Inspiring, beautiful and these months at their best

A green Grand Tour along my personal favorite (and most beautiful) gardens and parks in Europe. Built by artists and art lovers. From the Garden of Gardens and an example for much that was created elsewhere, from the Giardino di Boboli in Florence to the Parc Payager, the landscape park of LUMA in Arles, which opened last summer. All equally inspiring, wonderfully beautiful and these months at their best. France annually celebrates the Festival International des Jardins, Italy has the Garden Route Italia, the Grandi Giardini Italiani and the Appuntamento in Giardino. Taking everything into consideration, I am now wondering whether our country in particular is not even ready for something new, which goes further than a Keukenhof or Floriade? Be inspired and a thousand ideas bloom.

1Gardens of Monet Giverny

Nowhere did I see a wisteria bluer, a yellow iris more yellow, or water lilies more numerous than in the gardens at Giverny. Monet’s masterpiece. Perhaps the most beautiful garden and truly a work of art in itself. I wish everyone here a moment with Monet alone, but unfortunately that will not be possible soon between the 600,000 visitors every year. However, tourism from Asia will not return to its old level this year. In any case, be prepared for a long line or come early. Or visit Giverny outside the summer holidays as this garden is beautiful in all seasons and is in bloom from early April to late October. This is where Monet painted his wall-sized water lily scenes and sizzling late works. The adjacent studio and home are among the best historic interiors I know. ‘Claude has just left’, it seems. The majestic dining room, with golden yellow walls, ceiling and furniture, the generously set table, the French doors and the French sun make you never want to leave.

2Henry Moore Studios & Gardens Perry Green

In 2006 I first visited Perry Green, between London and Cambridge, for a visit to the Henry Moore Studios & Gardens. That same year the Kunsthal Rotterdam presented the well-attended exhibition about his work and in 2013 I repeated the trick, this time outside in the new gardens of the Rijksmuseum. For Henry Moore at his best, go to Perry Green. Here the Henry Moore Foundation organizes an annual exhibition both inside the former studios and outside on the 30-hectare site. Equipped with Wellington boots (better wear Wellies when it’s wet), a walk along Moore’s monumental bronzes through this gently sloping English landscape between the statues and the sheep is the ultimate symbiosis of art and nature. And how fascinating to discover how this artist found his inspiration in nature. Everything falls into place here and you can see how organic forms can result in meter-high abstract images.

3Giardino di Boboli Florence

“It’s good to play and spend a lot of money” (‘Convien giucare e spender bei quattrini’), according to the motto of Lorenzo de’ Medici nicknamed il Magnifico. He was a descendant of the bankers’ dynasty that stood at the cradle of the Renaissance. What money and good taste can do. Leonardo and Botticelli, Donatello and Michelangelo, they all worked for the Medici. Around Florence is a network of villas with gardens, rightly Unesco World Heritage, which together are worth a summer holiday. In Florence itself, the Medici had the Palazzo Pubblico and the Palazzo Pitti on the other side of the Arno. Years ago I walked through the covered Vasari Corridor, the kilometers long secret connection between the two buildings to finally enjoy the greenery in the walled Boboli garden. A beautiful shell cave, statues, citrus trees, fountains, the Giardino di Boboli is in many ways the source of inspiration for our parks.

4LUMA Arles

High above everything in Arles, a gleaming building has emerged since last year. Conceived and financed by the philanthropist Maja Hofmann, the languid French town was thrown straight into the 21st century. Architect Frank Gehry once again created a spectacular piece, not his best design if you ask me, but LUMA as a whole is definitely world class. I was there last summer, the park had just been laid out and the additional 500 trees planted were still taking root. The design is by the Belgian landscape architect Bas Smets and LUMA is especially recommended for Dutch administrators who do not know what to do with former industrial sites. While we in our country endlessly think, plan and consult (and wait just as long until the next crisis presents itself) about a Hemterrein, Suikerunieterrein, Marineterrein or M4H area, an exemplary redevelopment into a prime park was created here.

5Villa LiebermannBerlin

Berlin is a city full of contrasts and nowhere do I feel that more sharply than on the lovely Wannsee, the city lake on the edge of the German capital. Here are two destinations right next to each other that Berlin-goers do not visit on their first or second visit, but only later. Two beautiful villas, both designed by the same architect Paul Baumgarten. Stately and gloriously on the water, built for a pleasant stay, entertainment and pleasant relaxation. The Villa Liebermann is known for its resident, the painter Max Liebermann. During the Third Reich, the Villa Marlier became a guest house for the Sicherheitsdienst and its fame comes from the meeting that was held here on January 20, 1942 and went down in history under the name Wannsee Konferenz. All of its minutes would have been destroyed, except for one version that reads the chilling lyrics that make you gasp. A little further on in Liebermann’s garden, the comforting splendor of flowers testifies, his widow was forced to sell everything in 1940, of an improbable life force. It is the healing power of mother nature.

photos Getty Images