Sunday, October 12, 2014

Monet's Garden . . .

Monet's Garden at Giverny (Camp 2004)

One afternoon, we wandered 
through Monet's garden at Giverny,
a day trip away from Paris,
with a few hundred others
and two lovers.
I don't think they noticed
the water lilies or
the formal gardens.
Instead they stopped to sit 
on a Japanese water bridge
and dreamed of what lay ahead,
as ethereal and shimmering
with promise
as one of Monet's paintings.

Rachel and Nick at Giverny (Camp 2004)
Monet came to live at this lovely, quiet estate in 1883. The story I remember most is that he worked closely with a gardener to reshape and replant the gardens to his exact specifications. Then, early and late, he would go out to the garden to paint those amazing studies of his gardens that fill museum rooms today. Later in Philadelphia, we saw an exhibit of Monet's works. One room had been set aside for the very large water lily paintings. Outside it was snowing and dusk was falling, but inside, we were surrounded by Monet's garden.

Where Monet once lived at Giverny (Camp 2004)
Visit the gardens at Giverny online HERE for some amazing photos and more of Monet.

Hydrangea at Giverny (Camp 2004)

3 comments:

Beth Barany said...

So lovely, Beth! Hello from another Beth! I lived in France for 2 years, but haven't visited Giverny, yet! I'm checking out your The Mermaid Quilt & Other Tales. Intriguing!

Beth Camp said...

Hello, Beth. Thank you for visiting. What a delight to live in France for two years. Even though we only had a month there, I treasure the memories and would gladly go again.

Shan Jeniah Burton said...

Oh, Beth! The lovely! The words, the images! The memories!

So glad you shared this - it's pure loveliness. The image of soaking up huge water lilies while Philadelphia snows outside the windows - yummy!