World Cruise – France and Monet’s garden at Giverny
We arrived on the shore of northern France at the port of Honfleur. Since we had been to Paris before, We opted to take the excursion that only had a 2 hour coach ride to see Monet ‘s gardens at Giverny near the town of Vernon, France.
It was a spectacular day as the flowers we in full bloom and the sun broke through the clouds and throngs of tourists came to the house that famous French painter Claude Monet created a plethora of masterpieces during the impressionist period.
Our guide was fabulous and on the way to the house we heard of Monet’s life story how he became a painter his love life and how he arrived at Giverny. He was such an artist and master gardener that even the flower beds had plans and drawings of exactly the flowers and colors to be used in the garden.
The lily pond and bridge over the pond seen in his paintings was in full glory with wisteria growing over the bridge like a canopy. Stunning simply stunning. He worked on his paintings for years to perfect the intermix of light and dark. He was a perfectionist and it showed.
The house was unique too. Only 15 meters by 40 meters (yes the depth of the rooms was only 15 feet) the yellow dinning room color was chosen by Monet to highlight the blue dishes and blue accents of the kitchen nearby. Stunning use of contrast to bring bold colors to life.
We hope photos included herein do the site some justice but to anyone interested in flowers and art going to Monet’s Giverny is worth the visit and if you do go, go early before the crowds get too much.
After the visit in perfect Viking cruise style we went to a farmhouse in the rural section of Vernon and the two coach buses had a lovely meal with French wine to boot.
Put this on your list of places to see if you have a day in Paris and can travel to Vernon.
