Claude Monet attempted to record an ‘in the moment’ impression that a scene gave him. I relate, as I attempt to do this with my photography. Here is the color and joy that fills his garden, home and paintings. The end result, is timeless beauty.
The stone wall outside of Monet’s property has a bright green door – a hint of the color that’s to come. I notice the sunlight through the trees, the sun and shadows on the ground – the changing light. I cannot help but take photographs.
Monet began work in 1883 in the small village of Giverny downstream on the Seine from Paris.
Then in 1893 he bought the land in front of his home and had a Japanese-style garden built.
As with much of Monet’s Garden, this tree’s yellow blooms are so unusual – reminding me of the purple wisteria that’s all over France in the spring.
That gorgeous purple wisteria I adore, fills the pond area in Monet’s April Garden
Here, I am getting different perspectives in the same area
Monet used a small stream that ran through his property to build a huge pond which he filled water lilies and crossed with a humpbacked bridge.
I can understand Monet’s need to paint the pond / water lilies / bridge over and over as I do the same thing in the limited amount of time I have in the garden – I take pictures of the pond, bridge and purple wisteria from different viewpoints in the garden.
Can one fall in love with a plant…oh this purple wisteria!
Have you ever noticed that it feels as if there’s something magical, powerful, even healing about being around bodies of water? Science is backing up this feeling. That calmness and clarity that I feel when I spend time by the ocean for example, is not imagined. Our brains are changed for the better when we spend time by the water. I am sure Monet felt this inner peace in his water lily garden. I feel it every day at home, by the river below our cabin.
I admire the reflections. The colors!
Bruce and I in Paris in 2017, in front of Claude Monet’s gigantic murals of famous water lilies, painted in his garden at Giverny in Normandy. Our 2017 trip and 2024 trips to France really complemented each other.
This peony is like a big ruffle!
The designs on these tulips look hand painted.
Columbine! Colorado’s state flower.
Iris!
Exquisite colors!
One of many famous paintings that fills Monet’s house
As we enter Monet’s house…there’s not time to stop and take a good look for all the people jammed pack – so glad I took as many pictures as I did.
In the house, looking out into the garden.
I like this painting because it reminds me of my husband saying he noticed me, (decades ago) walking my Collie, with my long blonde hair blowing in the breeze.
Also, he sometimes takes pictures of me now, in the winter’s firelight, petting our Border Collie. A girl and her dog
This painting makes me think of being inside a cozy café in Paris on a rainy day, as I take pictures through the window.
This painting reminds me of a photographs I’ve taken on other trips by the sea.
Here I am in 2017 in the Orangerie Museum in Paris, in front of the eight gigantic murals of Claude Monet’s famous water lilies, painted in his garden at Giverny in Normandy – which we got to see in 2024!
When Bruce and I lived in TX we lived near enough to the Kimbell Museum so that we went rather often. There was a huge painting of this willow tree in the entrance that I adored – as growing up we had a willow tree in our backyard that I enjoyed climbing. I felt like I was safe behind the tree’s ‘curtains’ …
What a visual delight is the round painting of the water garden. I’d not seen a round version before. I find being round gives it even more joy – so unexpected!
Monet’s colorful, cozy kitchen is so appealing to me!
Out the kitchen door, we find ourselves back in the garden. This delicate flower looks like tissue paper.
This unusual yellow bloom gets my attention!
These tangerine-colored flora appear to be upside down!
Bruce and I had a lovely lunch, alfresco in a Monet-like setting, with unusual chickens walking around.
The simple food was tasty.
The ambience was a delight.
What a fun way to end our tour of Claude Monet’s Garden and house. This was the end of our Rick tour, Paris and the Heart of France.
Our last night in Paris
That evening we had all had dinner together and Bruce and I walked a bit around Paris before our last group dinner.
The dog park. A Collie? A Sheltie? Missing Hope (and Joy)
We go back to our hotel to walk together to dinner. This is a magazine in the lobby that got my attention.
Waiting with Peggy from our tour
Sisters
After dinner with Sue from our tour
Walking around Paris after dinner – we leave in the morning
Walking around Paris
Tomorrow morning, we fly home. I’ll have a few pictures and comments.
What did you think of visiting Monet’s Garden and home?
Do you paint? Take photographs regularly? Are you a fan of Monet’s work?
What did you think of this Rick Steves Paris and the Heart of France tour?
“Walks in nature are hugs for my soul.” Julie A R Stephens
julie@handsbestrong.com
Beautiful! Thank you for sending. We love adventures in all things, Paris and France….your photographs took me back to Giverney, Monets gardens, the, Orangerie, Musay de Orsay, Normandy…and adore visiting my cousin and family at Champlfleuri, a ‘Vacanes’ facility near Le Champ Pres Froges in the alps.
Thank you Susie, for sharing your memories – from my writings and photographs. Paris is a fun city and the French countryside so beautiful in April – much of it like out of the pages of a child’s storybook to me…