Yesterday the ladies and I had an exciting Monet-filled day.  First, we headed to Musée l’Orangerie to see his famous waterlily panoramas- just as beautiful as I remembered!  Standing in the pristine, oval-shaped gallery, surrounded by swirling brush strokes in moody purples, greens and blues is truly spectacular.  The perfect precursor to visiting the artist’s home in Giverny…

So we did just that.  Hopped a train to the quaint little town just 45 minutes outside Paris and strolled through Monet’s colorful jardins, bustling with honey bees hard at work.  These gardens are so vastly different from those of Paris; While Le Jardin du Luxembourg, Versailles, and the Tuileries are perfectly symmetrical and manicured beyond belief, Monet’s gardens are much more wild, flowing freely into the pathways and climbing up onto trellises.  This is my kind of garden.

Although Monet’s little pink house with its all-yellow dining room, blue-and-white-tiled kitchen and breathtaking views of the french countryside is probably the cutest thing in France, it’s the waterlily pond that really completes this little sanctuary in Giverny.  Walking along the small green footbridges and looking out at the blooming waterlilies just after seeing the original paintings is nothing short of magical.  If you are ever in Paris, please please please do yourself a favor and make a day trip to Giverny.  You will thoroughly enjoy it, I promise.