http://giverny-impression.com By Ariane, Guide Interpreter, Giverny France Thu, 04 Mar 2010 09:06:21 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en [singlepic=145,350,350,,right]Few visitors explore this corner of Monet's gardens at Giverny. It is hidden between his home and a row of linden trees. The pathway leads to nowhere: it used to be the way to Monet's second studio, but the latter is not open to the public. Monet had a small rose ... http://giverny-impression.com/hidden-rose-garden/ [singlepic=144,350,350,,left]The Palace of the Legion of Honor in San Francisco surprises French visitors by the words written on the pediment of the main entrance : Honneur et Patrie. Surprises continue with its beautiful collection of European art including five gorgeous Monets. The biggest one faces visitors at the end of a perspective through several ... http://giverny-impression.com/nympheas/ [singlepic=143,350,350,,left]During the Winter, when Giverny is closed for five months, the shutters of Monet's house remain shut. It must be dark inside, but nobody cares. The shutters prevent the cold wind from entering the building, maintaining a thin layer of warmer air behind the windows. I don't know if the japanese prints are ... http://giverny-impression.com/monets-home-in-winter/ [singlepic=142,350,350,,right]Walking around Monet's pond in summertime gives a strange feeling of deja vu. This place especially, where the long branches of three big weeping willows reach the surface of the pond, offering views on to the blooming water lilies, looks familiar. Claude Monet loved this spot that he painted over and over ... http://giverny-impression.com/through-the-willow/ [singlepic=141,350,350,,left]It was a dream come true for me to enter Monet's garden at sunset to take pictures of the dusk. Cold Winter days finish in a symphony of very tender colors, soft pinks and blues, whereas milder days generally offer dramatic sunsets with flaming reds on low clouds. As it was last week, ... http://giverny-impression.com/giverny-at-twilight/ [singlepic=140,350,350,,right]Monet's pond is frozen. A small coating of snow hides the surface like a new canvas. Long blue shadows stretch on the shining whiteness.  Not a single flower.  Even the brave pansies are covered with a blanket of snow. No colors, except for the green bridges. Birds are hiding, but their prints are everywhere, like strange ... http://giverny-impression.com/snow-at-giverny/ [singlepic=139,350,350,,right]It is time for Season Greetings, so I wish you all the best for 2010. Let the old year become a dry leaf blown away by the wind, and new sprouts grow, like green buds full of life and energy! It is time for garden dreams, when flowers still sleep in the ... http://giverny-impression.com/happy-new-year/ [singlepic=138,350,350,,right] When the weather gets cold and evenings dark, it is nice to grasp one's needles again. Do you like knitting? Alice, Monet's second wife, loved crocheting. The word seems to come from the french, a crochet being a little hook. Needle works were considered an elegant pastime in the 19th century. ... http://giverny-impression.com/needle-works/ [singlepic=137,350,350,,left] How could one get tired of this beauty? The picture was taken this year on October 12. There were still many flowers in full bloom, the gorgeous dahlias, contrasting with delicate asters and cosmos, and the bright yellow helianthus. They provide a fabulous setting to the pale pink house. September and the beginning of October ... http://giverny-impression.com/monets-garden-in-october/ [singlepic=136,350,350,,left] Monet's kitchen at Giverny has a delicious flavor of old fashioned kitchens, where the scent of jam seems to be still floating in the air. Monet, as a gourmet, was very interested by all what was going on in the kitchen, but in his times it was a place for women ... http://giverny-impression.com/monets-kitchen/ [singlepic=134,350,350,,right] Fall is a talented artist who paints beautiful works on Monet's water lily pond at Giverny. Late October is the best time to admire the warm reflection of foliage on the surface so often painted by the master of Impressionism. Liquidambars, weeping willows, poplars, taxodium, beech, chestnut trees all offer their brightest tones duplicated ... http://giverny-impression.com/natural-paintings/ [singlepic=133,350,350,,right] Monet's gardens at Giverny will soon close: next Sunday in the evening, on November 1st. Just before their Winter sleep, they offer a gorgeous show on the side of the water garden. The tall trees that surround the pond change their green or dark red colors for much brighter ones. The taxodium becomes as ... http://giverny-impression.com/autumn-at-giverny/ [singlepic=132,350,350,,right] The beginning of Autumn is a gorgeous season in Giverny. Walking in the paths of Monet's garden provides a unique experience of being merged in the flowers. Giant dahlias, cosmos, sunflowers have reached an incredible height. All mixed together in enormous bunches of colors, they dance in the slightest breeze. Overwhelming beauty. The few ... http://giverny-impression.com/late-season/ [singlepic=131,350,350,,left] A detail strikes the visitors who enter Monet's bedroom at Giverny: the bed is ridiculously small. Claude Monet wasn't very tall, and he didn't share his bed with his wife. They had separate bedrooms. Not because they didn't care, but rich families copied the aristocracy and had separate 'appartements', though they were ... http://giverny-impression.com/monets-bedroom/ [singlepic=128,350,350,,left] It sounds like the perfect transition for the new Museum of Impressionisms Giverny: after the first exhibition dedicated to Monet's Nymphéas, that ended with resolutely modern late works, the next artist occupying the galleries of the museum is Joan Mitchell. Although Mitchell rarely admitted Monet's influence on her canvases, undoubtedly she ... http://giverny-impression.com/joan-mitchell-at-giverny/