Monet lived at Giverny for the last 43 years of his life, first renting and eventually buying the house and lands there. The gardens became his passion, and he hired professional gardeners to help him maintain it. He had a particular love for Japanese prints and tried to recreate in nature what he had seen in those prints. He then went on to recreate those scenes in his paintings. Art imitating life imitating art.
Unfortunately, none of my plans to head out to Giverny have worked out. The gardens aren’t even open until April 1st, so that meant my adventure had to wait until the end of the study abroad. I was all set to go on either the ninth or the tenth of April, but the SNCF had to get in the way. You have probably heard that the French really like to protest and really like to go on strike. Well, it turns out this is true. The SNCF, aka French national railways, has been on strike for more than a week, and it doesn’t look like things will let up any time soon. Most lines have been running normally, but the less popular rides, like the one out to Giverny, have been cancelled. I guess this means that my big plans of walking where two of my icons, Claude Monet and Audrey Hepburn, walked is put on hold for now.
