Thursday, July 28, 2011

Dear Claude, give me Giverny?









Would it be ridiculous for a tiny town in the France countryside to be the highlight of my European vacation? Ever since the first time I saw Claude Monet's famous impressionist paintings of waterlilies at Moma (the Museum of Modern Art) in NYC when I was eleven, I have wanted to see Giverny, the place that inspired it all. We continued to conquer our fear of the apparently dangerous subway this morning and traveled to the train station via subway to catch a 45 minute train to Vernon, France, the closest stop to Giverny. We parted ways with Holly and Tom, my aunt and cousin, who also took a train, but to Disneyland Paris instead. We arrived in Giverny a little after 1 and immediately headed to Monet's home and gardens. The light pink house is one of the most charming I have ever seen with the decor inside worthy of being called art itself. You can tell from various photographs placed around the house that it has been kept practically just the way Monet and his family left it. Even in Monet's studio, replica's of his paintings are in the exact same positions as the originals once hung. Monet's own personal art collection still fills the house, making it fascinating to discover what influenced and inspired the artist. After touring the house, we began to stroll through the gardens. Honestly, words cannot even describe the beauty, which must be why Monet had to use impressionistic brush stokes and colors to paint his world even the slightest bit more beautifully than it actually is. As we approached the waterlilies, I was like a child running downstairs on Christmas morning. I couldn't get enough as we took lap after lap around the pond. The amount of pictures on my camera is more ridiculous than ever. Once we finally pulled ourselves away from the gardens, we strolled through the town a bit and stopped for a late lunch. Next we went to the Museum of Impressionism in Giverny, which hosts different impressionist exhibits every couple months with this one titled Manet to Renior, a shockingly incredible collection. I thought my mom was going to be emotional when we walked into the room of 20 Renior, her favorite impressionist and possibly artist, paintings. After the museum, we took the train back to Paris. We planned to head back to the hotel before going back out for dinner, but got caught up strolling through random sites on the way home, mostly various theatres and cathedrals. So called "strolling" through the Paris streets has been one of my favorite parts of the city. Paris takes people watching to a whole different level. The mopeds, cute couples, and fashion live true to all the stereotypes. I am constantly impressed by the women biking or riding mopeds in the latest fashions complete with sky high heels. We finished our walk by stopping at a cafe for steak frites and chocolate fondue. Tomorrow is our last day in Paris. I'm sad to leave the beautiful city, but I will not miss the stereotypical french attitude or yes, their b.o. I'm definitely looking forward to menu's with more food I recognize and plugs that my hair dryer will work in on our American cruise line. We're planning to end our time in Paris with the Musee d'Orsay to get our complete full of impressionism (are we obsessed?) and lastly finally with some shopping. We'll be on an overnight train tomorrow night, where I will be pretending I'm on my way to Hogwarts, to Barcelona to board our cruise. I don't know what the internet situation will be tomorrow night, but if we don't have it I'll catch up on blogging once we're on the cruise. Au revoir!

1 comment:

  1. there's no such thing has being too obsessed with impressionism. musee d'orsay is incroiable!

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