Givernyyy

I had a wonderful day yesterday in Giverny! Up until last night, that is, when I went all the way up to Montmartre to see the cabaret at Au Lapin Agile but was too late and was thus locked outside and forced to leave and go to Ile St. Louis/Cite, where I engaged in self-pity eating and had an ice cream cone and nutella crepe for dinner and also took some cool video of Notre Dame at night. Oh, and then my host family left this morning for their vacation. No big goodbyes or anything, which was a bit weird, but I'm actually kind of glad they're gone because now I can pretend I actually live in Paris! Anyways, last night sucked. But yesterday was great!

We went to Vernon via train which took about 45 minutes. We arrived at around 11:15, rented bikes, and rode them through the town and down a bike path until we reached Monet's garden. Giverny is really cute, with lots of adorable houses and B&Bs and cafes. It was sooo picturesque. Vernon was not as cute, but I still enjoyed seeing a regular old French town. 

The gardens, though. Wow. They were breathtaking. Better than I could have imagined. I did a sketch of them which is way too detailed, which made me realize: In a place so overwhelmingly beautiful, too much detail doesn't capture its essence. Monet's "impressions" were really the only way to do his gardens justice. 

Inside his house, he had Japanese prints all over the walls, obvious representations that Eastern art largely inspired Impressionism. 

After we saw the gardens, we went to a creprerie and had lunch. We had a great view of the quaint houses/street, and we sat talking and laughing for quite a while. 

Next, we went to the Musee d'Impressionisme. Kind of a letdown. They only had an exhibition going on of the neo-Impressionist Maximillien Luce. It was good, but I was expecting to look at that and then be able to see their permanent collection. But, they don't even HAVE a permanent collection. Weird, right? You'd think the Impressionist museum would at least have a collection of go-to Impressionist paintings. 

Anyways, one cute anecdote: While I was seating on a bench drawing Monet's water lilies/bridge, a little girl (she was Dutch or German or something I think) came up to me and looked at my drawing and smiled. Her mom had to coax her to do it, as she was shy, but I got the impression that she liked to draw as well. Later, when I was finishing the drawing in the Musee's garden area, I saw her again. Once again, she came up with a huge beaming smile, and just watched. Basically, she was adorable and the setting was perfect and I loved the whole cross-cultural connection thing. =]

After we saw the museums and such, we rode our bikes back across the bridge to Vernon, and me, Gus, and Kenneth went on a longer bike ride along the river (the Seine). It was really fun and cool to be in a place so different from Paris. It was also a good workout, which I liked since I have really only been walking here.

This afternoon I have class/walking with my class, and then I don't know what I'm going to do. I only have one more week in Paris though, and it's really sad! So, a bientot!

The other day at Musee de l'Orangerie. I got see the Waterlilies right before I went to see them firsthand! Awesome.

At Monet's Jardin.

My drawing of his jardin/waterlilies/bridge.

It's the real deal.

The big picture.

Impressionistic water lilies. I love the reflection of the clouds on the water.

Close-up. Still gorgeous.

A chair in Monet's foyer in his house. He probably sat there and looked out onto his beloved garden.

Lace-draped window in Monet's house.

Me, Gus, and Kenneth at the end of our bike ride.