Giverny 1 - The little green bridge

Monet's garden at Giverny has been on our hit list for ages. For various reasons we never managed a visit, until a couple of weeks ago. We stayed for two days. What's more we landed on our feet with our accommodation. A French friend in Chinon who is an artist, has a long-time friend Sandrine, who is also an artist and a photographer, with a lovely chambre d'hôte. It's just slightly away from the centre of the village, and a mini Monet garden to relax in. We'd booked November last year for May this year, and while we were there Sandrine was taking bookings for the same period in 2016. 

Giverny is a very popular place. In fact the whole village is Monet-esque. It is very pretty and clearly well maintained. I'm assuming that strict regulations apply.

We arrived in Tuesday afternoon, made a sortie round the village to check where everything was and then arranged with Sandrine to go to the gardens first thing the next morning. Because of my photography she was able to organise a special pass so that I could go back after closing on Wednesday evening. If you are classified as an artist it is possible to go. But she had to book it for me and did. The rules meant that Mike couldn't come.

Wednesday morning:  Mike and I were outside the gardens waiting for the doors to open at 9.30am. The gardens have a lovely array of colours and textures and the planting is very interesting. It is a gorgeous place and definitely worth visiting. I'm pleased we went. However we weren't quite ready for the onslaught. Being realists we knew there'd be a lot of people, but even first thing it was pretty full. The ubiquitous tour groups and their guides are the main problem. Just too many of the them crowding the narrow pathways. They are oppressive and distracting. Negotiating round them is difficult. It can't be easy for the gardening staff either, who have to use the same pathways.

At Giverny you are not going to find the peace and tranquility in which Monet painted, and which ooze from his much loved and admired paintings. It isn't easy to just look either, not with the additional presence of the "selfie" fanatics who were sitting on the pathways and standing in the flowerbeds, looking at themselves rather than anything around them.

By 11am the gardens were heaving. Our timing was good to get into Monet's house. It's a delight. We were early in the queue, so went in quickly and then left soon after, as it was the last thing for us to see.

Giverny with its history, particularly that of the gardens, is a place that inspires. So it's no surprise to discover that there are over 500,000 visitors each year. The range of nationalities and languages on the day we went was really quite something. On the other hand those numbers, given the size of the gardens at Giverny, are problematic.

It is the same challenge for any place or event that has been turned into a tourist attraction, and just keeps piling people in. How do you ensure the quality of the experience for the individual? That's not straightforward either. We are all different, as are our expectations. For me it is simply not enough to say that I've been and so can cross it off my "to do list". I have to make a connection.  

Thanks to Sandrine, that connection came Wednesday evening. I went back into the gardens with my permit soon after the doors had closed, and found myself in there with just seven other people, as opposed to seven thousand.

I can only describe the experience as emotional. It was also a real privilege. The contrast was extreme with that of the morning. I headed immediately to the little green bridge and the lilypads. At that point no one else was there. To walk in complete tranquility around the lake, to stand in perfect and peaceful solitude on the green bridge, to look across and around with only natural sounds for companionship was quite simply, breathtaking. At one point I was shaking so much I could barely hold the camera steady and had to sit briefly to get my head in gear. The photos here are all from this second visit. The early evening light and the reflections were idyllic. It is undoubtedly my favourite time of the day. Such a moment. 
I only wish Mike could have been there.