me in monet's garden

The big site in Giverny is, of course, Monet's Garden. We (Pocket Pacy and I) went first thing in the morning:

I particularly was excited about going because I loved  the book Linnea in Monet's Garden. It's an absolutely wonderful book that brings to life impressionism more than my art history books...I remembered the details from this book much more than the details from my Gardener's Art Through the Ages.  But that might be saying more about me than the book...

I brought this book with me to the garden!

So seeing the pink house, the sunflowers and the garden in real life was incredibly enchanting! I hadn't realized how large the house or the gardens really were.

I had always thought Monet's pink house was a small cottage...it was not!

the garden was quite expansive, rows and rows of blooming flowers

Linnea in Monet's Garden come to life!

But my favorite part was going to the water lilies! After seeing so many of Monet's water lily paintings it was magical to go where he actually painted them, the scene that inspired his masterpieces:

I tried to draw it myself with an impressionistic flair:

It was such an enchanting place. I didn't want to leave. So, I decided to leave a Pocket Pacy here in my stead:

Maybe she will be a part of someone else's impression of Monet's Garden!

giverny

Our next stop was Giverny!

Even though I was thrilled about going to Giverny, I got too busy to plan the details of this part of the trip. So the Sasquatch took over the planning, booking our lodging. I didn't really know what to expect.

But after a brief search (the place was a bit challenging to find) I found that he had reserved the amazing Le Maison Baudy for us:

The Sasquatch looking deservedly proud of the completely awesome place he found for us!

Giverny is the home of Claude Monet and impressionist movement.  Apparently, artists in awe of Monet, flocked to Giverny making it a kind of artist haven. This would have happened if it were not for an enterprising grocer's wife, Madame Baudy.

There was no inn in Giverny, but she transformed her husband's small shop into a hotel. This was quickly filled to capacity and she began to rent out her house as well (only to a privileged few to whom she began to know). This house has stayed in the Baudy family and now we were staying in it too!

the plaque on the outside of the house that explained its history

To be completely honest, we were not staying exactly in the Baudy house. The current Madame Baudy lives there and occupies the whole building. But they renovated the Baudy house barn/stable (that is connected) into a guest house. And that is where we stayed (whole cottage to ourselves!):

the inside was all modern and amazing, I wanted to live there forever!

it was separated from the main house by a steps and black dog

The original Le Maison Baudy (where the current Madame Baudy lives):

The original house still has some of its original decor:

the bright blue trim was very common in Giverny, Monet-inspired!

And the current Madame Baudy was kind enough to explain some of the historical photos on the wall:

This photo shows the original Madame Baudy with a tableful of guests. Paintings on the wall are paintings given to her by the artists when they could not afford to pay for their rooms:

There were also photos that artists used as photo reference, posed model photos. I was actually kind of surprised that the impressionist used photo reference--I just assumed they all painted from life.  This makes me feel a bit better about my own cheating use of photo reference for my paintings.

But I can see why the artists came to Giverny. It was beautiful. The lush landscape and the silver light was breathtaking.

our "backyard" in the morning

I wish I had thought to draw the cottage in that light. Instead I drew it in normal daylight. It looked like:

I already miss it!

Le Maison Baudy
3 chemin Blanche Hoschedé Monet
27620 GIVERNY