Explore France - Monet's Gardens at Giverny
The Two Gardens are Clos Normand for Flowers and the Water Garden
Apr 6, 2007
The French Impressionist movement was named after one of Monet's paintings, Impression Sunrise. But all this fame and fortune came to him quite some time after he moved to Giverny in 1883. This was at a time in his life when his financial state was insecure and he was looking for a roomy inexpensive house in which to settle his large family. The spacious house and large rambling garden was exactly what he wanted and the family settled in. Monet began the work that was to last until the end of his life in 1926 - that of creating the wonderful garden with its famous lily pond which is today visited by people from around the world.
France - Giverny - The Clos Normand Garden
Monet created two different kinds of garden at Giverny: the Clos Normand and the Water Garden. The usual style of French garden is precise and orderly and the Clos Normand follows this tradition. Covering almost three acres, it is composed of many rectangular flower beds of varying sizes, intersected by narrow paths. Each bed is a riot of colour which changes with the seasons. Throughout, Monet meticulously planted each flower in a careful arrangement of colour, harmony and contrast
Giverny - The Water Garden
A tunnel, prettily decorated, leads to the Water Garden. Here, in contrast to Clos Normand, asymmetry rules. Winding paths lead you around the pond where the water lilies float on their shiny green pads. Sweeping weeping willows hang over clumps of fat red tulips, and the banks of the pond are lined with masses of flowers, spiky rushes and delicate ferns in a profusion of colour. The Japanese bridge - subject of so many photo opportunities - looks exactly as it does in the paintings. There's a serenity here that makes a pleasing contrast with the robust nature of the Clos Normand. The gardens that you see at Giverny today are exactly as Monet planned them, using the same types of roses and herbaceous plants that were known in his day.
Giverny - Monet's House
The house and Monet's studio are almost as big an attraction as the gardens and blend in so well that one would almost think they were created simultaneously as one great work of art. His studio is hung with reproductions of his most famous works as well as photographs from the 1900's showing him at work and the rooms of the house have been restored to his original designs. So much so that they look as though the artist had just stepped out to pick up a baguette from the bakery
Giverny - The Village
The village of Giverny itself is worth a stroll around. It's a quiet sleepy little place, brought to life only by the visitors wishing to see Monet's house and gardens. When Monet was alive many artists travelled to Giverny hoping to meeting him and perhaps to capture on canvas the place he had made his home. Today one can still see an easel set up at some quiet corner; the artist trying to capture the beauty of pretty village houses and old stone walls lined with flowers.
But the main attraction at Giverny is, of course, the double legacy that Claude Monet left us - his house and wonderful gardens. Only 87 kilometers from Paris, Giverny is easily reached, either from the capital or on the way to it, and is a 'must' for lovers of art and nature and for gardeners it is heaven!
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