Les Jardins de Claude Monet

I felt the need, in order to widen my field of observation and to refresh my vision in front of new sights, to take myself away for a while from the area where I was living, and to make some trips lasting several weeks in Normandy, Brittany and elsewhere. It was the opportunity for relaxation and renewal. I left with no preconceived itinerary, no schedule mapped out in advance. Wherever I found nature inviting, I stopped.

Claude Monet

 

Claude Monet is not only a painter, but also a great gardener. There is no doubt that he built a pastoral wonderland in his farmyard in Giverny, which brought fame and admiration to this originally unremarkable small village situated on the right back of the Seine. His long years of settling here turned Giverny into an artistic pilgrimage which attracts half a million tourists per year. It doesn't matter if you are an artist, botanist, gardener or just a tourist, you will find that this lovely place has so much to offer.

 

The Close Normand

 

Claude Monet's gardens are like his paintings, thick and heavy in colors, little bit crude but delicate. He didn't like cultivating his garden with elaborate design, these flowers are blooming in a wild and slapdash way while flower clumps of different heights creates a visual treat for eyes. Just like what he did with his brushstrokes in painting.

 

 

It's not hard to see that he liked mixing various species together; daisies with hollyhocks and poppies with rose trees. The floweres are left to grow freely and the rest is up to Mother Nature. This subtle and delicate gradations of colour actually blend in with the surroundings, the sky, the air and the light.

 

 

 

 

Wandering along the alley bordered with pines, you can see the iron arches above covered by climbing roses. This may bring back a sense of romance and excitement in your life, nostalgia of the day when you were walking down the aisle to your lover on your wedding. Or it can simply fulfill all your expectations of paradise and your future wedding. 

 

 

 

 

The water garden

 

This water garden which is full of asymmetries and curves, is inspired by the Japanese gardens that Monet knew from the prints he collected avidly. He had never been tired of observing these flowers in front of this pond, weather they were in bud or blooming. Most impressively, he created a huge series Water Lilies which contains approximately 250 oil paintings. The whole world is curious why this greatest impressionist had such an affinity to this scene. Well, standing here you can find the answer.

 

 

 

 

In the summer, wisterias climbs the bridge like a disobedient child while the bamboo woods and weeping willows dance gracefully in the wind. Water lilies, like the heart of a young girl, sometimes open, sometimes closed, lay scattered in the water. The water is limpid like a mirror which can reflect the cloud drifting across the sky making it seem as though the water lilies are floating in the air.

 

 

 

 

Monet appreciated nature so much that he once said that his biggest masterpiece was this garden. As Maurice Kahn said, "After having seen Claude Monet in his garden, one may better understand how such a gardener became a great painter. This prodigious man is a fervent admirer of life. And when he paints, it is a means for him to create living beauty".

 

Visit:

Address: 84 Rue Claude Monet, 27620 Giverny

Website: http://fondation-monet.com/claude-monet/

Opening hours:

From 28 March to 1 November 2015
From 9h30 to 18h, last admission at 17h30

Contact: 02 32 51 28 21

Admission:

Adults : 9,50 €
Children + 7 years old and students : 5,50 €
Children – 7 years old : free
Handicapped : 4 €

 

Take a look at the Map- O'Bon Paris Map