Monet's gardens reopening, a picture-perfect pandemic tonic

After a closure of more than six months, the gardens that inspired Claude Monet’s world-famous paintings of water lilies and other masterpieces are reopening

GIVERNY, France -- Beneath the scudding clouds and amid the luscious blooms, the gardeners tend the flowerbeds that were the pride and joy of impressionist painter Claude Monet, with pink and white striped tulips, diaphanous peonies, sky-blue forget-me-nots and myriad other flowers together creating a living art work. The frustration for the gardeners has been that they've had no one to share their handiwork with. Like theater shows that weren't seen and symphonies that went unheard, the splendors of Monet's house and gardens were locked away while the coronavirus pandemic raged in France. After a closure of more than six months, the gardens at Giverny that inspired Monet's world-famous paintings of water lilies and other masterpieces reopen on Wednesday. They join French cafés, restaurants, cinemas and museums in being allowed to once again welcome customers and visitors who are eager for life to resume. For the moment, they'll have to settle for meals and drinks served outdoors and limits on numbers. Still, after months of privations and restrictions, it's a start. The virus has killed more than 107,000 people in France.