I spent part of the summer of 2008 – 2009 in Europe looking for my Monet. I did tour Giverny which sits on the right bank of the River Seine. We enjoyed the Museum of Impressionism Giverny, the famous Water lilies, the wisterias and azaleas. I loved the garden, gallery, gift shop and walking the famous Japanese bridge. I’ve been dreaming of that since I have seen in it movies. Later I walked through his old house, the beds were so small, the vivid yellow kitchen which would shake my nerves, and the collection of Japanese Wood Blocked Prints on the wall. I even used the restroom at the top of the stairs which was so small inside you could barely move or breathe. I thought to myself, this house smell of Monet. This entire place smells of Monet. Would I have loved to be sitting on his shoulder when he created. When I went into the kitchen I thought Monet sat here, perhaps at the head of the table, this is where he drank his coffee. Then I stood and looked out the window and I saw his beautiful flower garden with varieties of flowers I had never seen before. The smell was so aromatic and wonderful. That image imprints still in my mind. Butterflies, bees, birds, lady bugs were buzzing all over the garden on that day. I did see 3 feisty chickens in a pen to the right of the house. I walked the famous bridge again and looked at all the beautiful trees, vines and water lilies. Monet is and some of his family are interred in the village cemetery. Make sure you go to town and just walk around. Take your time.
I went onto London by train to tour the London National Gallery and British Museum. You need to ride the double decker bus just to take in the view of the entire city. Again I saw Monet’s work sprawled around the room in its grand way. It was a continuous canvas on entire wall of one room. I love galleries and that anyone can view and appreciate art. I could stay all day long. This is a must see when in London. I also enjoyed visiting the tourist sites such as; Tower of London, Big Ben, Buckingham Palace, Abbey Road, walking over on the famous bridge to the train station. Checking out the Thames River even on a chilly day sipping a cappuccino . This day went very fast. I left by train about midnight back to Paris. We had duck with champagne and met lovely friends from Spain. I was so excited I never fell asleep.
Then my travels took me to Paris in search of the Louvre Museum in Paris and I stayed down the street nearby the starbucks that btw got robbed after I just bought a coffee and walked out. That experience was a little unnerving. But the coffee was delicious. After dinner we would always walk together and purchase little beautiful pastries at the bakery down the street. Besides Italy this was the best pasta I have had in my entire life. Paris chefs do like butter.
It would take days to get through this Louvre museum. We had elected for a private tour and an entrance away from all the tourist buses. I love it so much my neck actually ached from looking up so much. To my disappointment the Mona Lisa was just so small. I don’t know what I expected but she was tiny and I had to stretch onto my toes to see over the crowd to view her because they had just unloaded a huge tour bus of tourists. So my visit to her was brief. But I saw winged Victory up close and personal. Even though her replica sits in my home. So I enjoyed all the great work, Sargent, Monet, Rembrandt, Vincent Van Gogh, Vermeer, Raphael, Picasso, Michelangelo, etc… etc… I dreamed of that museum that night. The religious art is fabulous. The use of all the gold foil gave me brilliant ideas. One has to take in all the sights of Paris when you visit. The Architecture and Opera Garnier, Pantheon, Sacre’ Coeur, Notre-Dame, Arc de Tromphe, shopping on Champs-Elysees, Luxembourg Palace, and St. Sulpice Church are just a few to add to your list of awesome things to see. Wear comfortable shoes. Antique shopping or grocery shopping is great fun and entertainment. Your hotel concierge will help guide you stay out of the areas you should not be in.
And on the weekends families are admitted into Museums for free. So on Sunday we went onto see the Auguste Rodin Museum to look at all the sculptures. I finally saw “The Thinker” after seeing it in a book in the 4th grade. It was amazing and the grounds/gardens were beautiful to just sit and think or to have a picnic lunch. You could easily spent 2 – 3+ hours there. I have never really been that good with clay. So I thoroughly enjoyed this visit. My Art teacher gave me my first C in clay work. What a semester I had that year to bring it up to an A. I told him he was wrecking my gpa for college.
I think that is what I liked about Paris so much, the beauty, the architecture, the people, all the museums, galleries, the delicious food, the pastries, the Eiffel Tower at night, the Seine River waterway. The bridge of lovers- locks. The Artists painting on the streets , the bookstores, and really we had a wonderful time. We did a lot of walking. You need very comfortable shoes, layer your clothing for the season. You can’t go wrong with a nice scarf here. But the greatest memory is seeing all the families young and old with children or not, seniors trolling, young lovers everywhere, having coffee, sweets, wine, cheese, baguettes, picnics, popcorn or peanuts sitting on park benches on Sundays afternoon having family time. We need that more in America. Much more.
Travel as much as you can and eat the local food, it will change how you feel about the world you live in. And perhaps you will live in your world instead of just on it.
later/sunny
selfcare222 