Monet’s Garden

 The highlight for June 6th, and one of the ‘must sees’ for our cruise, was the visit to Monet’s house and garden at Giverny. Excitement was palpable as our group walked through the tunnel, the only way to get from parking areas to the other side of the road, where we began our tour.

On previous visits as soon as I entered the garden I was impressed by the carefully tended rows upon rows of spring annuals in every shade of pink, mauve, blue and yellow; the masses of roses climbing up and over large metal archways, covering walls, and filling several acres with their shapes, colours and perfume. Then, the garden was tended by volunteers.

On this occasion paid staff failed to keep up with the maintenance; weeds, up to sixty centimetres high, flourished amongst unkempt beds of annuals and the roses, many of them wilting, were in need of a few tons of TLC. To those who were visiting for the first time, and the non-gardeners, it still appeared a riot of texture and colour, but lacked the WOW quality that we expected.Continue reading→