"It is maybe to flowers that I owe becoming a painter." – Claude Monet
Without Maison et Jardins de Claude Monet, Giverny is just another small village in Normandy, 80 km from Paris.
Claude Monet, a famous impressionist artist, was born in Paris and lived in many cities. It wasn’t until one day that a train took him around the village of Giverny that he fell in love with it and decided to buy a land there. He lived there for 40 years until his death.
Monet’s passion for colourful flowers was reflected in his painting. He was also obsessed with shadows and reflection on the surface of the water. He later bought a nearby land and transformed it into a Japanese garden. Monet would spend countless hours each day taking care of his beloved garden.
After Monet’s death, the garden was left to his children. Despite, his children’s attempt to maintain the garden, they were not able to and later gave the house and land to the Académie des Beux-Arts in 1966. The renovation took a long time and Monet’s Garden was reopened in 1980.
My Mom’s passion for Monet’s painting and colourful flowers brought her to Maison et Jardin de Claude Monet. She started her journey to Giverny from Paris in April, the tulips were waiting.
The journey took less than an hour and my Mom stopped by at Les Nympheas restaurant infront of Maison et Jardins de Claude Monet. The restaurant was nicely decorated. The waiters and waitresses were also very welcoming.
There were two sections to Maison et jardins de Claud Monet: Clos Normand and the Water Garden. The first part, Clos Normand, composed of lovely pastel pink house and garden bursting with vibrant colourful flowers. It looked like a giant canvas painted with many bright colours. Floral leaves moved corresponding to the gentle wind. Drops of water on the flowers made it even more perfect. The garden here was unique, unlike others she had seen. The combination of flowers was very interesting, one field had only one colour but different in shapes and types; another integrated with different colours but of the same type of flower. The natural growth of each flower without trimming was another highlight of this garden.
The two-storey pastel pink house was a charming background to the garden. Every window opened to the garden view. Inside was decorated by Monet’s paintings and larger part by his friend, Japanese artist, Katsushika Hokusai.
Clos Normand connected to Water garden by a tunnel underneath a road and railroad. Walking through the tunnel, my mom met the different part of the world. The Japanese bridge blended into asymmetrical foreground and background, creating an intimate atmosphere. The most striking was the weeping willow, as presented in Monet’s painting.
Another outstanding sight was the reflections in the pond which could be seen along the walking path along the Japanese bridge. The bridge was painted in green instead of red normally found in Japan.
This pond was the place that Monet used to create numerous painting about lighting and reflections, the famous one was “The Water-Lily Pond”.
Half a day strolling around in the garden fulfilled my Mom's spirit. For a short moment, before she left this gorgeous garden, she was reminded of one of Monet’s Quote:
“Beyond painting and gardening, I am good for nothing.”
