An early start and a generous journey as we left Brittany and headed into Normandy. First stop was a visit to Giverny and Monet’s house and gardens.
It seemed a good idea to take in some of the history from this famous impressionist painter. What we didn’t anticipate was the huge numbers that had the same idea!
Wow – it was worth the queue! The house is brilliant and the gardens nothing short of spectacular. The flowers in full bloom on a warm summer’s day.
The lily pond, of so much fame, is stunning. A calm pond with flowering lilies surrounded by outstanding shrubbery. Oh and if you looked hard enough a couple of small boats, just as in Monet’s paintings.
For more than forty years, until Claude Monet’s death in 1926, Giverny was his home, his place of creation, and his work. A World of meaning, colors and memories, the house where the artist lived with his family, houses his living room-workshop and his collection of Japanese prints. The gardens are composed of the Clos Normand and its flower beds and the Jardin d’Eau, planted with oriental plants and weeping willows, with its Japanese bridge painted green and its water lilies.
Upon entering Monet’s house, you can imagine the house resonating with the sounds of the eight children, the comings and goings of Claude Monet between his workshop and the garden. It was a house centred around the kitchen, from the morning when the vegetables arrived fresh from the vegetable garden, to the arrivals of friends from Paris.
The reading room, also called the “small blue room”, which links with the “grocery store” where tea, olive oil, spices and eggs were stored, hanging from the wall. Then there is the artist’s first studio, where he worked until 1899. About sixty paintings were selected to be replicated. These replicas are now hanging on the walls of the salon-workshop.
A first staircase leads to the floor that serves the private rooms. Monet’s room, bathroom, and Alice’s bedroom, which overlooks a tiny room intended for sewing work. Bridesmaid tablecloths sewn together line the walls of the two bedrooms.
Back downstairs, the dining room of the house has been reconstructed in every detail. On the yellow walls, you can see Monet’s collection of Japanese prints. The furniture painted in yellow was very modern for the time. In the windows there are blue earthenware dishes, the yellow and blue service, that Monet had made for the holidays. In the blue-checked kitchen, the huge multi-stove stove and copper utensils seem to be waiting for the return of their owners.
An outstanding house and gardens lived in by one of the foremost impressionist painters. Even the wildlife enjoy this impressive place!
At the end of an excellent day, we landed at our campsite; Château Bouafles. Nestled in the valley on the river Seine with a view, down the river, to Château-Gaillard in the far distance.
The Brindley Boxer 