Will the sun rise soon on Monet's pretty Maison in Giverny?
As the date of April 1 approaches, which marks each year, after its winter closure, the reopening of the doors of the second most visited site in Normandy, the Claude Monet Foundation still does not know for sure whether the health situation will allow it to '' welcome or not its audience.
An impression of hesitation shared by other institutions, while their opening has been in dispersed order since the beginning of the year and the epidemic continues in the country.
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"
For the moment we are set for April 1, unless the government presents us with contraindications ...
" commented the Claude Monet Foundation.
“
We are trying to stay positive for this opening date.
“At the other end of France, the prospects for opening up the gardens remain as uncertain as ever in light of the partial confinement of the Alpes-Maritimes.
Director of the Maeght Foundation in Saint-Paul-de-Vence, Nicolas Gitton remains "
cautiously optimistic
" despite the closure imposed on weekends.
“
It's just two weeks, we'll see what happens next.
“For the time being, and despite initial fears, the worrying situation in Nice has had no impact on the activity of the Foundation and its contemporary sculpture garden, located only 10 km from the capital of the department.
“
It's fairly quiet, but we still have around a hundred visitors a day.
It's much less than normal, but everyone is very happy to have a little culture and to be able to visit even the gardens
”, specifies the director.
The Maeght Foundation must deal with the rampant epidemic: lesson of the Covid obliges, and to deal with all eventualities, the programming has become "
flexible
" since the reopening of February 8, as Nicolas Gitton reminds us.
“
We have not planned a major spring exhibition this year, but a display with an emphasis on rarely seen works from the collection, including two mechanics by Pol Bury, which have been restored and brought out of storage.
"
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A blurred horizon
This same flexibility of mind seems to have nestled between the walls of the castle of Vaux-le-Vicomte.
If the reopening of the gardens is still scheduled for March 27, it remains "
for the moment difficult to project
", as the pandemic requires "
an adaptation from week to week, day to day
".
However, the Château recalls that with its 33 hectares of parks and gardens, distance and compliance with health rules should not pose any problem.
Attentive but serene, the management of Vaux-le-Vicomte is already banking on the organization of its traditional Easter egg hunt, held from April 3 to 5.
The same goes for the programming linked to the 400th anniversary of the birth of Jean de la Fontaine that the museum will be celebrating.
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For the Château de Villandry, the damage has already been done.
The prolongation of the health crisis has already got the better of the seasonal reopening of the gardens set for February.
The four hectares of the domain are now counting on a reopening towards the end of March - beginning of April, “
at the latest for the Easter weekend, April 4-5.
The uncertainty of the calendar will have got the better of any exceptional programming.
“
We haven't implemented anything very specific compared to previous years;
we are still in the dark about the health protocols so we are waiting a little to find out what will be imposed on us
, ”said the Château de Villandry, which hopes to be able to ensure the most normal possible reception conditions, in the compliance with sanitary rules.
“
We are counting on a classic program for our events in the garden.
"
Despite the first rays, the large gardens are projecting themselves as best they can and still waiting helplessly for the green light from the government.
At the Claude Monet Foundation, the aquatic rustling of the water garden should keep its winter quiet for at least a few more weeks.