Giverny - Day 3

 

On our last day we took a little drive into the country side to Giverny, where the home and gardens of Claude Monet have been restored.  Monet is most famous for his water-lily paintings. This was such a pretty drive as we wound through several small French villages before reaching our destination.  We started in the garden.  The garden is magnificent, so colorful and every bed was full of flowers in bloom, every color of the rainbow was represented.  We were able to tour the house.  It was fun to see black and white photos of Monet in the exact room you were standing in.  All his painting were represented, prints because the originals are distributed throughout all the major art museums in Paris and other cities.  We ended in the water garden where we saw the iconic Japanese bridge that screams a Monet.  It was a little surreal, better than I expected, and totally inspiring.  I actually felt lighter and more relaxed after the tour.  I. LOVE. GIVERNY.  Here are some shots from the day:

 

Here are samples of the rainbow:

I think when Mark retires, we will move to a little village outside Paris.  He can teach music lessons and I can take cooking classes, we'll retire fat and happy!  While in Paris we ran into another musician (an American) who told us that you will never have to look hard for work if you are a music teacher.  In the Paris schools, children are not introduced to music as there are no music programs in the public schools.  If children take music lessons it is through a conservatory.  This was so shocking to us.  We think of Paris as the center of arts with all the museums, performance halls etc.  Not to mention there are musicians and artists on every street corner, and 90% of them are very talented.  I guess that because it is not offered as part of the normal curriculum, it is appreciated more later in life?? 

Here is a little bit of fun photography.  It is the same shot but just the difference between black and white and vivid color.  It continues to amaze me what a different effect a black and white shot can express.  It is like changing the spectrum of emotions that you think of while looking at the same spot.  I will never tire of this medium of expression, I can't draw or create with any other medium, but I sure do love shooting my camera.