Giverny is a small town about 45 minutes by train outside Paris. Despite catching the first train of the day, Monet's house and gardens were packed with tourists who had arrived previously by tour bus. While we were there, more kept coming and by the time we left we thought, despite the beauty of the location, it was difficult to justify the trip given the hoards of tourists.
That said, the site was interesting and beautiful. Monet's house contains a ton of art (all replicas, but they give a sense of what it looked like when he lived and worked there), and the gardens, which he described as his greatest masterpiece, are indeed impressive.
Here is some of the art in the house, along with views of the kitchen and dining room (I don't think I could eat in a room that yellow):
And here are a few shots of the gardens, including one taken from the house, which do not do justice to how extensive and beautiful they are:
It was especially impressive having seen the Water Lilies in the L'Orangerie Museum previously, and was driven home the next day when we returned.
For some context, here is one of the Water Lilies from the L'Orangerie Museum. While you can clearly see the inspiration in the pond, Monet's effort to display the changing light makes it impossible to truly see what he saw, except in the museum version:
Frankly, as I look through these pictures, I am amazed that Shana was able to get so many with so few people in them. Given the number of people there, a truly impressive feat.
Hasta pronto,
Jeff and Shana
That said, the site was interesting and beautiful. Monet's house contains a ton of art (all replicas, but they give a sense of what it looked like when he lived and worked there), and the gardens, which he described as his greatest masterpiece, are indeed impressive.
Here is some of the art in the house, along with views of the kitchen and dining room (I don't think I could eat in a room that yellow):
But, perhaps the best part of the visit was seeing the water-lily pond that inspired the many paintings:
For some context, here is one of the Water Lilies from the L'Orangerie Museum. While you can clearly see the inspiration in the pond, Monet's effort to display the changing light makes it impossible to truly see what he saw, except in the museum version:
Hasta pronto,
Jeff and Shana
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