Our last day here, an afternoon in Giverny, 45 minutes by train, to Claude Monet's home and garden, and where he built the famous lily pond and Japanese bridge. He lived here for about 40 years, from the 1880s until he died in 1926. The sun was out (first time all week) so it was perfect.
The gardens go on forever. There are 100,000 perennials and 100,000 annuals also planted every year. The style is not manicured yet carefully controlled and groomed to look "natural." There are gardeners everywhere, with clippers and wheelbarrows and pots.
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| Oriental lillies growing along the banks of the stream leading to lily pond |
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| Purple and white lupine flowers on bank of lily pond |
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| peonies and ?? |
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| poppies |
The farmhouse is decorated with impressionist paintings especially in the salon, but most surfaces in the house -- the bedrooms, dining room, hallways, stairway walls, etc. -- are covered with Japanese drawings and paintings (see dining room photos below)
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| (we think the paintings are reproductions, or done by others "in the style of") |
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| view of rose bushes from second floor window |
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