Monet's Garden at Giverny

A perfect garden, a perfect day.

The Water Lily Pond at Les Jardins de Claude Monet at Giverny

I have always wanted to visit the incredible gardens of Claude Monet at Giverny. And this time, with my garden-loving mother around, it seemed like the perfect opportunity! Especially since my brother-in-law kindly took leave to drive us there.  So off we went in our little rental car to Giverny.

Monet established his family at Giverny in 1883 when he was 43 years old.  It was not a conventional family.  His first wife had died some time after the birth of her second child, following which Monet became "romantically involved" with the wife of a friend.  She and her children, stayed with Monet and his children at Giverny.  Monet was already an established painter, and his home and gardens in Giverny provided the inspiration for some of his most famous and spectacular works.  More on Monet's life story is here.

Monet found inspiration in the Japanese aesthetic for his art, and I like to think that he was also inspired by the beautiful Japanese gardens for his Water Garden too.  We walked down a little pathway to emerge at the water lily pond.  The pond was like a mirror, reflecting the sky, the trees and plants surrounding it.  As we strolled around the pond, different aspects of the pond appeared - the willow, draping its branches over the bridge; the boat (and boatman) going across it; the multi-coloured flowering plants.  On the pond, the lily pads floated, and reeds peeked above the surface.  It was as though I had walked into a Monet painting.  Indeed, this was what Monet wanted to do when he created his huge images of his garden for the Orangerie museum (his gift to France, which I had visited on a previous trip), to create an entire world in itself, without horizon, of water, lilies and light.

We went next to the formal gardens beside his house.  It was full of beautiful spring flowers, a blend of colour and light - again, just like a painting!  I learnt however that they plant with the season in mind, so that the gardens are flowering all the time.

The formal gardens

Monet's first studio

From the gardens, we entered Monet's house.  The first room we went in contained Monet's collection of Japanese Ukiyo-e (woodcut) prints, including those by great masters such as Hokusai. But the highlight was visiting his first studio, a large room overlooking the garden, with big windows all along the side.  The walls were covered by his paintings (replaced since by reproductions) so visitors could admire his genius.  Monet subsequently moved into another studio and it would appear that this became the family living room.

Going upstairs, into the bedrooms, gave an even better view of the grounds and there were even more paintings.  In his bedroom - paintings by other Impressionists, including Renoir.  There was another bedroom, I believe the one used by his stepdaughter who was living in the house after his death.

The front entrance and the house

Going downstairs again, we saw the dining room and the most enviable kitchen, with its tiled walls, copper pots and gigantic kitchen table.

In short, this was truly a comfortable and welcoming family home for Monet and his family.

With this visit, as well as my earlier trip to Rouen, to see its famed cathedral, I have really had the oppportunity to see for myself how the artist reperceives his subjects - whether it is the lily pond, or the formal garden, or the ancient cathedral - and transforms it into a masterpiece.  What a privilege!

But this was not the end of our day.  My sister wanted to do a little more sightseeing before returning to Paris so we went next to the little town of "Le Petit Anderlys".

It's a charming little village, with its half timbered houses, ancient church and fortress on a hill,  Chateau Galliard built originally by Richard the Lionheart of England.

Half timbered houses, Le Petit Anderlys

 Indeed, visiting this little town reminds me just how much history this corner of France holds.  It was from Normandy, of course, that William the Conqueror hailed from.  His descendants linked Normandy and England for so many years, and it was here that so many battles between the French and the English were fought (and thereafter, the battles of WWI and II).

There is so much more to learn and see.  One day I must really do a proper visit to Normandy!

Many more photos here.