A Fork And A Suitcase

This is part 4 of my visit to Giverny, France. After strolling through the beautiful Le Clos Normand, the garden by Monet's house, I made my way to the underground passage, which leads to the second garden.  During Monet's time he had to cross train tracks to get to the other part of his garden.  Monet bought this neighboring property ten years after his arrival at Giverny, it sat on the other side of the railway tracks.  He had a pond dug up and later enlarged; and in order to fill it in Monet had the stream Ru, an arm of the river Epte, partially diverted.  Monet's inspirations were prints he has seen of Japanese gardens.  We got very lucky that when we got to the water garden the crowds were scarce, and we could take our time admiring its lush beauty.   It was quiet, peaceful, and the numerous frogs creaking in the pond created the only sounds.    There were moments I felt as if I stepped into a paintin...

Part 3 of my Giverny visit. Finally!  After years of anticipating, looking at photos online, and planning, I have entered the beautiful grounds of Claude Monet's home and gardens.  The property is divided into two sections: Le Clos Normand is the part with the house and the beautiful garden and the Japanese inspired water garden on the other side of the road. Claude Monet lived in Giverny from 1883 until he died in 1926.  When Monet and his family settled in Giverny in 1883, this area was an orchard enclosed by high stone walls.  Monet cleared out the area (about 2.5 acres), and created a spectacular garden.  He did not care for order, or very dark colors, he grouped flowers by color and blended simple flowers with the rarest of species, mixed annuals and perennials.  Tall iron arches are the centerpieces creating a beautiful path to the house. There are fruit trees, ornamental trees, climbing roses, long-stemmed hollyhocks, multicolored annuals, and...