Giverny is a small village known and recognized thanks to the painter Claude Monet, who lived there from 1883 until his death in 1926. Situated on a hillside and just a stone's throw from the Seine, the Norman village offers beautiful walks in the hills, but also in the main street where hotels, restaurants, beautiful houses, shops, artists' studios, the Musée des Impressionnismes and the Claude Monet Foundation are all mixed together. The village, which welcomes many foreign tourists, is the second most important tourist site in Normandyafter the abbey of Mont-Saint-Michel. A great idea for a weekend in the summer sun.
The Musée des Impressionnismes, a reference
Between Paris and Rouen, the Musée des Impressionnismes is one of the most beautiful museums in Normandy. In the course of its temporary exhibitions, you will discover the original masterpieces of the great masters of Impressionism: Pierre Bonnard, Edgar Degas, Claude Monet, Auguste Renoir... Partially buried and covered with green roofs, this museum, which succeeded the Museum of American Art, is dedicated to highlighting Impressionism in all its forms: pre-impressionism, post-impressionism, but also the study of the pictorial movement in other European countries as well as in North America
The Claude Monet Foundation, immersion in the artist's work
Bequeathed to the Académie des Beaux-Arts by the painter's son in 1966, the pink plastered house has undergone major renovation work. Admire the famous collection of Japanese prints in the artist's home and immerse yourself in Monet's daily life as you walk through the rooms. In the garden, let yourself be carried away by the scents and colours of the different varieties of flowers along the paths. As you walk through the rose gardens and go underground, you will come across the Water Garden formed by a Japanese bridge, wisteria and azaleas. This place gave birth to the famous work "Les Nymphéas". End your visit in the artist's studio, which now houses a shop. The Foundation offers numerous events throughout the year and also welcomes groups and school groups
Legendary gardens
The gardens are the work of the famous artist himself. Never before had a painter shaped his motif in nature to such an extent before painting it, thus creating his work twice. Monet drew his inspiration from them for more than twenty years. After the series of Japanese bridges, he devoted himself to the series of water lilies, until the gigantic decorations of the Orangery. The two parts of Claude Monet's garden, the Clos Normand and the Water Garden, oppose and complement each other.
The Clos Normand is a garden of about one hectare, rich in perspective, symmetry and colour. The land is divided into flowerbeds where flowerbeds of different heights create volumes. Fruit and ornamental trees dominate the climbing roses, the slender stems of hollyhocks and the colourful masses of annuals. Monet mixed the simplest flowers (daisies and poppies) with the most sought-after varieties.
In 1893, ten years after his arrival in Giverny, Monet bought the land next to his property on the other side of the railway. It is crossed by a small stream, the Ru, a derivation of the Epte. Monet had a small pond dug here, which was later enlarged to its present proportions. The water garden, all asymmetry and curves, was inspired by the Japanese gardens that Monet knew from the prints of which he was an avid collector. The water garden includes the famous Japanese bridge covered with wisteria, other smaller bridges, weeping willows, a bamboo forest, and above all the famous water lilies that bloom throughout the summer. The pond and the surrounding vegetation form a closed world, independent of the surrounding countryside. When Claude Monet died in 1926, the house and the garden went to his son Michel. In 1966, he bequeathed the property to the Academy of Fine Arts. In 1977, Gérald van der Kemp was appointed curator of Giverny. André Devillers, who had had the good fortune to accompany Georges Truffaut, an eminent gardener who was often invited to Monet's table, helped him to reconstitute the garden as it was at the time of the master. It would take nearly ten years to restore the garden and house to their former glory. The property was opened to the public in September 1980. More than 500,000 visitors discover Monet's restored gardens each year and marvel as they walk the side paths and circle the entire garden to admire all its perspectives. A must-see!
In Normandy, other must-see museums
You can then take to the road to discover other nuggets. The Eugène Boudin Museum in Honfleur is a must. The visit is free or audio-guided and is based on several themes, the main one being, of course, Eugène Boudin himself and the painters of the 19th century. Other important works can be found in the André Malraux Museum (MuMa) in Le Havre. But you can also admire 20th century artists who lived or worked in Honfleur and Normandy: Vallotton, Marais, Dufy, Marquet, Cappiello and the painters of the Rouen School
The Rouen Museum of Fine Arts is also a must-see with one of the most prestigious public collections in France, including an incomparable collection of 19th century paintings by Géricault, Delacroix, Corot, Gustave Moreau, Degas and Monet, whose Portal of the Rouen Cathedral can be admired in the first impressionist collection in France.
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When can you go? You can go all year round, even if the arrival of fine weather is more pleasant. June and September are good months to enjoy the sun, away from the summer crowds
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