Giverny, France, 2004

Giverny, France

The Seine River at the Bonnières Bridge in Vernon, France."Claude Monet Street" crosses Giverny and takes you right to Claude Monet house and gardens.
On route to Giverny. We walked about 4 or 5 miles from Vernon to Giverny on these beautiful road.
Monet Gardens. When Monet and his family settled in Giverny in 1883 the piece of land sloping gently down from the house to the road was planted with an orchard and enclosed by high stone walls.
Monet would find his inspiration in his water garden(below) for more than twenty years.In this water garden you will find the famous Japanese bridge covered with wisterias, other smaller bridges, weeping willows, a bamboo wood and above all the famous nympheas which bloom all summer long. The pond and the surrounding vegetation form an enclosure separated from the surrounding countryside.
The water garden is full of asymmetries and curves. It is inspired by the Japanese gardens that Monet knew from the prints he collected avidly.

The land is divided into flowerbeds where flower clumps of different heights create volume. Fruit trees or ornamental trees dominate the climbing roses, the long -stemmed hollyhocks and the coloured banks of annuals. Monet mixed the simplest flowers (daisies and poppies) with the most rare varieties.