Claude Monet’s Garden
On our recent tour to France my wife Dot and I spent a few days in Paris before going to Toulouse. During our Paris stay we took a ½ day tour to visit Monet’s garden in Giverny, 80 Kilomoters outside of Paris. Claude Monet is one of the most famous painters in history and the founding father of the French Impressionist style. From 1883 until his death in 1926, Monet settled in the village of Giverny, where he built a small home around a beautiful garden that served as the scene for his most famous works.
Monet is well known for his paintings of the water liliesin his garden with the Japanese bridge in the
backdrop. When you visit Monet’s house and garden in Giverny, you’ll be walking in the same place that inspired Monet and you’ll get to visit his charming pastel colored house. Visiting Monet’s Garden is the closest possible experience to bringing a magical painting to life– is that a good enough reason to make this day trip from Paris? We thought so! We took a self-guided tour on a charter bus and purchased a guidebook to help us walk through the gardens.
We took the afternoon tour but wish we had the whole day in Giverny. Our suggestion would be to leave on the morning bus and spend the day in in Giverny. The first section of the Monet garden consists of row after row of flowers in all shapes and colors. The birds are singing and the array of colors on display is stunning. It’s no wonder Monet managed to paint masterpieces here!
In the first section of the garden, we passed by the famous Japanese bridge, which was covered in wisteria during our visit. This bridge served as the scene for many of Monet’s paintings. As I mentioned in the introduction, Monet painted the same scene in different seasons to show the changing effects of lights so it was very interesting to go back home and look online at the various paintings taken from this exact same spot.
It wouldn’t be Monet’s house & garden without the Monet house. Monet house is so similar to the house in his paintings, with each room colored in soft and 
cheerfulpastel colors. We suggest taking a picnic lunch while your visiting the grounds. We really enjoyed getting out of the hustle and bustle of Paris and Highly recommend a day outing to Monet’ garden.
