He is probably best known for his "Water Lilies" paintings. Those paintings, as most impressionist art, were his own interpretations (or impressions, if you will) of real objects. That real object was his own water garden surrounding his home in Giverny, about an hour from Paris by train, near Rouen, home of the cathedral that Monet loved to paint. It was located in a charming small town:
And you can imagine, after an hour-long train ride, a 15 minutes bus ride, and 10 minute walk, and a long line for tickets that pregnant Keeley and nursing Rachel were SO relieved to see this sign:
Once we took care of that, we thoroughly enjoyed the flowers (some quite fascinating, in my opinion) in the traditional garden:
Then we crossed the road to tour the Japanese water gardens:
We toured his home:
And were mesmerized by the weirdest looking chickens I've ever seen:
Unfortunately, it was my last day trip with Keeley, who has since moved back to Dallas (so sad for me!!). And, in usual Rachel/Keeley fashion, we didn't even get a picture together! :( Oh well, many wonderful memories made and documented... you are missed already, friend!
Loving these large photos, especially with such pretty flowers! Glad I got to hug your neck last week.
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