Winter in Paris

Back from Paris, since almost a week now.
It was very, very cold and we even had a little snow on the first day of our stay. We escaped the snow blizzard Paris was having this week.
Our main goal was the Monet exhibition in the Grand Palais. It was crowded, but every painting was worth the waiting!


There was also the exhibition in Musée d'Orsay of the painter Gérôme. The detail in his paintings is really stunning, you have to see it to believe it.

Our hotel was situated in the neighbourhood of the grands boulevards and the grands magasins, like "Printemps" and "Galeries Lafayette", and near to the Opera, and a 15 minutes walk from the musea.

This close to Christmas, all the shops were lavishly decorated, I took some pictures at the Printemps.

The Children's Book

I've just finished "The Children's Book" by A.S. Byatt and it was a wonderful read about a very interesting period. Just a few topics mentioned in the book: the Suffragette movement, the bohemian way of life of artists and their families, the Great War,...
The end of the Victorian age and the turn of the century are a very tumultuous period, a part of history that is far away and yet very close to us.
And now I want to learn more about William Morris and the Arts & Crafts movement, I want to read Peter Pan and find a good biography of mister Barrie, etc, etc...
I even made a pinboard, inspired by this book.
Patterns by Morris:


The Morris and Burne-Jones families:

Peter Pan, illustrated by the genius Arthur Rackham:


A few interesting links:
Preraphaelite Paintings
Red House
Victoria and Albert Museum
Turn of the Century, pictures and more pictures, to get in the mood of that period.

Monet's house & garden

Yesterday night, I returned from a short holiday in Giverny, France. Main goal of our visit: the house of Monet and his oh so famous garden and the waterlily pond.

We went there early in the morning, and I managed to take this picture of the entrance of the house. Half an hour later, the place was crowded with mostly American and Japanese tourists.

At this time of year, the garden is a lust for the eye. Such a pity you can't smell the peonies...


And then of course the pond... you just have to see it for yourself.


After our three hours visit, time to get a salad and coffee afterwards at Hotel Baudy, the place where all the artists (mostly Americans) would stay in Monet's time. Just lovely!



We had a room with a view at an old mill. Our stay for three days was too short... my husband wanted to paint a lot of the scenery there, but the weather wasn't so good.
If you want to have a look at his (wonderful) paintings, go here.

Busy bee

And yet again it was a busy, busy week, with a trip to Brussels, for the opening of this exposition.


On the one day I was home this week, I found the time to bake a mascarpone cake roll with raspberries, picked in my own garden. Normally they are all eaten by blackbirds, but not this summer!

Yesterday, we went to Ghent, to visit the Art School where my son studies. We saw a lot of promising art work.


And then we took the yellow brick road to...

...an information day about bees and beekeeping at the university of Ghent. We were invited by a good friend who works there.

Today, the summer holiday is starting. I hope it will be two months of reading, working in the house and the garden, crafting,....
I begin my week with a moment of meditation by the pond. And you?

Been away...

My poor neglected blog... I've been busy the past month. First there was an unexpected trip to the UK, and then I went to France for a few weeks (more about that later).
There were visits of castles, Knole for example, enjoying a cider in the local pub, walking in beautiful gardens and villages, and so on...






This is a place I've wanted to visit for ages: "Charleston Farmhouse"". It was the summer house of Vanessa Bell (sister of Virginia Woolf) and her many artist friends of the Bloomsbury group.



I bought this beautiful book in the museum shop and our guide (a cute old lady with a naughty twinkle in her eyes) recommended this book, an autobiography by the daughter of Vanessa Bell and Duncan Grant.

And on the last (stormy) day, we went to see "Prospect Cottage", home of Derek Jarman. Weird place!

British vision

Yesterday, we went to Ghent for the "British vision" exposition. Not possible to take pictures in there, but here you can catch a glimpse of the book I bought about Alma-Tadema, a Dutch painter, who lived in London during his successful career.
I was very happy to see a few watercolours by Turner, one of my favourite painters.