We took a little 8-passenger tour bus out to Giverny to see Monet’s home and gardens. It was some sort of bank holiday and most people turned it into a 4-day weekend. It’s only 45 miles from Paris to Giverny but it took twice as long as usual because the traffic was bumper to bumper. And the gardens were absolutely crammed with visitors. Fortunately our bus driver had our tickets in hand so we were able to get right in, which was good because we had a mere 1 1/2 hours to see it all.  But wait, here’s a little history about this fabulous place:

Claude Monet noticed the village of Giverny (with a current population of 500 residents) while looking out of a train window. He made up his mind to move there and rented a house and the area surrounding it. In 1890 he had enough money to buy the house and land outright and set out to create the magnificent gardens he wanted to paint. Some of his most famous paintings were of his garden in Giverny, famous for its rectangular Clos normand, with archways of climbing plants entwined around colored shrubs, and the water garden, formed by a tributary to the Epte, with the Japanese bridge, the pond with water lilies, the wisterias and the azaleas. Monet lived in the house with its famous pink crushed brick façade from 1883 until his death in 1926. He and many members of his family are interred in the village cemetery. The house and gardens became a Museum opened to public visit in 1980.

Monet’s gardens are made up of two entirely separate and different areas with the city’s major street running right through the middle. I have no idea how this came about originally but actually it works out quite nicely.  The two gardens are connected by an underground tunnel. The garden that lies the furthest from the house is the water lily garden. It’s more free-form, with a pond in the middle, that fabulous Japanese bridge we’re all familiar with, and a small river running through one side. The water lilies weren’t blooming when we were there but everything else was beautiful. The weeping willow trees were especially pretty and gave the whole area a very peaceful feel.

Across the street from the garden with the pond is a more traditional, structured garden with Monet’s pink house with the green shutters at the far end. Time and the crowds didn’t allow for a tour of the house but we were absolutely awed by the design of these amazing gardens and cherished every moment we were able to spend there.