We are on the road to Tuscany to see the long awaited Tarot Garden of Niki de St. Phalle. It’s only when we are about halfway there that we check the website for hours and prices and we discover that the place closed for the winter over a month ago. WHAT?! Oh NoNoNoNONONONONOOOO! Wide eyes, followed by that sinking feeling. My friend and I look at each other in disbelief. So now what? We turn the car around? But I just can’t leave Italy without making this pilgrimage. What if we could sneak in?? The grounds of the tarot garden seem so expansive… Surely it can’t have barbed wire fences all the way around. It’s a risk. A risk of time, about three hours more of driving, and maybe a risk of more… But we’ve come this far and who knows when I will be back in Italy. And so we decide, “Let’s go. Let’s see what happens!”  There must be a way to get in from the back through the forest.

And so we continue.

After hours of gazing out the car window at the ever-changing Italian countryside I see the first sign that reads “Giardino dei Tarocchi.” My heart skips a beat. And then we see the tips of the great sculptures reflecting the sunlight above the trees. They are magnificent, out of this reality.

We skip the regular parking lot and park in an orchard off to the side of the entrance to the garden. We walk through the trees toward the garden and my heart sinks as I notice the tall fences of barbed wire. Through the chain link I can see the colorful shining sculptures…I am so excited to finally be here, but we are on the wrong side of the fence; so close and yet, so far.

Barbed. Wire.

We walk along the fence and find that they encircle the entire garden, my heart sinks a little lower. But there must be a way in. The bottom of the fence is enforced into concrete… we walk a little further and notice a beware of dog sign. Ohhhh naaaooo! That is an unpleasant thought~ A bad sign. A little dragonfly darts around in my head… seeking a solution, some kind of possibility. And then we see it, a locked gate, with no barbed wire above it. It’s the only window. Ok, so that’s the way in… but the dog? Surely they are bluffing… we whistle into the garden, we make some noise… So far so good… no ferocious dogs … Or maybe they are sleeping? 

To be continued…