a wonderful visit to claude monet's home in giverny, france

On Sunday I finally had the chance to visit the great Claude Monet’s home in Giverny, France, the estate in Normandy where he spent the second half of his life and where he painted much of his work.  I’ve been a huge Monet fan for many years now (my 2012 LANDSCAPE SCRIPTURE album was a tribute to him) so this was very special for me to be here. Super inspiring. 

Here was Monet’s daily routine at Giverny (from Caroline Holmes’s book, MONET AT GIVERNY)…

“During his years at Giverny, Monet's daily routine seldom varied. He woke early, at four or five. Opening the window, he would study the sky. If the dawn augured well for that day's weather he would take a cold bath followed at 5:30am by a hearty breakfast. He then set off to paint, sometimes with members of his family as helpers, returning at 11:00 am. Lunch had to be served on the dot of 11:30am, and was followed by coffee and home-made plum brandy. After a short rest he resumed work out of doors, observing changes in the sky as reflected in the nearby river or, in later years, by the pool in his garden; alternatively he would paint in his studio. The bell for dinner would ring at 7:00pm, and bedtime, like Monet's hour of rising, was early, at 9:30pm. Any variation in this daily routine was extremely unwelcome, and he would be most displeased if he had had a bad day or the sky had not been to his liking. However, this rigid time table was no obstacle to the generous hospitality shown over the years towards many friends and relatives, for whom Giverny became the heart of a large extended family.”