Advertisement
Published: June 17th 2019
Edit Blog Post
Today we arranged for a private tour of Claude Monet's former house and gardens in the village of Giverny, located about 50 miles northwest of Paris. Our driver for the day, Philippe Coste, an associate of Serge Molho whom we'd met two years ago, picked us up from our apartment at 9 AM. After some traffic congestion leaving Paris, we reached the former home and gardens of Claude Monet (1840-1926), the revered painter and founder of the French Impressionist movement, around 10:30. Once we left the Paris metropolitan area behind, the drive through green countryside and small villages was very scenic.
When we arrived at the Fondation Monet, operated by a private, non-profit organization, the ticket line stretched for 150 feet! So we stood in line for about 45 minutes before gaining entrance, but the wait was well worth it, because the gardens were simply fabulous. Flowers of many varieties--nasturiums, dahlias, irises, wisterias, poppies, peonies, roses, and others--in every direction we looked. On each path we followed for the next hour we were treated to a riot of colorful, blooming flowers, trees and shrubbery.
Eventually we reached Monet's beloved water lily pond. In 1893, he acquired a piece of
land situated at the end of the property, on the other side of a railway line, and diverted the narrow arm of a nearby river to create the pond that would become the "Jardin d’eau" (Water Garden). He also had a Japanese bridge constructed, probably inspired by one of the Japanese prints he collected, and he had it painted green to distinguish it from the red traditionally used in Japan.
The oriental atmosphere is recreated with the choice of plants such as bamboos, ginkgos biloba, maple trees, Japanese peonies, white lilies and the weeping willows which frame the pond. Lastly, Monet planted "nymphéas" in the pond itself : "I love water, but I also love flowers. That’s why, once the pond was filled with water, I thought of embellishing it with flowers. I just took a catalogue and chose at random, that’s all."
The Nymphéas (Water Lilies) cycle occupied Monet for three decades of his life, from the late 1890s until his death in 1926, at the age of 86. This series was inspired by the water garden that he created here at his Giverny estate. It resulted in the final great panels donated by Monet to the
Water lily pond
Claude Monet's garden, Giverny French State in 1922, which have been on display at the Musée de l’Orangerie in Paris since 1927--a 360-degree panorama of water lilies, laid out almost seamlessly, that surrounds the viewer in two elliptical rooms.
We battled our way through the crowds as we circled the pond, full of water lilies in bloom, and crossed the distinctive green Japanese bridge. When we returned to the house, I did a walk through while Dee sat on a bench in the garden area. The interior furnishings and decorations have been faithfully preserved, to the greatest extent possible, including Monet's bedroom and study, the colorful dining room and kitchen area.
Dee and I had time for a quick lunch at a nice restaurant just outside the museum, and it turned out to be quite good and reasonably priced. We finished at the time we'd arranged to meet Philippe in the parking lot, and we were soon on our way back to Paris. If any of you are interested in visiting Giverny while in Paris, we can heartily recommend the experience, but would suggest you purchase tickets on-line in advance to avoid the possibility of waiting in line to purchase them onsite.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.079s; Tpl: 0.013s; cc: 10; qc: 31; dbt: 0.05s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
Jeni
non-member comment
What a beautiful tour, the gardens get better and better! I love the house with all the green accents. The yellow and more yellow dining room can go. Do the French cows say Moo-née? ?