Our last shore excursion was in Giverny, a village in the region of Normandy. Claude Monet lived and worked here from 1883 until his death in 1926. He was a French painter and the founder of Impressionism painting. The term “Impressionism” is derived from the title of his painting, “Impression, Sunrise.” Monet’s ambition to document the French countryside led him to paint the same scene many times so he could capture the changing light at different times of the day and in different seasons.

We visited Monet’s home and gardens. Monet adapted his house to the needs of his family and professional life. There were additions made to the house and he chose the color schemes. The home had a large kitchen and dining room because Monet liked to entertain.

The barn next to the house became his first studio. Monet, who mostly painted in the open air, used the studio to store and finish his canvases. He displayed much of his work in his home, keeping a record of his paintings. The paintings currently displayed in his home are copies while the originals are displayed in museums. These are pictures we took of his home during our visit.

In 1893, ten years after his arrival at Giverny, Monet bought the piece of land neighboring his property. Monet had a small pond dug. Later, the pond would be enlarged to its present day size. The water garden was inspired by the Japanese gardens that Monet knew from the prints he collected. The famous Japanese bridge is in the water garden (first picture, below). Besides flowers, there are other bridges, weeping willows, and bamboo in his gardens. The pond and the surrounding vegetation form an enclosure separated from the surrounding countryside.

Never before had a painter designed his subjects in nature before painting them. And so he created his works twice – once in real life and then again on canvas. Monet would find his inspiration in this water garden for more than twenty years.