For most of our month in Paris we stayed in the city. One exception was our visit to Monet’s Garden in Giverny. It was late September so the garden was not at its peak, but it was still stunning. Monet didn’t like organised gardens. He planted in groups of colours and preferred his plants to grow freely. It certainly works in his beautiful garden.
The house and garden were left to Monet’s son Michael after his death in 1926. It became neglected after WWII and in 1966 Michael Monet left it to the Academie des Beaux-Arts. In 1977 Gerald van der Kamp was appointed Curator at Giverny. Andre Devillers helped him reconstruct the garden and bring it back to the way it was in Monet’s time. Almost 10 years were necessary to restore the house and garden and the property has been open to the public since 1980.
The entrance to the garden leads you through a garden to his house, which is open to visitors. There are narrow paths between the garden beds, but they are fenced off to keep crowds away from the plants. It is understandable and does not detract from the visit.
Walking through the house I had the feeling that the artist still lived there and that we might come upon him create a painting.
I particularly loved the sunny, bright kitchen.
There are views of the garden from windows.
From the house it is a short walk to the water garden.
The most famous part of his garden is the water garden with its lovely Japanese bridge covered with wisteria, in bloom in spring, other smaller bridges , weeping willows and his gorgeous water lilies. The garden is accessed via an underground passage.
I can imagine that the crowds in spring would be huge. There were lots of people about when we were there, but the garden is large and there are lots of paths to explore. Of course it made me want to go home to Casa Debbio and dig an enormous pond and plant willows and water lilies.
Monet’s Garden will be open in 2024 from 29th March until 1st November.