During the summer of 2014 we visited Monet’s house and garden at Giverny. Once you enter the garden, especially the area that houses the lily pond, you can clearly see how this influenced Claude Monet’s art. Monet was particularly fascinated by the play of light and reflections of clouds on water hence the building of his water lily pond. All the visitors, including me, wanted their photo taken whilst standing on his famous Japanese foot bridge. His garden is truly beautifully colourful and it’s wonderful to see that it is still maintained to a high standard today.
When queuing for entry outside you wouldn’t imagine Monet’s house and garden to be so big. The house looks out over the garden and it is the width of the garden until you get to the lily pond, then there is just green and trees everywhere.
Inside the house there is a ground floor and a first floor. On the ground floor there is the blue sitting room (also known as the reading room) which then leads onto the pantry. There is the studio-sitting room. It is called this because it was Monet’s first studio until 1899 then it became a cosy little sitting room. Also on the ground floor we have the pleasure of seeing Monet’s beloved Japanese art on yellow walls in the dining room and a kitchen that is filled with blue Rouen tiles.
There are the private apartments on the first floor, namely, three bedrooms. Monet’s bedroom showcases his artwork and the artwork of his friends: Paul Cezanne, Pierre-Auguste Renior, Paul Signac and Gustave Caillebotte.
I think perhaps I expected to see more of Monet’s art in the house, however, on reflection, how can it be when we have the pleasure of seeing his art work in museums all over the world!
If you are a fan I would definitely recommend a visit!
it's time to get creative! 