On The Road After Dark

MollyS

On April 12, 2017, my daughter, son-in-law, and I went with his parents to see the gardens of Giverny, home of French impressionist painter Claude Monet, about 50 miles northwest of Paris. Giverny has two gardens — the Clos Normand, the flower garden in front of the house, and the Japanese-style water garden, which inspired his Water Lilies series. From 1883, when he moved to Giverny, until his death in 1926, Monet oversaw the planting of millions of seeds and young plants.

The Clos Normand has flowerbeds of differing heights and arrangements. Monet mixed the simplest flowers with the rarest varieties. He did not like organized gardens, preferring to plant flowers according to their colors, then leaving them to grow freely.

   In 1893, Monet bought the land that would become the water garden with its famous Japanese bridge and pond. This garden includes weeping willows, a bamboo wood, flowering trees and shrubs, and the water lilies which bloom all summer long. 

   Monet died in 1926. His son Michel inherited the property, later passing it to the Academie des Beaux-Arts. In 1977, a 10-year reconstruction of the house and gardens began. The house and greenhouse had been badly damaged during World War II but the gardens were restored with the same flowers Monet had planted.

   Giverny is scheduled to reopen April 19 — the flowers will be waiting! Much more information at http://giverny.org/gardens/fcm/fleurs/listflor.htm

On The Road – MollyS – Monet’s gardens at Giverny France, the Clos Normand (2)Post + Comments (14)

MollyS

On April 12, 2017, my daughter, son-in-law, and I went with his parents to see the gardens of Giverny, home of French impressionist painter Claude Monet, about 50 miles northwest of Paris. Giverny has two gardens — the Clos Normand, the flower garden in front of the house, and the Japanese-style water garden, which inspired his Water Lilies series. From 1883, when he moved to Giverny, until his death in 1926, Monet oversaw the planting of millions of seeds and young plants.

The Clos Normand has flowerbeds of differing heights and arrangements. Monet mixed the simplest flowers with the rarest varieties. He did not like organized gardens, preferring to plant flowers according to their colors, then leaving them to grow freely.

In 1893, Monet bought the land that would become the water garden with its famous Japanese bridge and pond. This garden includes weeping willows, a bamboo wood, flowering trees and shrubs, and the water lilies which bloom all summer long.

Monet died in 1926. His son Michel inherited the property, later passing it to the Academie des Beaux-Arts. In 1977, a 10-year reconstruction of the house and gardens began. The house and greenhouse had been badly damaged during World War II but the gardens were restored with the same flowers Monet had planted.

Giverny is scheduled to reopen April 19 — the flowers will be waiting!

Much more information at http://giverny.org/gardens/fcm/fleurs/listflor.htm

On The Road – MollyS – Monet’s gardens at Giverny, the Clos NormandPost + Comments (7)

randy khan

There are very few places more special than Monet’s Giverny garden in the spring.  The garden was as much a part of his art as anything, and you’re constantly turning the corner and experiencing a shock of recognition, particularly in the back part of the garden.

On The Road – randy khan – Springtime in Paris (well, not really) – A Day in GivernyPost + Comments (15)

randy khan

These photos mostly were taken in the Bois de Bologne, a park in the northwest part of the city, not too far from the northern border. We went there to visit the Fondacion Louis Vuitton, a contemporary art museum. We were there not too long after it opened. It’s a wild Frank Gehry building, and definitely worth a visit, but for spring I thought the park was more interesting.

On The Road – randy khan – Springtime in Paris – Bois de BolognePost + Comments (18)

MollyS

In April 2015, my son and I went to Paris. My daughter, who’d recently moved there, was busy one cool rainy weekday, so he and I took the train to Chartres, about 60 miles southwest of Paris. The Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Chartres was built between 1020-1220 and has survived at least five fires, the French Revolution, and World War II. In 1939, the stained-glass windows were removed and hidden.

Then in August, 1944, the Allies issued a destruction order, believing the Germans were using the spires as observation posts. During the five-day battle for the town, Colonel Welborn Barton Griffith and his driver went behind enemy lines to the cathedral, reporting that there were no German troops.

The destruction order was withdrawn. Griffith retreated to nearby Lèves and commandeered a tank. He was killed that same day in the returning German rifle and rocket-launcher fire.

He was posthumously awarded the U.S. Distinguished Service Cross, and the Croix de Guerre avec Palm, the Legion of Honor, and the Legion of Merit from the French government. These are my son’s pictures as my small camera was no match for his Nikon.

On The Road – MollyS – Paris to Chartres — The Cathedral’s InteriorPost + Comments (29)

MollyS

In April 2015, my son and I went to Paris to visit my daughter, who’d recently moved there. She was busy one cool rainy weekday, so he and I took the train to Chartres, about 60 miles southwest of Paris. The Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Chartres was built between 1020-1220 and is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It may be best known for its two very different spires. Its numbers are awesome — 142 yards long (almost 1.5 football fields), about 83,000 square feet of interior floor space, 176 stained-glass windows (28,000 square feet), and 3,500 statues. The vaulted ceiling in the nave rises 123 feet, about 11 stories high. The cathedral was undergoing a years-long cleaning/restoration and some sections were closed off. There were few visitors that day so my son took up with one of the guards who gave us a personal tour. These are my son’s pictures as my small camera was no match for his Nikon. 

On The Road – MollyS – From Paris to Chartres — The Cathedral’s ExteriorPost + Comments (22)

randy khan

These photos are from Versailles. When you think about Versailles, you think about the main palace, but there’s a lot more, including other smaller palaces, a farm where Marie Antoinette played peasant, and the gardens. Since this is springtime, these photos are all about the gardens.

On The Road – randy khan – Springtime in Paris – VersaillesPost + Comments (31)