France: Charming Giverny

MONET’S GARDENS AND HOUSE

Per the advice of our travel agent, we arrived early at the gardens and were so glad we did.  It was another foggy morning and only about 45 degrees.  Very few people initially, so we could take our time wandering the garden paths. Even when we got to the water lily garden, it wasn’t extremely crowded. 

At Monet’s Gardens

I had wondered if visiting the gardens in October was crazy, but no.  They were spectacular!  The garden rows are a riot of color, seemingly arranged casually, but not quite so. The colors popped against the grayish white sky.  The Rows and rows of densely planted flowers are somewhat grouped by color and all allowed to grow very tall.  As you walk along, you are both surrounded by greenery and blossoms and dwarfed by their size.  Lots of yellow big daisy-like flowers, dahlias in pinks and purples, plus masses of other purple and lavender flowers.

 The water lily garden is also gorgeous, perhaps even more so than the main garden.  There are Japanese maples with their red leaves, slender stands of bamboo, Monet’s signature green arched bridges, and then the lilies themselves.  It was serene and almost quiet, despite the masses of people with everyone shooting photos of themselves or the views with their iPhones.

Water lily garden in Giverny
Japanese maple overlooking Monet’s waterlilies

Monet’s brick house is also open to the public.  Not surprising, it has green shutters.  Inside you see the blues and yellows and greens that were some of his favorite colors. 

Green bench with Monet’s house behind
Monet’s dining room

I particularly liked the yellow dining room with yellow table and chairs, a ceramic pot with yellow flowers in it, and a yellow fireplace with green and blue tall vases on top. The kitchen was done in shades of light blue. We also saw Monet’s bedroom and the bed in which he died. Throughout the house, the walls are filled with art. A comfortable place to live indeed!

GIVERNY VILLAGE

What are the colors of Giverny?  The buildings and homes are stone, oatmeal and tan in color, a perfect backdrop for wooden doors and shutters in blue, green, or red and cafe chairs in yellow and blue.  Much of the main area is a pedestrian zone which makes it very pleasant to wander.  

Note orangey-red doors
Outside an in-town B&B

We noted a sign with an arrow to see Monet’s grave so, we headed to Saint Radegonde’s Church, a simple but striking Romanesque church, parts of which date to the 11th century.  Radegonde lived in the 6thcentury, was forced to marry a royal, but later left her husband. Devoutly Christian, she helped the poor, cared for the ill, and later founded a monastery. She continued to have influence with the government and was linked to the liberation of Normandy from the English.  

St. Radegonde’s Church

In the 10th century, she was canonized and even today is an important saint beyond France and Europe and is honored with two feast days.  The interior of the church is small with several impressive stained glass windows.

In the cemetery surrounding the church are not only the graves of Claude Monet and several members of his family, but also that of seven airmen buried together who were shot down nearby in 1944 during the war.

We lunched in the village at the Ancien Hotel Gaudy and enjoyed our repast of salmon rillettes, a Camembert crepe which was bathed in a puddle of melted cheese and accompanied by both greens and French fries for me, and for the Chief Penguin salade landaise of duck confit, lettuce, and mini potatoes.  Plus a basket of toothsome French bread and some vino.

Decadent crepe filled with and sitting in Camembert

Note: All photos ©JWFarrington (some rights reserved.)

Maine Days: Blossoms & Book

GARDENS

ABUNDANT BLOOMS

If I were asked to name the most common flowers in this part of Maine, it would be daylilies and black-eyed Susans. Native to North America, Black-eyed Susans or Rudbeckia hirta are now found in the lower 48 states.

 A close third would be the many varieties of cone flowers.  

We made another visit to Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens this week.  After checking off another troll on our list (we’ve seen three of the five), we enjoyed wandering in the children’s garden and through the senses garden.  Everything seemed especially lush and leafed out (probably all the rain here in July) and as always, it was lovely.

Here on Southport, there are daylilies in the garden and when we walk the neighborhood, we spy more of them.  Especially prevalent are the yellow and cream ones.  

Cream daylilies at Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens

CHALLENGED DETECTIVE

The Cuckoo’s Calling by Robert K. Galbraith

I missed some of the hoopla when J. K. Rowling published her first crime novel as Robert K. Galbraith.  I’m only now discovering this work, thanks to the recommendations of Patricia and Rebecca.  The Cuckoo’s Calling is the first of five novels featuring detective Cormoran Strike.  Strike is a former soldier who served in Afghanistan.  At the outset, he is hard up, soon to be homeless, and slowed down by the loss of part of one leg in the war.  After the apparent suicide of Lula, a famous model, Strike is hired by the model’s stepbrother to investigate her death.  His new temp Robin is efficient, motivated, and tactful in ignoring the travails of Strike’s personal life. Together they wind their way through false leads and questionable tactics to arrive at the truth.

I enjoyed getting to know both Cormoran and Robin but was less taken with the unsavory characters of the celebrity world.  The book is very well-written (one probably wouldn’t expect any less) and clever, but long.  I picked it up and put it down and then resumed.  The more I got into it, the more I found it satisfying and engaging.  Therefore, after a break, I will probably read the next title in the series.  

Note: All photos ©JWFarrington (some rights reserved).

Maine Time: Trolls & More

TROLLS IN THE GARDEN

We made the first of this year’s visits to Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens yesterday.  It was lovely and mostly sunny.  We were impressed with some new annuals and the expansion of beds near the entry bridge.  These gardens get better every year!

Lisianthus in purple
Pink member of the canna family

This year’s highlight is the presence of some gigantic trolls. These wooden sculptures are the work of Danish artist Thomas Dambo.   They were built on site over several months by the artist with assistance from garden staff and more than 150 volunteers.  Dambo has been working with wood since early childhood, and his trolls are found around the world.  

Soren Troll by Thomas Dambo

I was told that these five trolls will remain in place until they deteriorate and fall apart, estimated to be about five years, longer if they receive some maintenance.  They are impressive works!  We tramped around and found two of them, Soren and Birk.

RECENT READING

Baghdad 2002

When the Apricots Bloom by Gina Wilkinson

I must confess to buying this paperback book partly because of its very attractive apricot-colored cover.  It’s a novel set in Iraq in 2002 when Sadam Hussein was ruling the country.  The author is a former international correspondent who spent a year living under that regime.  Her depictions of the city and the environment are picturesque and chilling.  

Wilkinson has created three female characters, one based to some extent on her own experiences.  Ally Wilson is the wife of the Australian ambassador, Huda is a village girl who has advanced in life to working at the Australian embassy, but also acting as an informant for the government.  Rania, born rich and privileged, has fallen on hard times; she and Huda were close friends as children.  How these three women come to interact with one another and how Huda and Rania’s concern for their teenage children makes them compatriots is the heart of the novel.  

I found the descriptions of daily life fascinating, but noticed a lack of tension in the narrative until about the last third of the book.  Nonetheless, it’s worth reading about Bagdad during this brutal time.  (~JWFarrington)

VIEWING—BRITISH CRIME

Unforgotten (Season 4, PBS Masterpiece)

Cassie and Sunny (radiottimes.com)

Detective Chief Inspector Cassie Stuart and Detective Sunny Kahn are partners in solving cold case crimes. Bodies turn up years later in odd places, in this season, a freezer.  This duo must identify the victim and then excavate his or her past to determine how and why the individual died.  Was it an accident or murder?  And who were the principals in this person’s life and what role did they play in the demise?  One incident and one quick decision decades ago reverberated through the lives of four people.  

From the haunting and ethereal opening song, “All we do is hide away,” to the detailed interviews with possible suspects, each season is gripping drama. This season is exceptionally so.  Nicola Walker as the lead (familiar to some viewers from her role in Last Tango in Halifax) is superb, as is Sanjeev Bhaska as Sunny. This pair like and care for each other as friends as well as colleagues. Their mutual respect is echoed in the respect shown to victims, suspects, and family members.  Complex, involved, and compelling—highly recommended!

Note: All garden photos ©JWFarrington (some rights reserved).

Yellow orchid blooms

Tidy Tidbits: Tropical Blooms & Exotic Settings

When you can’t travel to new destinations, then it’s best to enjoy what’s local and watch or read about other times, other places. We did some of both this past week.

ORCHID SHOWLOCAL COLOR

For their 45th annual orchid show, Selby Gardens honors founder Marie Selby and celebrates the 100th anniversary of women gaining the right to vote.  Entitled, Women Breaking the Glasshouse Ceiling, the displays in the conservatory feature purple, white, and gold, the colors most closely associated with the suffrage movement.  The orchids are beautiful as always, and this year, some of the arrangements revolve. There’s even a mobile of orchids and cut-outs.

Gold orchids

 Music from the 1920’s and period furnishings provide an appropriate backdrop. It’s all quite stylish.

The show runs until November 29 and is definitely worth a visit. There’s much more to see besides this exhibit.   For a a video preview, click here.

Creamy white orchids
Everyone must wear a mask!

EXOTIC LOCALESVIEWING AND READING

The White Countess (Amazon Prime)

With a star-studded cast including Ralph Fiennes and Natasha Richardson as the principals, plus Lynn and Vanessa Redgrave, this is Merchant Ivory’s last film.  It’s set in Shanghai in 1936, and former American diplomat Todd Jackson is a recluse.  Now blind, his life marred by tragedy, he aimlessly whiles away his nights in sleazy clubs.  He’s well off, but a displaced family of Russian emigres lives crowded together in the ghetto.  

Among them is former countess Sofia, who works as a dancer and prostitute to support her young daughter Katya.  Sofia becomes Todd’s muse and inspiration for creating his own elite nightclub.  Watching these lost souls cautiously connect before the Japanese invade is a long drawn out process.  The overall great cast makes this an enjoyable escape from the everyday. Thanks to my friend Mary for recommending it!  

Singapore Sapphire by A. M. Stuart

Set in Singapore in 1910, this is the first in a series of mysteries featuring Harriet Gordon, a young widow and former suffragette, and Inspector Robert Curran.  Harriet is a relatively recent arrival in Singapore.  She volunteers at the English-style boys’ school headed up by her brother and takes on freelance typing jobs.  

When Harriet goes to retrieve her typewriter from a recent client, Sir Oswald Newbold, she finds him dead and his study ransacked. Curran, a former military policeman and cricket star, is assigned with his team to find the killer.  Other suspicious deaths and disappearances follow and Harriet, both curious and restless, gets involved too.  Add into the mix, art and artifacts, ruby mines, and gem dealers and you have an engaging, even exciting, plot.   (~JWFarrington)

Note: Photos ©JWFarrington (some rights reserved).