During our trip to Normandy we visited Monet's house and garden in Giverny which have been preserved as a museum. It was in this garden that Monet painted his famous series of paintings, Water Lilies.

We visited on a warm summer's day and it was lovely walking through Monet's beautiful garden. Of course, the place is packed with tourists clamouring to get a photo of themselves on the Water Lily bridge (I can't complain too loudly; I wanted a photo there too). So sometimes you have to close your eyes and block out all the noise to imagine the tranquility that Monet would have experienced while he was painting there.

Even though it is quite crowded it's still worth the trip. The flowers in the garden are beautiful and it's special to be able to visit the setting for such an iconic series of paintings.


More photos (slideshow) on Flickr.

Our visit to Monet's Garden was part of our trip to Normady and Champagne. We visited France in August 2009 to celebrate Jess's birthday with camembert, croissants and bubbles. Other entries from this trip include: Mont St Michel.