Monet’s home and garden in Giverny
February 13, 2013 99 Comments
Monet’s home in Giverny
Monet entered my consciousness as a college freshman taking up the elective subject of Humanities. His paintings of water lilies from his garden in Giverny were special favorites.
Fast forward to over two decades later I would be in Giverny, admiring his amazing gardens and being inside his home which gave me a glimpse of his life way back then. Unfortunately, taking pictures inside his home was forbidden so I could only commit to memory the lovely and cozy atmosphere of his family home.
Giverny is a short distance from Paris and a one day side trip is what many visitors to the City of Lights do. Pretty popular, it is advisable to go there a bit early in the morning to avoid the big crowd of tourists who come in huge touring buses. We took a lazy approach to our sightseeing, staying two nights at a lovely bed and breakfast in a village that’s about 10 minutes drive from Giverny.
Water lilies at Monet’s garden in Giverny
Bridge over a pond of water lilies
Water lilies – inspiration for his many paintings
Yellow water lilies
Our family
Well tended garden with flowers carefully organized to bloom from spring to fall
Monet’s garden is paradise to butterflies
My little girl
Pink blooms
zinnia
Roses
One of the many summer blooms
Monet’s home from his garden
Flowers everywhere
Water lilies
Pink zinnia
Dahlias
Monet’s home from the garden
My little girl
The Mr. outside Monet’s home
Moi
Water lilies pond
Monet’s garden
Yellow blooms
Monet’s garden
Bamboos
Monet’s garden in Giverny
About Malou
Glorious; thank you!
Thanks too, Catherine.
So glad to see you! Beautiful pix as usual AND the little girl has grown! Welcome back!
Thanks for the warm welcome, Kelli. Been too busy the last months with too many activities for the little girl — swimming lessons, horseback riding lessons, etc.
I totally understand! Those are all very important for well-rounded growth which is WAY more important than the blog!
Moriah here, great work Malou!
Thanks Moriah!
Love this!
Thanks Patty.
Very nice.
Thank you.
Went there a long time ago – thanks for the memory nudge!
Time to come back again, Andrew.
Welcome back! I have missed you. Your pictures are lovely, as always. Is it any wonder that Monet was such a great artist when he was surrounded by such beauty?
Thank you, Elaine. Monet created his magical world from which he can make amazing paintings. Certainly a must-see place. The collection of flowers were just amazing!
Definitely on my bucket list to visit some day!! Thanks for the beautiful pics!
Worth the visit. It’s not so far from Paris so you can really maximize your stay in the City of Lights with a side trip here.
Wonderful – you have caught it how we always hoped it would be!
Welcome back!!
Thank you, Michael. It was a warm summer day, perfect for capturing the colours and amazing atmosphere of Giverny.
Welcome back! The garden photos are like paintings. May use some for inspiration for painting. The family looks well – your daughter has grown!
Thank you. I would love to see your paintings inspired by these pictures. Time flies, daughter is even taller now.
I must go there once in my life.
Yes, a must-see place that deserves a visit at least once in this lifetime.
Lovely!
Thanks Camila.
what a great post! thanks for taking us through a stroll through the lovely gardens! your daughter is precious! z
Thank you. Hopefully one day you can also stroll through these gardens.
Here in New England, surrounded by snow, this is so welcome! Thank you for this lovely infusion of color!
It’s very cold here as well that summer is much longed for. I’m looking back to last summer to remind me of the many nice things to look forward to.
Oh how beautiful! I am so glad to see you back, beautiful photos of the family and the flowers.
Thank you, Lucinda.
Welcome back! Beautiful photos of a beautiful place…have missed your flowers!
Thank you, Karen. Hopefully will have more time to post flower and garden pictures in the coming days. We’ve been to many lovely gardens in Dordogne last summer.
It looks so beautiful, Malou. Your little girl is growing. I remember when she wasn’t much higher than a daisy. Lovely collection.
Thank you, Jo. She’s indeed growing up so fast and is into a lot of things too from swimming to horseback-riding, reasons why the long absence here in WP.
Gorgeous. Gorgeous. I love this place. You’ve been missed, Malou !! Theadora
Thank you for the warm welcome, Theadora. I just so love your country and can’t wait for the next summer holiday again. We’ve been to Dordogne which was an amazing revelation.
Lovely Malu!
Thank you, Jenny.
Your welcome Malu!
Wow! All of this pictures are gorgeous! I am asking for a camera this year for my birthday, I can’t wait for the quality of my pictures to be even close to this!
Thanks Megan. Looking forward to pictures of your new cam.
These are gorgeous! As a oil painter myself, this blog touches my heart. What a beautiful day and I’m happy you got to see his garden. Wonderful blog! Welcome back!
Thanks for the warm welcome. Happy to be back after many hectic months that kept me away. Still busy bee here but I try to get back to this space. I’ll definitely entice you to visit Monet’s place and I’m sure that you’ll have endless inspiration for your oil paintings.
I saw Monet’s Giverny paintings when they were on tour in New Orleans. So incredible. Much bigger than I thought they would be. The Museum of Art also has a Giverny painting – very small, but beautiful: Giverny in a snowstorm. He managed to capture in paint those big, fat, wet snowflakes. Your pictures make me see where and how his eyes saw light and what he committed to canvas. Lovely! Thank you.
Bewitching aren’t they? Saw some of his works when I visited the Louvre many years ago and has since then, been dreaming of going to Giverny. Didn’t happen right away despite many trips to Paris and holidays to Normandy so last year I really made it a point to make a side trip to Giverny. Well worth the visit and the area around Giverny is also lovely.
I think his paintings hold a quality of light not found in others – possibly derived from Giverny. Lucky you!
Amazing imagery.
Thanks zozokie.
What a stunning post Malou, thank you!
Many thanks.
Wonderful to have you back, have missed your photos so much. Was at the gardens many years, but a little too late – in September and there wasn’t much flowers left in the garden, but what a wonderful place to stop and just reflex on life at. Was it last year you were there. Stunning and breathtaking photo gallery. Little princess sweet as always and .. the same little happy family. Welcome back.
Thank you for the very warm welcome, Viveka. Many thanks too for the CDs. It’s been crazy past couple of months starting with the little girl having her birthday and asked for princess cakes. Had to follow a lot of youtube tutorials for that and managed to deliver. Then turning 5 also meant more activities like horseback riding and a very intensive swimming lesson.
We were in Giverny at the height of summer so the gardens were just majestic with flowers everywhere. We had a great time in France last summer, went to see a lot of gardens in Dordogne. Looking forward again to summer in France this year.
Great news … didn’t you do some post about your summer holiday – sure I seen some photos from a castle where you stayed. Is she 5 now … it’s true the time just fly away with us. She are still such an adorable little girl. It’s truly wonderful to hear from you and to have you back. *smile
Just posted a few from the start of our holiday in West France. Still more to post from our time in Dordogne which was a pleasant surprise. Beautiful gardens out there.
Hi! Glad your back! Good to see you are all well there, your little lady has grown! Beautiful home Monet had. I have read about him and seen many of his paintings in online galleries and read about his life. A very interesting man, a fascinating era he lived in. I have moved my site, stop by sometime. Be well!
Thanks for the warm welcome, John. Indeed the little lady is growing up so fast.
If ever you have the chance to go to Paris, make a side trip to Giverny as it is simply worth the visit.
Once of my favourite places in the world! Beautiful photos, thank you.
Paradise, isn’t it?
Love your photos. I so want to go there. Thanks for sharing your trip!
Thank you. I seem to remember that you went on a cycling holiday in the Dordogne, right?
Beautiful photos! What a stunning place to visit. I could see why he was inspired… Monet is one of my favorite painters and the Impressionist work has always captured my interest and imagination.
Thanks for sharing this!
Same here, I’m also a big fan of Impressionist work and Monet is a favorite. I’m lucky to have seen for real some places which had been inspiration for his work.
Haven’t seen you here in quite awhile…what a beautiful series…
I know…been very busy with my little girl’s activities. Happy to be back.
What a lovely home and garden! Welcome back!
Thank you. I won’t mind living in that home and garden. Inside the house was also very cozy and the kitchen was really marvelous.
These are beautiful. We wish we’d gone to Giverny. Thanks for sharing your pictures with us.
Certainly a place worth a visit. I hope you get a chance to visit in the future.
Malou! Welcome back.
Now that’s a garden. There’s even some bamboo in there! (I wonder if they were already there when Monet was alive.) That garden’s all too pretty for words.
Thank you, Tita Buds. Been very busy the last couple of months.
The bamboo could be a later addition (not sure???) but blended well with the entire garden. A must-see place if you visit Paris.
Thanks for sharing these pictures and your experiences…..so lovely! regards…..it’s been a while.
How are you, Monique? I hope someday you’ll also get to see this place.
Oh, one of my favorite places in all of France! Lovely photos!
I share your view, this place is a personal favorite too.
What a beautiful park, and I enjoyed seeing the beautiful picture of the family together.
Thank you, Shimon.
Beautiful garden photos, just wonderful scenery.
Thanks Mike.
Love the Photos…I remember standing in the In the Nelson-Adkins Museum in KCMO many years ago totally blown away I came back again and again
Thanks Richard. Monet will always fascinate, I guess.
Wow! So GREEN, looks so peaceful. Thanks for sharing.
Thank you. Indeed a little paradise.
Your photos always make me feel like I’m right there with you!
Thank you, RoSy.
Like you we stayed in a B&B, for three nights. There is so much to see in the area. It was all very beautiful.
Wonderful isn’t it? Our B&B was really super lovely and the owner even recommended that we had dinner at this restaurant by the river with the watermill. Driving around the area was such a great experience especially in the summer when the wheat fields shone like gold.
These are beautiful, and the water lilies shot is my favorite I think
Thank you. Being there made me understand why Monet created so many lovely art works.
Oh yes for sure! The pictures you’ve posted are just amazing
Lovely! I’m a big fan of Monet as well. It would be so lovely to see all the things he painted up close!
Yes, a wonderful experience to see for real what inspired him to create so much beauty on canvas.
Absolutely beautiful, Malou! Glad to see you back
Love the glasses too!
Thank you. Indeed it’s been a while with many things keeping me busy. The soft lenses broke during the holiday and I had no spare. Couldn’t buy disposable ones in France but would need to go for an appointment at the optometrist so had to rely on glasses for the rest of the holiday.
Simply stunning images, Malou…thanks so very much for sharing! Glad to see you back, and yes, she is getting to be quite the young lady…little girl no longer!
Thank you. Time flies and now looking forward to the next summer holiday again.
Been there myself, so this brings back lots of memories
Its such a beautiful, calming place. Also, your little girl is so adorable.
Lovely place, isn’t it? Would love to come back again another time.
Thanks for dropping by my blog. Again your post is gorgeous!