Art Trip in Paris (4)- Monet’s Garden

A-day-trip on a sunny day of May to Monet’s Garden in Giverny, 50 miles north from Paris, was unexpected yet turned out to be unforgettable lovely.

The Garden is known as Monet’s living painting and the desire to visit it came after we saw Monet’s “Nympheas” at the Musee de l’Orangerie. This art gallery contains impressionist paintings by Renoir,  Matisse, Picasso, Cezanne, etc. On the upper floor at the Museum, a pair of oval-shaped rooms were designed/build particularly for Monet’s waterlilies.

Visitors enter the room with a gasp: breathtaking gigantic masterpieces, 8 of them, bathed in natural lights filtered from the roof,  the way that the Master self originally intended to. The size of the paintings are so striking, maybe the biggest drawings in modern art history. Normally it would take an artist years to finish one in such scale, but Monet did 8 of them– at his 80’s while suffered from eyesight disease. I was simply hit by these Nympheas. One feels the Master’s passion and soul in these paintings. One would be drawn close to these waterlilies,  into them and would wonder how the transformations were created from the reality onto the canvas by one of the greatest Master in the history ever.

Tips: 1) Allow time of  one day for the trip to Monet’s Garden. After the train’s arrival, take a taxi or the shuttle bus (right side outside the train station).   But be quick since the bus would be packed and count for seriously 30 minutes for checking on the bus. click here for more travel details.

2) Be patience for the long line at the entrance of the Garden. You might take your lunch break ahead at a nearby restaurant decorated in charming french country-style, afterward you can take time and enjoy the garden fully.

Art Trip in Paris (1)- Museum d’Orsay

If you like impressionist, then you might enjoy a visit at Museum d’Orsay on 1, rue de la Légion d’Honneur, 75007 Paris.  Located on the left bank of Seine, Museum d’Orsay is supposed to hold the largest collection of masterpieces of impressionist in the world: Monet, Degas, Renoir, Cezanne, Van Gogh… you name it.

The Museum’s building self is quite impressive with a very unique  layout inside since originally it was build in 1898 as a train station. Unfortunately, photograph/video inside the entire building is verboten. Currently a special exhibition called “Crime and Punishment” is on displaying.

A art trip in Paris would be very special if you explore  this beautiful and charming city  by following the Masters to discover sites that once appear in their paintings over a century ago. I had my moment while standing at the very quiet site of  moulin de la Galetter  to imagine the  scene created by Auguste Renoir in his “Bal au moulin de la Galetter, Montmartre“: all of sudden everything in that painting became alive, so vivid, as if one felt the warmth of sun and breeze from late spring; lovely music floating in the air;  intimate conversations fading in the shadows…

Tips: 1. Avoid to visit  the Museum on a rainy Tuesday. d’Orsay, as the very few (if not the only) museum that opens on Tuesdays, the waiting line could be very long and inside could be packed when everyone trying to do the same thing.

2. With a Paris museum Pass, go directly to the Entry C at Museum d’Orsay. A Paris museum Pass is helpful to save big amount of time/frustration at most local museums.

3. For a walking tours of the artists’ studios, homes, and the sites they painted, see “The Impressionists’ Paris” by Ellen Williams.

Podcast on ” Dance at le Moulin de la Galette” in Chinese

(pictures above are from Wikipedia)