Claude Monet's Garden in Giverny

One of the most interesting gardens we've visited is Monet's garden in the village of Giverny, west of Paris.  Monet lived from 1840 to 1926, and is viewed as the founder of Impressionism, a school of painting that was viewed as radical in its time.  Impressionist painters moved from the studio to the outdoors, and painted 'en plain air'.  They emphasized the importance of changing light conditions and often painted the same scene several times over the seasons.

Monet bought the house you see in the background and started a garden where he could paint.  It was a practical combination, though Monet did have a large studio on site.

Here, in the front of the house, is a mixed planting of red and mauve Geraniums.  Monet's art today has fetched enormous prices, one painting selling for $88 million recently!

And this is the view out the front door of his house, which is also open to visit.  Imagine this view in Monet's time probably before the trees were here.  The garden has eight gardeners, including students on internships from school.

But Monet was not satisfied with painting flowers, so he purchased land to the south, across the railway track, and put in a large pond where he grew waterlilies.  He then embarked on painting the waterlilies and produced nearly 400 paintings over 30 years.  Today you get here through a short tunnel under the tracks.

This allowed him to paint the changing light conditions as the light reflected from both plants and water.  This led to his most famous paintings, the waterlily paintings, the largest of which are on display in two purpose-built rooms at the Musee de l'Orangerie in Paris.

The other oft-painted feature of this garden is the small bridge copied in many gardens around the world, and painted repeatedly.  I waited 15 minutes to get a picture of just Mrs. F.G. but eventually took it with other visitors in place.

This is one of the enormous waterlily painting at the Musee de l'Orangerie.  There are two oval rooms with natural light from the ceiling, hosting the paintings which are 6,5 feet tall, and about 50 feet long.   They were officially given to France on the day after Armistice Day in 1918, in the hope of future peace.  They are one of the most colossal paintings of the past century.