....and Giverny, the house and gardens of Monet

Although Lyle and I had been to Giverny two years ago, we didn't have the time to go to see Claude Monet's home and gardens. (A huge bus had just unloaded its tourists, the weather looked threatening, we had rented bikes and needed to get back to the train). This time, my two friends and I took the short train ride to Vernon, and then the shuttle bus to the quaint village where Monet lived and painted....and were anxious to see the famous gardens.

The first view that greeted us were a beautiful field of poppies......

and then a walk through the flower-decorated lanes of Giverny....

But the gardens and home of where Monet lived and painted were what we all had dreamed about visiting someday. Claude Monet rented the house in 1883 and worked here until he died in 1926, when his son Michel inherited the house. It was abandoned and the gardens became almost like a jungle. When Michel died in 1966, he left the house and gardens to the Academie des Beaux-Arts, but it wasn't fully restored until American benefactors started the huge job of getting it back to how it looked during Monet's time. The thousands of flowers, the Japanese bridge hovering over the lily pond, and the weeping willows all seemed to put on a show for us.










We enjoyed the nearly-perfect summer day with a lunch at a little cafe across from his home, decorated with trellis-filled roses.

Two small villages, two talented painters. We were blessed to visit them both.