Insel Hombroich Part two

Couldn't resist adding a few more...

Dragonfly

While visiting Insel Hombroich I made friends with a dragonfly who seemed to be enjoying sitting on my finger (sorry about the grotty fingernail!) and my knee.

Insel Hombroich

Last week, before I went to Paris, Lindsey and Berend took me to Germany for the day to the best art museum I have ever seen. Called Insel Hombroich, it was built on a piece of land between three motorways quite close to Dusseldorf. The land is park, meadows and terraces and is mostly wild with pools and trees, and winding paths. There are NO signs anywhere, it is like wandering in a DOCless wilderness. Every now and then you come across a large brick building with wide open doors and a pure white interior full of paintings and sculpture.
There are no signs on the works either, no guards, no barriers. It is like lying in a warm bath and soaking up the works without any interruption - an amazing experience.
When you feel like moving on you go back into the wilderness and drift along the path until you discover a new building. One of the buildings has lunch laid out (the price is included in the ticket) and you can help yourself and eat it outside under shady trees. The buildings have all been designed by architect and sculptor Erwin Heerich and the landscape created by Bernhard Korte. I was so impressed by the restraint - how tempting to label a Rembrandt or Cezanne - but there are really no signs at all. And the work is mixed - 20th century artists with Khmer sculptures and Ming pottery.

And thanks for my first experience of travelling at 170 kph, Berend! (no speed limit on the autobahn).

Berend Peter's sculpture

Berend is a sculptor and furniture designer and the house he shares with Lindsey is full of his work. One of his works used to hang on the outside wall of the bank in Veen, but was removed when the original golden eggs were stolen. Berend has restored the work and yesterday evening we gathered, along with the doctors who now lease the building and their children, to watch Berend and a local builder rehang the work and to help celebrate with some local cider. The bronze, brass and copper sculpture symbolises the industries of Veen: flower, egg and fruit production. It gives the village a centre I think, which it seemed to be lacking. Berend explained that towards the end of WW2 this part of the Brabant north of the river was still occupied by Germany, although south of the river had been freed, and the allied forces bombed Veen and destroyed the town square. So the sculpture could also a symbol of healing - appropriate on the wall of a medical centre!

The Canals in den Bosch

Lindsey and Berend, Lindsey's niece Natalia (my second cousin once removed) and I went on an outing to den Bosch this week where we saw a stunning restrospective of the jewellery of Marion Herbst, Berend's late wife, at the SM 'S - the Stedelijk in den Bosch.


Then we did a tour of the restored medieval canals of den Bosch. Until 8 years ago these were still used as a giant sewer to the houses along the banks, but now they are a work of art. Unlike the Amsterdam canals, these canals run along the backs of the houses, and houses are often built over the top so it is an exciting boat ride.







We followed this with dinner and a movie: The World's Fastest Indian. Strange to see Tim Shadbolt and Annie Whittle in a Dutch theatre. We all loved the movie.

More stuff on my bike

Saw this little family group yesterday in den Bosch:

Paris

I joined friends Maryvonne and Margaret Hyde for four days in Paris. A kind friend of Maryvonne's lent us her apartment in Montparnasse which was brilliant. Close to the metro, view of the Eiffel Tower and across the road from the Bourdelle museum. Being three girls together worked very well - we got just the right balance of shopping, sightseeing and catching up on news. Maryvonne took the role of tour guide, being a native, and did it so well. In the morning she would give us metro tickets for the day, the itinerary and what to do if you got lost talks, then would take us on magical mystery tours. So we ate at restaurants only Parisians know about, saw the restored l'Orangerie with the rehung Monet waterlily paintings (stunning), did a boat tour on the Seine at dusk (during the World Cup final - so it was very quiet out there on the water that night!)
Our waiter at the Restaurant Chartier where all the waiters look as if they have stepped out of a silent comedy movie and the menu is still basic workers' food and the building is still original art nouveau and stunning. There was a dog under the table next to us, the waiter added up our bill on the paper tablecloth, you get seated next to other people - you can't ask for a separate table. The food was delicious.


We shopped at Lafayette. Like a mammoth Kirkcaldies but rather more stunning.


















The French government got behind the team:


One of the Monets at l'Orangerie

Related

A little note on Lindsey and how she fits into the family. My grandfather Llewellyn Reeve (died in WW1) and Lindsey's grandmother Bertha (genius mathematician, married Archie Bogle) were brother and sister. So we are second cousins, but spent holidays together as children and have always been good friends. Lindsey was a star at Auckland University - beautiful and talented. She starred in a weekly satirical show which toured New Zealand and graduated with an MA before taking off for Europe where she has lived ever since.
Here is a photo taken of Deborah (left), me and Lindsey (right) outside our childhood home in Auckland. What polite little outfits we are wearing.

Museums

I am back - I've been away from a computer (in Paris) and having too much fun (in Veen) to blog. So now I will bore you with more than a week of photos and news.
Before I left Amsterdam I did a last burst of museum visiting - the Rijksmuseum, the Van Gogh and the Stedelijk (well, it's being reconstructed, but this was a few special shows held in the old Post Office sorting building by Central Station. I was thrilled to find lots of sailing ship paintings and associated stuff in the Rijks - I seem to have developed a weird interest in Dutch maritime history after the whole Batavia immersion. I head straight for those items first. Also a Peter Greenaway interpretation of The Night Watch where he's used lighting and sound effects to animate it. It works. Apparently it's really a depiction of an assassination which had been hushed up. After painting this Rembrandt was persona non grata. There is a gun going off in the painting and PG asks 'where did the bullet go?'

The Van Gogh was wonderful of course. Although I did get told off for taking a photo - it was confusing as you are allowed to take photos without a flash in the Rijks but not in the Van Gogh. No signs to tell you that, they just wait until you do it and then tell you off.
Some interesting bits in the Stedlijk. I wished Jake had been there with me.
That evening I caught up with my dear friend Libby (Liz) Melchior for dinner beside the Prinsesgracht. She had just arrived to take part in a conference on dance in den Haag after an amazing holiday in Italy, France, the UK and Denmark.

Are these valid cars?

Here is a pic of one of the invalid cars I mentioned in my cow in the canal blog. No the pic has not been distorted. They are allowed to go anywhere that bikes go and, according to Tim, the occupants take advantage of this and make cyclists' lives hell. It was pretty bad sharing a bike lane with them yesterday as they can travel as fast as a motorbike, but take up three times the room. But it is a great way for people with disabilities and the elderly to remain independent - my mother would have loved one!

Stuff on My Bike

I can't believe the things people in Holland carry on their bikes. The family, the shopping, the pets, plus baby's accessories like pushchairs, high chairs, musical instruments - and that is all at the same time. I've missed some great pics, like yesterday I saw a man with his two young daughters, one on the back, one on the front and a bloody great guitar case on his back as well. So I've decided to try and record some of these and will try and you can vote on which bike is carrying the most stuff. I took a few pics today, but they are not prime examples - just a start. Note propensity for orange t shirts even though Holland is now out of the World Cup.

Sorry about contrasty quality of pics. Still can't work out whyI'm having that problem with new camera. If you double click on pics you get a better look.




These three were waiting for Mummy, hence extra bike



















toddler, shopping and 5 year old ahead















toddler, shopping, 5 year old behind (that's T's building peeking out of l.hand top corner)