TRAVELS (and more) WITH CECILIA BRAINARD: Travel France: Impressionist Painter Claude Monet's Giverny

We left Brittany and made our way to Giverny where the artist Claude Monet had lived. Monet was one of the founders of Impressionism. From Wikipedia, I quote:

"From 1883 Monet lived in Giverny, where he purchased a house and property, and began a vast landscaping project which included lily ponds that would become the subjects of his best-known works. In 1899 he began painting the water lilies, first in vertical views with a Japanese bridge as a central feature, and later in the series of large-scale paintings that was to occupy him continuously for the next 20 years of his life."

Claude Monet, picture courtesy of Wikipedia

The top pictures were taken at Giverny. It was a sunny day and relatively warm, and the flowers at Giverny were blooming. Unfortunately, Giverny was crowded, which minimized the pleasure of the visit, but it was still a great opportunity to see the artist's house and pond. We also saw a Degas exhibit at Giverny.

One of the things I have enjoyed in our trip is seeing the sites, such as Honfleur, Pont-Aven, and Giverny, that had inspired famous artists.

The other night we stayed in a house that featured in one of Monet's paintings (titled On the Bank of the Seine, Bennecourt), the original of which is exhibited at the Art Institute of Chicago. (Look at the house on the top right of the painting. See that window? That's the window of the room we occupied!)