Monet's garden | Aussie in France

We had set the date to visit Monet’s garden well ahead, in the hope that the weather would be more promising. It turned out to be cool and occasionally sunny but mostly overcast.

Clematis in Monet's garden — Clematis in Monet’s garden

The drive from Paris takes about 1 ½ hours and we went directly to the parking lot next to the Musée des Impressionismes, which is an offshoot of the Orsay Museum today and holds special exhibitions. Signac was on the programme.

We bought our combined tickets for the museum and gardens, thus avoiding the inevitable queue to the gardens and house, and set off for through the village to the gardens, going in by the special “group” entrance down a side street. You can also jump the queue at the main entrance which takes you through the shop.

Each season has different flowers. In my last post on Monet’s garden, it was July, when the famous nympheas are in bloom. This time, there was wisteria over the famous green bridge, pansies, irises, gillyflowers, clematis and columbines in every size and colour imaginable.

I just love columbines (aquilega) and we don’t have any in our garden in Blois at all so I’m looking forward to choosing several different varieties.

Nymphea pond with the famous wisteria-covered bridge in the distance

For once, we didn’t get distracted by the shop on the way out. There are so many wonderful things to buy! Don’t you just love the Monet silk scarf a friend gave me for my 60th birthday?

My silk scarf of Monet's nympheas — My silk scarf of Monet’s nympheas

We walked back through the little town of Giverny with it’s charming houses and many restaurants to the museum where we were able to visit the Signac exhibition without jostling with the crowds we would have experienced in Paris.

We just had to keep away from one of the very loud guide whose comments were hardly worth listening to. Who really cares that Signac painted a cliff path whose existence can still be traced today? I was much more interested to hear another guide taking about the importance of picture frames particularly as we agonised over the right frame recently for our John Modesitt painting.

Signac is what is known as a neo-impressionst. He started painting in the early 1880s. He and Seurat developed the pointillist style. Signac painted a lot of coastal Mediterranean scenes (St Tropez, Collioure, Avignon) as well as the industrial areas of Paris, often in muted blues.

Monet's view from his bedroom window — Monet’s view from his bedroom window

The exhibition is on until 2^nd July, so if you’re planning a visit to Giverny, make sure you combine the two.

How to get to Giverny : http://giverny.org/transpor/

For years, I didn’t go to Monet’s garden in Giverny because I was told there were too many people. Now we go at least twice a year! The best time to visit is at lunch time, when there aren’t any groups and few people queuing. And to avoid the queues altogether, you can either go to the Impressionism Museum (an offshoot of the Orsay Museum) first and buy a double ticket, or buy your ticket on-line. Both the garden and museum are open from the beginning of April to the end of October. These photos were taken in July when the famous nympheas are in bloom, but every month is beautiful. The tulips in April are stunning and the roses in June are out of this world. Then you can eat outside under the trees at the historical Restaurant Baudy down the road (don’t forget to check the inside).

Nympheas in Monet's garden — Nympheas in Monet’s garden

You can see the famous bridge in the background

Nymphea pond with fuscias in the foreground

From the bottom of the garden looking towards the house

View from the window of Monet's bedroom — View from the window of Monet’s bedroom

Claude Monet Foundation, 84 rue Claude Monet: open every day from March 29th until November 1st included 2013 from 9.30 a.m. till 6 p.m. – last admission 5.30 p.m. http://fondation-monet.com/en/

Musee des impressionnismes Giverny, 99 rue Claude Monet: open March 29th to October 31st, 2013 every day

from 10am to 6pm last admission at 5:30pm. Open on Public Holidays www.museedesimpressionnismesgiverny.com

Restaurant Baudy, 81 rue Claude Monet – Musée Hôtel Baudy 27620, Giverny, Tel 02 32 21 10 03, http://www.restaurantbaudy.com/

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Tag Archives: Monet’s garden

Monet’s Garden and Signac on a Rainy Day in May

Monday’s Travel Photos – Monet’s Garden in Giverny

from the Tropics to the City of Light