The girls in front of Musee Du Louvre

 
We have just come back from a cultural trip to Paris. I realised that I have driven through it many times, but never visited. So we did all the things that a good tourist does - Musee Du Louvre, Musee D'Orsay, Eiffel Tower, Place de la Concorde, Notre Dame, Sacre Coeur and we even paid £40 for two beers and two cokes in Montmartre! However the one place that left a lasting impression on me was the Musee de l'Orangerie.
For those who are not familiar with it, it is a small museum chosen and arranged by Claude Monet to  showcase his Nympheas. There are two large oval rooms showing 8 different Monet paintings of his Water Lilly Gardens. The pictures are huge, the largest being over 12 metres wide and 2 metres high!                                                                           




Les Deux Saules (detail)

                                                                         
  Soleil Couchant

 
                                                                       
  Le Matin Clair aux Saules

What amazed me were the colours. Unless you see the pictures in real life you do not see the beauty of all the colour combinations. We have a very lack lustre version in our downstairs loo and although I have admired it, I have not been inspired. Many craft workers in all different media have produced work inspired by Monet; scarves, stationery, and all manner of art, even these beads from one of my suppliers!

 
So, I have spent some time putting together different shades of Swarovski crystals and Swarovski crystal pearls which best reflect the colours in my two favourite pictures; the first two above. 

 


 

 These two bracelets were inspired by the Soleil Couchant. I can also make a necklace in either design to go with them. 



These two were inspired by Les Deux Saules. Again I can make necklaces to go with them. 
  
I should mention that The Orangerie also offers a fabulous collection of masterpieces from the Jean Walter and Paul Guillaume Collection, and modern art including Cézanne, Renoir, Picasso, Rousseau, Matisse, Derain, Modigliani, Soutine, Utrillo and Laurencin.
 
One more place we visited was Disneyland! You are never too old to visit Disneyland although when in the queue for the Space Mountain ride they were listing all the ailments you should not have to go on the ride, between us we had at least three! We went on the 'Pirates of the Carribean' ride (the vision of Johnny Depp kept me going), Temple of Doom, Star Tours, and the best of all was the Peter Pan ride - we did that one twice. I have never been one for Theme Parks and as we live halfway between Chessington World of Adventures and Thorpe Park I have experienced a few, but Disneyland is different. It is truly MAGICAL!