Kochi, 13.05.24

The morning was fine. We had breakfast in the hotel. It was included in the price and consisted of a buffet with all sorts of Japanese food. Rice, fish, eggs but it also had a selection of breads, butter and jam even. My choice. 

Not knowing what to expect of Kochi as a tourist destination we had no plans. But then Christine found in the railway station a brochure on a garden not too far from the city. Of all things it was a Monet Garden. That is somebody created a garden which copies the famous garden in France, Giverny, where Monet lived and painted. Surely it would make for a nice day out. 

Train to Monet Garden

It involved a train ride to Nahari and from there a bus to Kitagawa where the garden is located. The train line is the Tosa Kuroshio Railway Asa Line, 43km long and it runs mostly along the coast through many tunnels. The train we boarded was a single unit diesel car with a rounded front and a viewing platform along one side. That was quite different and I enjoyed standing out there watching the world go by. 

At Nahari Station there was a short wait and the bus arrived right on time and we reached the garden about half an hour later. The gardens have been given permission by the Claude Monet Foundation to carry the name 'Monet's Garden'. The only one in the world outside France so named. The connection is that Monet was influenced in his paintings by Japanese woodblock prints but there is no information as to who had the idea and why the garden was established in a remote village in Japan. Apparently, it was to revitalize the economy of Shikoku.

Taiko Bridge

 

The garden itself is divided into three parts. The Flower Garden, the Water Garden and the Bordighera Garden. It was delightful right from the start going up some steps underneath a waterfall and then into the lush green foliage dripping still with water from the recent rain. Such a different expression of a garden when compared to the Japanese gardens we had seen before. 

The Water Garden was my favourite. A pond was lined with willow trees and bamboo and the Taiko bridge, identical to the one in Monet's Japanese garden in Giverny, was covered in Japanese wisteria. A panel on the bridge showed one of Monet's most famous paintings 'The Water Lilies' and the similarity is astounding. 

Water Lilies

We spent quite some time in this magic setting the feeling really much more European than Japanese. The Borghera Garden is based on Monet visiting the Mediterranean with Renoir when they created many works of art depicting the Mediterranean Sea and its surroundings. The Kitagawa landscape is similarly lush but to give it a more authentic feel they planted olive trees, palm trees and other exotic plants and flowers. It is still in development. We had a break in the small tea house where they show some of Monet's art works on the wall and where we had cake! 

For the Flower Garden our visit was just a bit too early in May so we had a look around the souvenir shop with everything one could want to buy with Monet's pictures on it. But time went on and the bus would soon take us back to the railway station. Back to Kochi. 

As I had some time left, I took a ride on a tram, ended up somewhere close to the river and port, walked along the embankment, then up a hill to a lookout point, then rushed back to meet Christine at the same restaurant as the night before where we had a reservation for 6.30. Marvelous day altogether. 

Mascot Kochi Market

Kochi Tram

Kochi from Hilltop

Dinner!