Pads
by Ariane ~ April 15, 2016
There are no water lilies yet, but their pads don’t loose a minute to look picturesque…
The Ideal Bench
by Ariane ~ April 6, 2016
Did you ever try and grow a hyacinth in your kitchen? If so, you certainly remember how fragrant a single bulb is. So imagine being seated on this green bench in Monet’s garden, wrapped by the scent of hundreds of hyacinths… This is an early April rapture at Giverny.
The brand of the bench, le banc idéal – the ideal bench – has nothing to do with the floral wonders of Giverny. But it sounds appropriate, doesn’t it?
Signs of Spring
by Ariane ~ March 20, 2016
The season has officially changed today! To celebrate the arrival of spring, let’s take a walk in Monet’s gardens at Giverny to look for the very first flowers. So far they concentrate in the best exposed borders. As soon as the weather gets a bit warmer, there will be flowers and colors all over the garden, turning the blank sheet into a joyful painting. (click to enlarge the pictures)
Small jonquils line the feet of the espaliered apple trees, and clumps of daffodils flower next to the chickens cage. It is lovely to see them coming back year after year. I’ve heard they can live for over fifty years!
Daisies bloom for Easter, this is why they are called pâquerettes in French, Pâques being Easter. The wild ones love growing into the lawns that they illuminate like little white lights. Horticulturist have improved them to these cute pink or white pompoms. Giverny’s gardeners plant them everywhere in the spring garden. Well, not absolutely everywhere, and certainly not anywhere. In all the places where they fit and match.
Just out of the winter, flowers are small. They didn’t have much time to grow a long stem, or perhaps it is warmer next to the ground, I don’t know. It is time to bend down to admire the little marvels offered by the season before they disappear under more impressive giants. These are the lovely ipheions, also named Spring starflowers – for obvious reasons. At Giverny they can be found next to the left staircase of the Monet house.
In the water garden, some beds combining pansies, daisies and hyacinths are already quite sweet. I suspect these early hyacinths to be purposely forgotten bulbs of last year. Their scent is a delight. The gardeners plant bulbs at different times, they also plant many different varieties to obtain the longest possible blooming time.
And last but not least, this little dwarf tulip opening its petals is enjoying the first ray of sunshine. Tulips will be at their best in five to six weeks, in all shapes and colors. Giverny has an enormous display of tulips of all kinds. An absolutely beautiful tulip show. Late April is one of my favorite times in the garden… followed by several others…
Giverny opens on March 25th
by Ariane ~ March 15, 2016
Although the water garden designed by Claude Monet still looks very peaceful, everybody is working hard at Giverny. The Fondation Monet (his home and gardens) as well as the Musee des Impressionnismes Giverny reopen in ten days, on Friday, 25th March. It is earlier than normally, because Easter is especially early this year.
Just out of the Winter, the gardens are not overloaded with flowers, yet pleasant to walk around. They look fresh and shiny. The first signs of Spring can be noticed. Jonquils are already out, illuminating special spots with their bright yellow. I took the picture above this afternoon.
The Musée des Impressionnismes will display an exhibition of works by Gustave Caillebotte. This hugely talented impressionist was a keen horticulturist. His garden and rare flowers were among his favorite motifs.
Gardens of Awe and Folly
by Ariane ~ March 6, 2016
I’m not used to reviewing books on this blog, but I need to make an exception for the newly published Gardens of Awe and Folly by Vivian Swift (Bloomsbury). It is the kind of book that puts a smile on your face when you look at it on the coffee table. The book that you want to re-read as soon as you’ve finished it. Humorous, imaginative, poetic, tender, insightful, and absolutely beautiful because of the many lovely watercolors by the author.
Vivian Swift made her very personal selection of gardens that matter to her and tells stories about them. As she puts it, “If all you ask of a garden is What?, then all you’ll probably get in reply is a planting list. But ask, instead, Why? How? When? and, most of all, Who? and then you’re in for a nice, long conversation. This book is a collection of the conversations I’ve had with nine gardens that had a lot to say.”
For an idea of chapter one, you can have a look at Vivian Swift’s blog. You will see how much she loves Paris… If you browse to older posts, you will learn more about Vivian’s next project: a book on Giverny, especially on how to paint Giverny. She makes it sound so easy and fun!
Winter Time
by Ariane ~ February 20, 2016
This is not the winter we are having at Giverny this year. The last time Monet’s water lily pond looked that way was in 2012.
It was so beautiful then! I roamed in the gorgeous yet closed garden and couldn’t look and shoot enough.
The landscape turned white is not that frequent at Giverny. Although we do get a few flakes every winter and a few nights of frost, generally the weather is more humid than cold. It is overcast, it rains, but not cats and dogs, only kittens and puppies, you know.
Patience. All this will soon be over. Fondation Claude Monet opens rain or shine on March 25, 2016, and the seven-month flower show wil be more beautiful than ever.
Giverny’s Weekly Mass
by Ariane ~ January 29, 2016
Once a week, on Thursdays at 6.00 pm, a mass is celebrated in the church of Giverny. Everybody is most welcome, especially tourists, even if they are not Catholics, even if they don’t speak French, as long as they are respectful.
Expect locals to smile at you with some curiosity in the eyes. They are eager to know who you are and where you are from, but won’t ask.
The mass starts soon after the old bells stop chiming. There are two of them, a little one that has a high sound and a big one that is lower.
If you are like me, you will prefer not to sit on the first row of chairs, to mimic the faithfuls who know when to stand up or sit down. It feels good to be among them, because churches are not monuments only. Their stones retain all the faith of the humans who built them and prayed in them. The parishioners of today are their beating heart.
A Bakery at Giverny
by Ariane ~ January 15, 2016
This is big and good news at Giverny: a bakery has opened! It is located in the main street rue Claude Monet in the direction to the church on number 73 Bis.
The last one closed decades ago, so it is a joy to see a bakery again in this little village of 500 inhabitants.
Nothing means life in a village more than a bakery and a school.
The bakery’s name, Au coin du pain’tre, is a pun. Au coin du pain would mean To the Bread’s Corner, but with an additional ‘tre ‘ it reads To the Painter’s corner, an allusion to the painting destiny of Giverny. Logically, the shop sign is in the shape of a palette. Artisan boulanger means that breads and pastries are home made.
When the museums are open, so is also the bakery, 7 days a week from 7.00 am to 8.00 pm. The bakery is established in a lofty shop that used to be successively a garage for renting 2CV cars, an antiques shop, and lately a restaurant. There is room enough for tables and a nice walled terrace, where the Coin du pain’tre also serves light meals.
Christmas Time
by Ariane ~ December 24, 2015
Next to the former railway station of Giverny-Limetz now converted into a ‘salle des fetes’ (community hall), the big fir tree proudly sports Christmas light garlands.
In winter, simplicity and peacefulness reign in the little village of Claude Monet, inhabited by 500 persons only.
631 000 visitors flocked to the water lily pond in 2015, from late March to early November. Now that they have gone, it is like night after day, a time for relaxing and dreaming.
The Christmas tree shines for the Givernois (inhabitants of Giverny) and for the passersby driving on the Chemin du Roy.
Giverny on a November Sunday
by Ariane ~ November 22, 2015
Giverny was very peaceful but not totally desert this afternoon, due to a reasonably sunny Sunday.
The shutters on Monet’s house are locked for the winter.
Although it is not possible to enter any museum or garden, although cafés, restaurants and gift shops are closed, the village itself seems to attract people looking for a nice stroll.
Along the streets the flower beds continue to provide some flowers like sages, fuchsias, roses and dahlias.
They will resist until frost, or until the gardeners decide to pull them out.
One day, in the next months, they will be changed for spring flowers.
Last Fire on the Water
by Ariane ~ November 2, 2015
Monet’s gardens are closed for the winter since this morning.
In the water garden, the show goes on for nobody except for the black birds and finches, still singing occasionally in the branches.
I wonder if the carps in the pond can see the gorgeous colors of the sweet gums over them.
Reopening of Giverny on March 26th, 2016 with a brand new spring garden in pale pinks and fresh greens.
Giverny 365 Photos
by Ariane ~ October 19, 2015
Here is my new perpetual calendar featuring Monet’s house and gardens at Giverny.
I have carefully selected my best photos among thousands of pictures I’ve taken over the past years in the famous painter’s gardens.
The shots follow the seasons. Page after page, day after day, you see how spring arrives and settles, gets to its glory, turns into summer and its plenty, until autumn comes with more flowers than ever and fabulous colors reflecting into the pond.
Winter has unexpected delights to offer, for instance the garden covered with snow, the frozen pond, or gorgeous sunrises over the Seine.
To make sure the new picture is a new surprise every day, landscape views alternate with flowers close ups, streets of Giverny with details of the house decoration, and more.
Each picture has a caption in English and in French.
The calendar has been designed and printed in France by a nature-friendly manufacturer.
The size is 15×12 cm, (4.7′ x 5.9′) including a white stripe at the bottom for your notes.
The price is 19 euros. I am happy to ship worlwide for an extra cost of 3.5 euros. For instance, total cost for the United States is 25 US$, or 17 £ for Great Britain, or 34 CAD, shipment included.
To order, just leave a comment and I will get in touch with you. Imagine this little window with lovely garden pics next to your computer or on your kitchen counter or anywhere else, like a breeze of fresh air…
Flowered Letters
by Ariane ~ October 4, 2015
At Giverny in Rue Claude Monet, one of the mail boxes to send letters and postcards is located amid flowers.
In October, the helianthus are big enough to reach the height of the mail box.
Their yellow hues match the official color of La Poste boxes.
Having to make your way through the flowers to post your mail makes paying the bills just a little more fun.
Flower Border
by Ariane ~ September 16, 2015
In Monet’s flower garden at Giverny, a beautiful border covers the feet of the espaliered apple trees.
These colorful cushions are made of begonias boliviensis, whose lovely leaves resemble angel wings, combined with pink begonias semperflorens, four o’clock plants and polka dot plants.
The latter is often used in planters but it is also a very nice ground cover, that brings color and doesn’t need deadheading.
According to a keen gardener I met, polka plants are ‘the best thing since sliced bread’. It was the first time I ever heard this funny expression that doesn’t translate into French. Well, you can translate word for word, but it is not a colloquialism and I can’t think of any equivalent.
This is great with foreign languages: you keep learning as long as you talk with native speakers, and sometimes you remember how it felt when you were six and wouldn’t understand exactly what people meant.
And this is what I find so great with my job: sharing with avid gardeners, speaking foreign languages, meeting wonderful people, and walking daily in the little Eden designed by Monet. All this combines like the flowers in the flower bed and makes my life happy and colorful. Thank you to you all.
Hair, air, heir
by Ariane ~ August 9, 2015
A flower hedge at the edge of Monet’s garden
For a French tongue, pronouncing the English words starting with an h is not that easy. The French language doesn’t have this sound, thence it is a special effort to say these words right. I do my utmost. I apply myself. I concentrate. I don’t mix up edges and hedges, ear and hear.
Today however, at the end of my tour in Monet’s garden, a gentleman came to me. He told me that there is a word that comes several times in my commentary that I didn’t say right: heir. Monet’s heir, his son Michel. As a lawyer, he explained, it is a word he knows only too well. It is not like the hair, but like the air.
Wow. Isn’t it disconcerting? I expected exactly the contrary, that I had forgotten the h. I was very grateful, because it was done with kindness. It felt like receiving a little gift.
My English has improved a lot since school, thanks to the native speakers I meet every day. But very few take the trouble to correct me. I suppose a certain quantity of mistakes is acceptable, just like for you when reading this blog. I’ve improved because I paid attention to the right phrases, grammar, or pronunciation of my interlocutors. But I never realized this very mistake, although lots of visitors have asked me about Monet’s heirs. Because it is not relevant in French, I didn’t notice that the h was missing.