Eye of the beholder
All beauty is in the eye of the beholder, which is one reason artists like Jackson Pollock and Claude Monet can both be considered masters, though not always by the same people. For instance, I will never grasp the wild splashes of Pollock's works, while I've always loved Monet's Impressionistic works.
When I first started planning this recent trip to Paris with my friend Charlotte, whom I've known since college, my only request was that we include a day trip to Giverny, where Monet painted for the second half of his life. It was where his famed water lily series was painted. His home was surrounded by incredible gardens.
Because our trip was schedule for the end of September, I feared the gardens would be less than spectacular. To my delight, I couldn't have been more wrong. They were still filled with color. It's easy to see how Monet created so many masterpieces in such incredible surroundings.
Our guide, a young and very handsome multi-lingual Frenchman worthy of hero status in any of my books, explained that as Monet's eyesight changed in later years his works moved more and more toward the abstract. He also told us that Monet was fascinated by the changing light and that no matter how often he painted the same scene, it was never quite the same. For someone like me, who dreams of painting but has never once recognized anything I put on paper, I was awed to see how that translated from reality to canvas. It was even evident in the photos I took of the waterlilies, where lighting changed in the mere seconds it took to click the shutter from one picture to the next.
The next day we went to L'Orangerie, which houses the stunning water lilies series, to see the paintings in person. It was the perfect way to finish up the Monet experience.
One of these days I'm going to get out the watercolors I received for Christmas two years ago and see if I can paint even one of those garden scenes so it's recognizable. I seriously doubt I'll discover I have any hidden artistic talent at this stage of my life, but recognizable would be a step in the right direction.
Though we visited a lot of amazing places in Paris, Giverny was definitely a highlight. And, for a bonus, we actually rode past Roland Garros, home of the French Open, en route. While I might not have been able to step on those red clay courts, just having a glimpse gave me goosebumps. What a day!!
Stay tuned for more from Paris. Next up the tale of Sherryl, a blowtorch and a strawberry creme brûlée!
