Thursday 12th and
Friday 13th May
Van Gogh’s resting place, Auvers
sur l’Oise, then Claude Monet’s home and garden at Giverny.
Poor Vincent…what a talent and yet such a troubled life…Jim
reckons his life is similarly troubled (spare me!)…whilst living his last few
months (age 37) in a room on top of a bar/restaurant in Auvers he managed to
produce 33 paintings of various scenes in and around this belle village…it was
great to see his interpretations of the wheat fields, the church (L’Église) and
the houses whilst seeing their reality – we walked to view his grave at the top
of the hill overlooking the wheat fields and the village.
Now it’s Friday and we’ve scooted up the motorway to
Giverny. We’re sitting, as you do,
looking at the pont japonaise in Claude Monet’s jardin à Giverny…another
beautifully sunny Spring day, roses in full bloom, riots of colour everywhere
and about 10 thousand school kids all practising the art of impressionism at
volume 10! Janet looks at the teachers
herding the throng and is glad she’s not responsible for this lot! Oh yes…some are carrying the same cute little
teacher booklets seen on Aus school trips – these are entitled “Ma visite à
Giverny” and the kids are sketching flowers, the house, the bridge and then
asking to go to the toilet or “when can we go?”….
11th – 18th
May
Paris
My cousin and their family have lived a long time in
Cormeilles-en-Parisis, on the outskirts of Paris. Our time here is
very special - the flowers are in bloom, the garden is so relaxing, French wine
is great value against our Aussie dollar, and we’ve spent time visiting
markets, the Latin Quarter, a restaurant called Chartier (very nice) and into
the auction rooms called Drouot where our hands were firmly clenched behind the
back! So much to see…..
