Ramblin' ramblin' ramblin' ramblin'

Returned safely from Lyon . . .





















and am now wandering the garden with Manu.






















Today I pack my bags, and tomorrow I fly out to Colorado (*flap flap flap*).

When jetlag removes its furry paws, more pictures, drawings, and stories will come!

Mardi? Ben j'etais ici!

How I spent Tuesday 21 July :

A Preview

Mont Saint-Michel : I made it there and back and didn't die in the quicksand!







Tomorrow : Lyon ! Avec mon ami.

vendredi 17 juillet

Friday 17 July was my last day of working in the garden. Here is the official I'm-sad-it's-my-last-day photo, taken kindly by Anu K.






















Today was the first Monday in a long time that I didn't work in the garden. I can tell that in December I'll still be dreaming about dry sage stems and dead daylilly stalks. The usual slowness/sadness of ending things, however, is mitigated by the fun I get to have to in the following week and a half. Tomorrow (mardi 22 juillet) I'll be in Paris, writing about some of the sculptures and paintings in the Orsay. Wednesday and Thursday I will (finally!) be making my way to le Mont Saint-Michel, for a quick but hopefully fruitful stay. And Saturday I head to Lyon and St-Etienne to visit a friend, who will then come visit Giverny for a few days.

On est maintenant en vacances!, as Jan says. (I'm now on vacation.)

. . . I think I'd rather work in a garden for the rest of my life.

Jeanne d’Arc

La Glaneuse des tulipes

In which I show and explain how the tulip-bulb-gathering works.
(I whispered because there were still visitors in the garden and didn’t want to be invaded; also I didn’t want M. Vahé to find and shout at me.)

Dîner à l’Hôtel Baudy

. . . after a sociologically fascinating champagne interlude with “Mrs. D P T” (Deportego), head of the Versailles Foundation.


This is us bénévoles (volunteers) and artists: Graham and Lucky, and fellow Princetonian Anu K. . . .

. . . and Chris B. of the New York Botanical Gardens, and Kira A., student at Wesleyan.





















The food was excellent, and we did a lot of laughing—as every meal should be.

Domestic Adventures

Birthday party for Kira! On the far left there is Umbeline, French and fellow volunteer on whom I have a friend-crush.


Jan’s cake was A Seriously Awesome Cake.


Roommate Chris, in the morning. He’s smiling because he hasn’t yet arrosé (hosed, watered) all of les tunnels (the greenhouse tunnels), or been called “le canadien” by Christian, or been shouted at by M. Vahé. Or been made fun of by his roommates.


Roommate Anu, after the morning work. “Why are there so many campanoules to deadhead?!” she asks herself, despairingly.













Grocery shopping with the girls in Vernon!

















Kira’s dishwasher (in a different apartment) fizzed over.


We made quiche and salad! Specifically, Kira made quiche, and Anu and I stood around being impressed.












Aaaaand then it’s morning again, and we go back to work.

And Other New Fun in the Garden

Lots of the new flowers coming up are sort of cartoony-looking, to me.





































I like this purple fellow alot, despite its elaborateness. Latin name coming soon, via Chris.























The nasturtiums now have flowers!









I like how they mostly hide under the leaves.









And the allée centrale is now very purple!

Red Red Red

The back alley (“en bas”, côté Yves) suddenly has the most startling red flower, called crocosmia. (Chris guesses the variety is ‘Lucifer’, which would be totally kick-ass, but he’s not sure.)





















First reaction: “RED!” Then, “Alexander Calder!”




















































The morning I first saw it I was clipping dead daylillies--I stopped, mesmerised, and Jean-Luc had to laugh and raise his voice to get my attention.

À Paris, j’ai vu—

In Paris, I saw—


Lots of Métro stations.






















A trashcan, in Saint-Germain. (“Does art have to be beautiful?”)
























Rue de l’Arbre Sec. (“Dry Tree Street”.) And some panels about St. Genevieve.






















The outside of the Musée d’Orsay. Due to some sleepy evenings and a rather unreasonable aunt, Sara and I were unable to actually go in to our Number One Place to Visit. La prochaine fois! (Next time!) We had an awesome breakfast instead.

My Walk to Work

Filmed in the evening, after the garden is closed and the town is empty. The hanging flower I attempted to show is honeysuckle; the entire alley smells like it.

The House in Giverny

Bedroom, pre-mess.










Kitchen and roommate ("le canadien").










































By the front door, the evidence of our workday.






















View from the front door and to the right.









The light over the bathtub is the best in the house.

















Just another afternoon in Giverny.