Painting like Monet Will Take More Practice

Day 15, 2023 North Atlantic Adventure

Friday, May 26, 2023; Le Havre, France.

Spring has sprung in France, and more specifically in Claude Monet’s garden in Giverny, France.

The rows of plants in front of the house are packed with blooms – every kind of flower you can imagine. I admit I didn’t know the names of many of them, but that didn’t stop me from enjoying wandering through, taking many more photos than I will ever be able to use or enjoy.

I might have made a strategic mistake when I decided not to take a tour of his house, which is full of his art and works he collected by other artists. I brought not just my sketchbook, but also my watercolor palette and brushes. Today I would paint in Monet’s Garden.

It didn’t quite work out as I hoped. I found a bench with a view of the house and small section of garden. But my painting wasn’t very accomplished. My lines were crooked, my paint application uneven. Obviously I was out of practice when it came to painting en plein air. Twenty minutes later my tour group emerged from the house and it was time to pack up and move on. Oh well, one of my philosophies is that it is better to try and have a mediocre result than to have a blank sketchbook page.

It was another beautiful day with mostly sunny skies and temperatures in the 60s, so visitors packed the gardens. Our guide said it was fortunate that we arrived in the morning and before the summer rush. The path moved slowly to the waterlily pond and foot bridge that Monet made so famous in his paintings, as everyone sought the best spots for viewing – and selfies.

The independent tour wasn’t quite as well organized as we had hoped, with our guide being more of a chauffeur than guide with a plan for the day. I would have enjoyed another hour or so in the garden, but we left for lunch. With no particular restaurant in mind, we ended up at an American diner in nearby Vernon – not quite the French meal I wanted but good nonetheless.

With the afternoon ahead of us, our guide realized we did not have a plan either. He made a great suggestion that we spend an hour in Honfleur, a small city across the Seine from Le Havre. We walked around the picturesque old harbor, lined with townhouses from the 16th to 18th centuries, now restaurants and shops.

This time I was a little more in my element, as I sketched the opposite side of the small harbor with pen and ink. Even then I didn’t have time to finish, but I got the essence and will add details and probably watercolor later.

Back on the ship friends reported they also had great days, with some going to Rouen and others touring the Normandy D-Day beaches. The latter had been my plan for our earlier scheduled stop in Le Havre, but a French transit strike canceled that stop. Obviously, I will need to return.