Gardens

James and I are having a short weekend away in London. The official reason is that it is Valentine's Day tomorrow but it's really just an excuse for a wee break.

We arrived last night and checked in to our favourite Premier Inn at Southwark before starting our weekend with a drink at the Swan Bar at The Globe, just a few minutes walk away.

This morning we arrived at the Royal Academy just before opening time because we were keen to visit the "Painting the Modern Garden: Monet to Matisse" exhibition; it was really fascinating because the styles of painting were evolving and so were the types of garden. I didn't realise that Monet planted his water lilies specifically in order to paint them. 

There were lots of paintings by Monet but also other artists from the late 19th century and early 20th century. They varied a lot in style (although of course given the time frame there was lots of Impressionism) and of course I had my favourites. I don't know exactly why certain paintings appealed to me more than others; it's really a very personal choice. 

Those I especially liked included Raoul Dufy's The Little Palm Tree (1905), Emil Nolde's Large Poppies (1908) and Edvard Munsch's Apple Tree in the Garden (1932).

But my absolute favourite was one of Monet's - not one of his many paintings of water lilies but a painting of The Artist’s Garden At Vetheuil (1881) which featured tall sunflowers, two small boys and an amazing blue sky. It was as if he had captured a moment in time.