Giverny Impression

The name of this stream is le Ru, which means the stream in french. It is not very informative!

But the Ru is a branch of a bigger river, the Epte, which is meaningfull. The Epte was for several centuries the border between two kingdoms, England on one side (because the English king was duke of Normandy) and France on the other side.

Between 911 and 1204 there were many castles and strongholds built on each side of the river to defend the border, and battles fought.

There is still a tower remaining in nearby market town Vernon. It was the keep of the castle. And facing this castle 10 miles away, the castle of La Roche Guyon and its medieval dungeon can still be visited.

Nowadays the river is a border between two regions, Normandy on one side and the area of Paris Ile de France on the other one. Giverny lies on the norman bank, it is the first village of Normandy when coming from Paris.

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Many fish live in Monet’s lake at Giverny. They help keeping its balance.

There are many rudd, easy to recognize because of their orange fins, and carp.

The carp are not Koi carp, they are  wild ones. They come from the Seine river.

 A few years ago there was a flood. It was like paradise for carp, they went wandering in an almost endless lake.

Unfortunately for the carp, the water receded, and they were trapped in puddles. They would have died, but the gardeners of Giverny saved them with big garbage cans.

They released them in the pond. Since this day they have been doing well. Now they are big carp and likely to become very old.

And there are also pike in the pond. Several ones, but one is especially big and especially nasty.

Two years ago, a couple of moor hens had made their nest on the island in the middle of the pond. When they had their chicks, seven sweet little chicks, they brought them on the pond to teach them how to swim. Then this greedy pike ate them all one by one.

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 Look at him standing in the main alley of his garden at Giverny. Monet did his best to look elegant. I am not sure he always achieved this target, for he had a funny and complicated way of dressing. He liked round shaped jackets, as a result he looked a bit like a big insect.  

Anyway, Monet went to the best tailors in Paris and ordered expensive suits, even when he was short of money. He just didn’t pay for the bills… I was told the English aristocrats didn’t either in the 19th century. Obviously, Monet’s tailors were not enthralled and the painter would get into troubles, of course.

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 It is especially beautiful in late June when the roses are in blossom, adding their pink to the greens of the foliages.
At Monet’s time there was a boat anchored at the dock. It was used mainly by the gardener devoted to the water garden.

This gardener had a special job: every morning he had to wash the water lilies. The road nearby made them dusty, Monet who wanted to paint them, wanted them to be clean. 

The gardener used to get up very early in the morning, before the master would come, and tour the pond in the boat to push the flowers under the surface with the row to clean them.

Water lily washer, isn’t it a poetic job? 

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He liked all the bamboos, wisterias, water lilies or peonies he could see on them and wanted these exotic plants in his garden.

He also loved the curved bridges which are so common on Japanese prints.

But although Monet knew pretty well the lay out of a Japanese garden thanks to his readings and to his neighbour American painter Lilla Cabbott Perry who had lived in Tokyo, he  took poetic license.
He didn’t intend to create a true Japanese garden. His bridges are much less bent than authentic ones, and they are green. In a true Japanese garden, they should be red.

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His painting of his wife and son walking in a meadow full of poppies is one of the most famous of musée d’Orsay in Paris.

All the poppies are currently in bloom in his flower garden at Giverny, tiny or enormous, scarlet or pink, orange, yellow, some one color, some two. The pink and purple poppies are spectacular.

Monet preferred one color flowers but he also used two color flowers just as he could take two colors with his brush on his palette and put them in one gesture on the canvas.    

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This is typical for the time when the house was built, in the 19th century.  

One door was devoted to Monet’s own use. It leads directly to his first studio and to the stairs to his bedroom. It enabled Monet to go in and out without disturbing the family life - he liked to get up exceedingly early in the morning - or perhaps without being disturbed by the family life - there were eight children in the family. This entrance could be called the professional one.

There was of course a main entrance for family members and guests.

The third one was a domestic entrance leading directly to the kitchen.

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It is not a proper rose garden, for there are also many other sorts of flowers, but nonetheless it is gorgeous in May and June when the roses are in bloom. 

They are everywhere, weeping from the umbrella like structures, climbing on trellises, on fences, on trees, on the facade of the house, wrapped around tripods, in bunches, or among peonies and sweet rocket in the mixed borders…

All sorts of colors can be seen, pale cream, pure white, soft yellow, many pinks, red, orange… Not all of them are simple roses but many are scented. Light and delight.

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Monet was keen on painting through the weeping willow. It was difficult, and he liked the challenge.

There was the vertical axis of the branches and the horizontal axis of the floating water lilies.

In addition, the reflection of the sky looks like a hole in the water.

And Monet could even see the stems of the flowers under the surface.

When he painted here, he had to mix all the different plans to put them on the two dimensional canvas.

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A bust of Claude Monet by the sculptor Daniel Goupil can be admired in Giverny.

Surprisingly enough, the tribute to the master of Impressionism is not exhibited on a well exposed location, in front of his home for instance. On the contrary you have to look for it to find it.

The artist wanted Monet to face the landscape he loved, the meadows and the poplars of the Seine valley.

 The bust is situated on the very spot where Monet painted several canvases.

 It is to be found on the back of the main parking lot ‘La Prairie’, slightly hidden by a big weping willow.

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Monet’s flower garden is divided by a broad alley.

 He designed the whole garden except this walk which existed when he settled into the house.

When they came to Giverny this alley was lined by spruce trees. It was dark and full of shade, what pleased Alice: she could walk out in the garden without a parasol. But Monet disliked the spruce trees because flowers would not grow in their shade.

The couple had many arguements about these trees, and it is obvious who won.

Did Alice give up, as a smart lady? Monet kept the two yew trees at the top of the way, and he cut the other ones at a four meter height. The trunks looked like columns. Monet grew climbing roses on them and between each pair of columns he had arches also with climbing roses.

The result was lovely in spring. Now, only the arches and the yew trees remain.

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Monet was 42 when he arrived in Giverny.

 Let’s say he was in his forty-third year, and he spent forty three years in Giverny. Exactly half of his life!

 When he arrived he was looking for a big house to live with his family. He was lucky enough to find this one.

He felt so happy there he never wanted to move anymore.

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Spring has come suddenly. It was warm and sunny today, and the sunshine enhanced the bright colors of Monet’s flower garden.

In the water garden the azaleas are in full bloom. On the trees the little leaves look tender and fresh.

April light has a special quality, a sort of sparkling effect that can be noticed on Monet’s footbridge seen into backlight.

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Monet’s home is painted into pink, a pale pink that matches the Japanese cherry trees and the crab apple trees blooming in April, at the beginning of the season.

 In the spring freshness, pink seems to be everywhere, from the tulips aligned in front of the house in island beds to the many pansies scattered in the mixed borders.

All these pinks are enhanced by the tender green of the new born leaves and grass.

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