Claude Monet has long been my favorite impressionist artist. We tend to temper each visit to the beaches and museums of Normandy with a relaxing few hours enjoying the tranquil beauty of Claude’s final home in Giverny.
In 1883, Claude began by purchasing a farmhouse surrounded by an orchard, and initiated a vast landscaping project including lily ponds that would become the subjects of his best-known works. Here the Father of French Impressionism adopted a method of painting the same scene many times in order to capture the change of light and the passing of the seasons.
In 1899 he began painting the water lilies, first in vertical views with a Japanese bridge as a central feature, and later in the series of large-scale paintings that was to occupy him continuously for the next 20 years of his life.
This peaceful paradise is much the same as it was when Claude Monet passed in 1826. A visit is easy to include on a Parisian or Normandy itinerary as Giverny is located approximately an hour west of CDG airport and about two hours southeast of Bayeux, which we consider the heart of Normandy.
Each season at Giverny is a unique experience…different flowers,
sometimes sunny, sometimes gray, but always some violet.
A lovely walk around the Water Garden,
and the Lily Pond.
early-June view from Monet’s bedroom
J’ai du bon tabac
la cuisine
After our visit among the gardens, it was time for a little shopping under the watchful eye
of le chat de garde,
Cozy tea time rendezvous
followed by a wood fire grilled lunch at Le Petit Giverny and un bouteille de vin.
À votre santé
J’aime la lumière quand pareille aux bouches sensuelles des modèles de Renoir elle donne au travers de l’olivier à la pelouse mille baisers. -Claude Cambour
I love the light when like the sensual mouths of Renoir’s models she gives through the olive tree to the lawn a thousand kisses.
-Claude Cambour, peintre
C’est tout!