Giverny is a small town just an hour from Paris. It's in the region of Normandy, in the north. Last weekend, my study abroad program took a field trip to this town. It was the first big field trip for our group. We were all really excited. We all piled onto a big bus early in the morning and made our way to Giverny. What we found there was a beautiful surprise!
We learned about two traditions in Giverny, the Normandy style of gardens and the art style of Impressionism.
We stepped off the bus into a quiet town, full of nature. Plants were everywhere. Butterflies and dragonflies buzzed about. We made our way into the gardens of Claude Monet.
Claude Monet (moe-NAY) was a painter. He lived in Giverny from 1883 to 1926. When he moved there, he fell in love with the house and its huge garden. He and his wife Alice bought the house, where they raised their eight children. That's a big family! How many siblings do you have?
It wasn't just the house that Claude Monet loved. He also enjoyed the beautiful garden. It's arranged in the traditional Normandy style. This means that the flowers are in neat rows. They're organized by color and by type. There are also fruit trees with the traditional Normandy fruit: the apple. The garden is called a Clos Normand.
