The Delight of Monet's Home in Giverny

One of my favorite places to visit in the Paris area is Claude Monet's home. http://giverny.org/monet/welcome.htm
It is but an hour's train ride away followed by a bus, but WELL WORTH IT!! Besides being a famed painter, he was a very fine gardener. (I would guess that could go "hand in hand"!) Every month of every season varies, and while I have been there twice, it would be the first time in August, so off I went!
Getting to Sainte Lazare was now a "piece of cake", and I arrived in twenty minutes from the Suresnes train station for the 8:20 train to Vernon. I knew EXACTLY where to go, because the same train goes on to Rouen.
Busses were waiting to transport us to Monet's home for 8euros round trip.  (It is really the town of Giverny, but his home is also called by the same name.) It was such a delight to see-dahlias some flowers as big a grapefruit, huge displays of geraniums, roses, marigolds, petunias, a fuschia "cousin"
which looked like a "skinny" version of what we have, etc. I asked the two "gardeners" if the plants were annuals or perennials in that location. She was a New Jersey college student who was leaving (sadly) the next day; he was from Virginia. They have been there for a summer internship program. They really didn't know the answer to my question, as apparently they had heard both yes and no!

Two American college students on 6 week volunteer project

Getting there early on a Monday meant there were not that many people. Unfortunately they do not allow pictures to be taken in the house, so you cannot see what a good job was done on the recent renovation of his studio. The yellow dining

Studio diorama in the gift shop

room is one of my favorite rooms.

Then following the signs to Water Lilies, I walked out of the house garden to see the basis of all his water lily paintings! There are some rowboats about, so you could envision Monet sitting there or rowing or painting. Actually one of the rowboats had a huge bucket in it filled with pond weeds, as a worker was moving the weeds into a wheelbarrow. No doubt he had pulled them up from the bottom of the pond. There were groves of bamboo, as well as a huge tree which I was told was in the fig family.

Even with the people there, it was peaceful. There didn't seem to be any group tours. The only actual tours have to be arranged for groups beforehand.

Thank you for coming to Giverny with me! Please come back, and do leave your comments-as challenging as I know it can be!

Next stop, Auvergne!