Did you know Monet's middle name was Oscar? It's true!

My Mom used to give my sisters and I special time, with just her and one of us, to do whatever we wanted while growing up. I remember

begging her to play the diversity game, seeing the “Lollipop” show in New York and wandering around the MET to see every Monet painting

they had.

Come to think of it, I think it’s safe to say I was obsessed with everything Monet. I knew all the trivia. I dressed up as him for Halloween one year (not something I would suggest… everyone thought I was a homeless man.) I could even tell you everything about his paintings. In fact I remember walking around the MET with my mom once, telling her all I knew and pointing out my favorite parts. After awhile we noticed that people were actually following us around, listening to me! Okay so if you ask me now I’m lucky if I remember how many different versions of the Haystacks there are (I believe 24 or 25) but I still love his artwork.

After admitting this, I find it a little embarrassing to say that in all the time I’ve spent in France I have only recently made the trip to Giverny. With the weather getting more unpredictable, John and I decided it would be best to take chance and go to Giverny earlier rather than later. The weather was perfect and even though we overheard someone say that this late in the season we wouldn’t see all of the flowers it was beautiful. We took a tour of his house. Which I have to admit was different than I had expected. Each room was a different color. With the sun beaming off the bright yellow, the dinning room was my favorite. We spent the rest of our time walking through the gardens. I can’t imagine that we saw everything but it felt like the property went on forever. I think I would take up painting too if I had gardens like that!

After seeing everything (I hope) John and I took a tour of the rest of the town. Giverny is cute, but I wonder if much happens after Monet’s house closes for the public in November. While wandering down the main street, John stopped me and we saw these really impressive sand sculptures. You would think they belonged to a park or an exhibit but instead they were in the artist’s front yard with an explanation. The sand contains some clay with helps keep the sculptures sturdy enough to last an impressive two months!

We ended our tour of Giverny at the Church (which was under construction) and cemetery where the Monet’s are buried. Sadly, the cemetery wasn't very well kept up but it was nice to honor Jewish tradition by leaving a stone on his grave stone.

I was sad to leave Giverny but delighted that John liked it enough to suggest going back! After all these years, I suppose I can still say I'm a loyal Monet fan.

I always post a link to our pictures but this time I really suggest you take a look. I spent the whole time in awe of how beautiful was I didn’t even notice John was taking pictures the whole time. They turned out great! (Click here to see our pictures)