As you wander through the gardens, seeing all the colors of flowers ,plants,water in the ponds, it is easy to see how he could paint his " impressions" of what lay before him.
Giverny is a Very small town. In fact you have to take a train to Vernon from Paris, and then a bus or the " little train" eight kilometers to arrive there. What a clean little town.Flowers everywhere.
It was a popular summer retreat for many painters,including Americans, but Monsieur Monet was the best known in town. His visitors included Mary Cassatt, Cezanne and others. Now there are other French artists who have galleries along the one main street. It was fun talking about their art, in French, with them.
Monet bought his rather large house in 1890, after he started selling in America, then bought more land nearby for the Jardin d'eau, the water garden.The house is pink with green shutters.In 1916, he built a large studio, which I think is now the gift shop. Here he worked on his large canvases of the ponds and water lilies.They are now in L'Orangerie museum in Paris. Each canvas covers a wall.
It was fascinating to watch the wind play with the lilies on the water, while I sat on a bench and just observed. The green leaves would stand up like little butterfly wings, and then lay down again. I think maybe that is one of my fondest impressions of the Garden in Giverny.
