Lily pond, Giverny

Up very early as we had to drive for a couple of hours before we got to Giverny. On the way at 6.30 before it was light and got to our destination by 9.15 with time to walk the dogs and have breakfast of bagette and croissant before walking up to the house and gardens about eight minutes walk from the car park! The mobile tickets were on my phone so I let Sian go in and I went back to walk the dogs and wash up!

I returned with the dogs to meet Sian as she came out and handed the dogs over to Sian! At this point it had begun to rain! I went in after a short wait in the queue. It was a magical place in its autumn magnificence! Lots of golds and browns , orange and purple and lovely mixed planting with swathes of grass inbetween like a series of rooms in a house. I walked straight to the water lily pond with the throngs of people and took many photos! Since I’m I only had an hour I then went to the house which was an absolute joy! So many pictures both by Monet and his friends and also huge amounts of Japanese pictures which he obviously adored! The furniture was ravishing and the kitchen to die for! An absolute joy to visit and I would love to be able to bottle the fresh garden smell in the rain!