Fotografen in Giverny

Giverny is a single village street and one garden, and the garden is the reason to come. Claude Monet lived here for forty-three years and designed the planting himself, and the Fondation Claude Monet keeps it running to the same plan: the Clos Normand in front of the house is a grid of long borders that changes completely between April and October — tulips and wallflowers in spring, then irises, then the arched walk of climbing roses and nasturtiums spilling across the central path by late summer. The house behind it is long, low and pink with green shutters, and its kitchen and studio interiors are as photographed as the beds outside. A tunnel under the road leads to the water garden, which is the picture everyone has in their head: the lily pond, the weeping willows, the wisteria-covered Japanese bridge painted green, and water lilies open from June through September. Beyond the gates the village itself is a working session in its own right — Rue Claude Monet lined with stone and half-timbered houses, the old Hôtel Baudy garden where the American painters stayed, and the church of Sainte-Radegonde at the top of the lane, where Monet is buried in the family plot. The honest constraint is crowds and calendar. The gardens open around the start of April and close at the beginning of November, they are shut for the winter entirely, and from mid-morning the paths are full — the first hour after opening is the only quiet one, and it is worth checking the current opening time and any photography rules with the foundation before booking a session.