Monet's Water Lilies

Yesterday we met up at the Musee de l'Orangerie. Monet's huge water lilies are in two oval rooms, covering the walls. There were skylights and it had a really interesting effect on the paintings. You would look at them but as the light and sun changed so did the paintings. It was very inspiring and amazing to see how different lighting made it seem like a completely different painting. Afterwards, a few of us went to a local brasserie which was pretty posh but very delicious. First foie gras in Paris and it was wonderful. Then we all went home to work on the midterm. Finally finished it and now can worry about my presentation and final. That evening I needed to do laundry before leaving for the weekend, but our machine in the apartment hasn't been draining properly. So I ended up dragging Sam with me to figure out the laundromat. I had never used one before, and this was all in French. But we somehow got it working, only the water was a lot hotter than I normally wash my clothes in so my jeans turned everything lovely shades of blue. I felt a little like Picasso, only I was moving from Rose to Blue. At least they all got dyed evenly.

Today we all got up at the crack of dawn to catch the train for Giverny. It was so wonderful to be at his home and see his gardens. It was astounding that he built all of the gardens and pond himself. His home was full of Japanese wood-block prints, which wasn't my favorite thing ever. But his dinning room and kitchen!! Monet loved to garden and cook and that love was definitely alive and well in these rooms. His dinning room was egg-yolk yellow and super cheerful. Then his kitchen was covered in decorative blue and white tiles. His stove/oven was to die for and his collection of copper pots and pans was still hanging on the wall. It made me fall more in love with him. Afterwards, we went to an exhibition of Bonnard's paintings during his time in Normandy. It was really interesting to see all of his drawings and photographs as well as paintings. Then we had a delicious lunch at a really cute cafe. I ate a wonderful ooey gooey potato gratin with local Normandy cheese and a plum tart. Then, we walked over to where we were supposed to catch the bus back to the train station. But somehow the times we had were wrong and the next bus wasn't for another hour and a half. So the four of us walked. And it was spectacular. The countryside was beautiful and pastoral, with lots of farms, stone houses and forested hills. I loved every minute, but my companions were not as thrilled (city-dwellers). We had perfect timing coming into the train station, only having to wait for ten minutes. I slept on the ride back and am now making final preparations to leave tomorrow for Provence!

First room at Orangerie

Second room at Orangerie

The Laverie 

Gardens at Giverny

Lily Pond

Water Lilies