Thursday 6 May 2010

MONET'S GARDEN GIVERNEY

Last weekend I visited Monet's garden in Giverney. I have wanted to visit there for many years and was treated to the trip by one of my daughters.
The garden was a delight and we were lucky to dodge the showers.






Yes it was the fritillaria not the hen pen I was trying to photograph.




I had to post a photograph of myself just as proof that I actually visited the garden.




One of my two lovely daughters Rachel.










Rachel took the above photo as well as many of the others she has a good eye for a photographic opportunity. I could learn from both my daughters.














Years ago suffering with chronic debilitating Arthritis and muscle weakness I would never have imagined that I would recover so much that I would be able to do such a trip or all the walking over the three days we were in Paris. My symptoms were found to be Lyme Disease and on long term antibiotics I have my health and life back. How many more patients could have their health restored if there was more awareness of this dreadful illness and the even worse controversy which leaves patients and children un diagnosed and not adequately treated.
For details of Monet's garden see here. and a garden blog here
I will post more photos of the Water garden soon.

25 comments:

  1. BEAUTIFUL ! Thanks so much, wish I could go one day ! Take care, Gina

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  2. Joanne, A truly wonderful post - thank you! And so amazing to see Giverny with so few people there!

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  3. Such a stunning garden... I wonder how it must look in Summer... More or less spectacular??!!

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  4. Wow..Joanne..my heart is flying with such a joyful spirit..with all these beautiful scenes you have shared..breathtaking beauty! I shall come visit this post often! Wonderful photo of you and your daughter! Gorgeous..happy you are able to travel and explore and enjoy such wonderment! Blessings!! Thanks for such a moving post.
    Kiki~

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  5. I should have said that we left Paris on the 8.20 train for Vernon where a coach took us to Giverney. The garden opens at 9.30 so we were the first there.

    It certainly paid off because there were less people and also as we finally left the gardens the heavens opened, we were fortunate to be in the house and shop.
    Later after a quick baguette we passed the garden again to see the enormous queue snaking way down the street.
    The village was quaint and the gallery was another interesting place to visit and once again we dodged the rain.

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  6. Such a stunning garden .... thanks for all your lovely photos. I scrolled up and down several times taking it all in ... definitely one place I would love to visit.

    How lucky you were to be there at the right time ... more enjoyable when there's not such a big crowd.

    Congratulations ... you seem to winning the battle with Lyme disease ... how wonderful to be able to make this trip.

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  7. Hi Joanne,
    I came back again to see all your lovely photos-so many beautiful ones to see.Nice photo of you and your daughter too.
    Look forward to more,
    Carolyn

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  8. Thank you sooo much for sharing your photo's,they are BEAUTIFUL!!!

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  9. What fun it must have been to see (and photograph) the gardens. Everywhere you look there are fantastic views, such an incredible number of flower combinations. Somehow, each colour scheme looks perfect.

    How sweet of your daughter to take you on the trip.

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  10. What a treat that was for you! Thank you for sharing so many beautiful pictures. That is definitely a garden I hope to see one day. I love the colors of all of the flowers. I've always loved Monet's art and you can really see his inspiration here.
    I do have a question. In one of the pictures there is a plant we call Bishop's Weed, is it same as your ground elder? It was the variegated green and white ground cover.

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  11. Oh my gosh! Lucky you! These photos are stunning. I can only imagine what it must have looked like up close and personal! Absolutely lovely!

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  12. Catherine Yes it is what we call Ground Elder. I can't get away from the pesky stuff.
    Although it looks attractive in a variagated form it is just as invasive and definitely one to oust ASAP.

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  13. Through your photos you make me feel as if I am walking beside you as you visit these places.Now all we need is to be able to smell the flowers!
    Thanks for the tour and the photo of Rachel and yourself

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  14. Oh, what a very special treat. I do hope to be able to visit them myself, but thank you for sharing your beautiful photos :-)

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  15. I have always wanted to visit Monet's garden. Most of the photos I have seen have been of the water garden or the area adjacent to the house, so it is great to get a larger overview. The flowers are spectacular, but I'm not sure I like all the straight rows. Thanks for sharing; I look forward to your water garden photos!

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  16. I have enjoyed the visit, just love the English garden and weather. I saw a picture with the clouds and I like it. Now I'm looking forward to your next instalment. How I wish someday, my daughter will treat me to Giverny.

    Happy Mother's Day!

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  17. So glad that you enjoyed your special trip Joanne - it looks marvellous and not too crowded. Thanks for sharing your photos. Must get there myself one of these days!

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  18. Your pictures are beautiful. Much better than the actual website for the gardens. Congratulations on your recovery as well.

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  19. Wow! Your pictures are wonderful! : ) I can see how he was so inspired to paint his amazing scenes. Just beautiful. Thanks for sharing. : )

    PS: Ches did respond well to the antibiotics. He's still not full strength yet, but I think he's getting better. We find out Monday how the Lyme test turned out. He has two he should find out results on; I think the other one is Tularemia. ThAnks for checking in with us, you are soo sweet! We'll be searching for a LLMD if he has Lyme! I'm so glad you found us!

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  20. busymom
    Great news about Ches' response you stick to your gums on treatment until he is fully recovered, whatever the test results come back as. Knowledge is power.

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  21. Oh wow what super stunning pictures. I wish I could step in & sit in there for a while & maybe forget all the pain & rubbish I feel!
    Hope you are well? I've really been struggling this year. Not a great start but I still have hope. I am blogging for CFS/ME at www.memyselfandcfsme.blogspot.com if you want to pop over. I accidently deleted the other blog I did & it has taken me ages to start another. Everything takes me ages!!
    Hugs Helen x

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  22. Joanne, I have been to Giverny (and have even blogged about it), but your pictures are so much better than anything I managed to capture there. Wonderful! I can't wait to see your images of the water garden. -Jean

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  23. Someday. I was showing my daughter, and she's not a gardener, so . . . . I'm so happy for you that you got to see it. Your photographs make it so real in my kitchen on the computer. Thank you.~~Dee

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  24. Joanne...you really got so many lovely shots! I spent a lot of time here today looking at everything once, then twice!

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