

Hiramatsu's waterlily pond

Some Monets are included in the exhibit.
 

 

By the time you leave the musee des Impressionismes perhaps Monet's gardens will be less crowded. Avoid the early morning masses when the tour buses unload. Simply turn left and head up the road. Et voila.

Monet's Garden

Another morning in Monet's gardens at the crack of dawn thanks to Art Colony Giverny.
 

I'm influenced by Bonnard's patterny sketches.
 

It's quite cold and looks like rain.
 

Dinner plate-sized Dahlias in deep rose.
 

Sunrise...

And lots of mist over the garden paths.
 

The colors change moment to moment...

Dewdrops everywhere...

La Grande Allée is looking as grand as ever...

At 8:30 I head back for breakfast.
 

While others like Sybil paint (in acrylics) up to the last minute. I'm envious of all the work she's produced.
 

I'm still grappling with preliminary studies.

Today we head back to Gare Saint Lazar, Monet's station. An engineers office is painted like a stack of artists canvas. 

Do you want more Monet/Giverny?
 

Vernon - Giverny

Saturday we painted behind Hotel Baudy in Giverny
 

Sometimes painting in Monet's gardens, Giverny is overwhelming. But in this quiet spot down the road you can forget the magnificence for a bit and focus on the paint.
 

I caught Caroline coming through the hedges
 

And my mind's eye was remembering

This wonderful detail of a Monet painting.
 

The Baudy, formerly a grocery store in Monet's time turned into a hotel to accommodate all the artists flocking to Giverny. There's a charming 'museum' of sorts - a studio of the times where they did life studies (drew the nude) and various and sundry.
 

 

 

 

Earlier in the day we went into Vernon for the weekly marché and general exploring.

The church Collégiale Notre-Dame is quite impressive in scale.

Caroline pointed out rainbow reflections of the stain glass windows on the stone pillars.

Caroline pointed out rainbow reflections of the stain glass windows on the stone pillars.

Vernon is full of Normande split-timber houses

I could live here.

 

The Saturday country market seems huge

Often you're buying direct from producteurs or the farmers themselves.

 

I've been eating as many Mirabelle tartes as possible during their brief season of August-September.
The mirabelle is a specialty of the French region of Lorraine, which has an ideal climate and soil composition for the cultivation of this fruit. This region produces 15,000 tons of mirabelle prunes annually, which constitutes 80% of global commercial production.
There are two main cultivars grown for fruit production, derived from cherry plums grown in Metz. The Metz type is smaller, less hard, and less sweet, and has no small red spots on the skin. It is very good for jam, while type is better as fresh fruit as it is sweeter. Since 1996 the mirabelle de Lorraine has been recognized and promoted by the EU as a high-quality regional product, with a Protected Geographical Indication (PGI). This label guarantees a minimum fruit size (22mm) and sugar content, and can only be used in a specific geographical zone of production.
The city of Metz dedicates two weeks to the Mirabelle plum during the popular Mirabelle Festival held in August. During the festival, in addition to open markets selling fresh prunes, mirabelle tarts, and mirabelle liquor, there is live music, fireworks, parties, art exhibits, a parade with floral floats and competition, and the crowning of the Mirabelle Queen and a gala of celebration.
Merci Wikipedia
 

At the same time each tartelette offers the opportunity to solve the mystery of the pyramid.
Caroline, of Art Colony Giverny, along with teaching us color and form in Monet's garden is helping me personally learn to make a pastry pyramid out of paper. What more could you ask?