Saturday, April 25, 2015

MONET'S WATER GARDEN



I was already smitten after seeing Monet's house and flower garden, but there was more in store on the other side of the road that bisects the property--the Jardin d'Eau or Water Garden. Signs pointed the way via an underground passage.


Claude Monet wanted to extend his gardens at Giverny beyond the walls of his flower garden, Clos Normand. In the 1890s he purchased the adjacent property across the road along a stream to create his now well-known and often painted pond and water garden.





Monet's bamboo garden is surrounded on one side by the meandering Ru, a small brook which is a diversion of the river Epte, which itself is a tributary of the Seine River.












The Ru winds its way around the bamboo eventually emptying into a pond where Monet planted his famous water lilies. 




The water lilies are dormant now in early April, but you can see the submerged rings from where they will grow. Can't you just imagine Claude Monet rowing about his pond surrounded by the magnificent water lilies he made so famous in his paintings? 


Walking around the pond the signs of early spring are evident. Yellow narcissus and violets are in bloom, while the tulips and other later flowering bulbs and flowers await their turn to show off their colors.





Despite the lack of flowers and colorful blooms, however, the reflection of the sky in the pond is a grand show in itself.


So grand, in fact, that two young artists show off their own impressions of Monet's water garden.


For another view of Monet's Garden, watch this short video of the delightful book Linnea in Monet's Garden:    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kj56NGwjdlc











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