Hugues Gall, Président of Giverny, Francis Hammond, photographer and Adrien Goetz, authors of the book “A day with Claude Monet”

It was a lovely sunny evening and le Tout Paris who love gardens was there at Jérôme Marcadé’s gallery Jardins en art, where a sexy group of authors gathered around yet another Giverny book. Hugues Gall in great form was laughing away with Patrice and Hélène Fustier, founders of Journées des Plantes de Courson, while Adrien Goetz and Francis Hammond were signing away their book, “A Day with Claude Monet at Giverny”. 

Suzanne Tise-Isoré and Flammarion editor Valérie Genest

I loved browsing in the shelves and looking at the fac similé book of the fabulous “Vélins from Museum d’Histoire Naturelle”. They are rarely shown and this is a good way to look at them at home. They were started in the 17 th century by Gaston d’Orléans, King Louis XIII th’s brother and a keen gardner,  and 7 000 of them were painted in watercolor or gouache on vélin, (stillborn calf’s skin) until the middle of the 19 th century. It looks like parchemin and is very white. Nicolas Robert was one of the firs famous artists who reproduced flowers, plants and animals for Louis XIII and then for Colbert.

The Vélins collection of Museum d’histoire naturelle in a beautiful book

There are 800 paintings in the book beautifully published by Citadelles et Mazenod. (430€ at Galerie Jardins en Art, 16 rue Racine, Paris 6 th)

A day with Monet at Giverny, Flammarion, 20€.