Sainte-Radegonde church and Monet's grave

At the western end of the village the lane climbs away from the houses to the church of Sainte-Radegonde, a small Romanesque building with a squat tower, part of it eleventh century. It is the quiet end of Giverny: a graveyard on a slope, old headstones, a view back over orchards and the roofs toward the Seine valley, and almost no visitors even in August.

Monet is buried here in the family plot against the north wall, a low ivy-covered grave marked simply. It is a real cemetery in use, so the tone of a session here is different from the gardens — quiet, respectful, no props and no posing among the graves.

What the spot gives photographically is the churchyard itself and the ground around it: stone walls, wildflowers along the verges in May and June, an avenue of old trees on the approach, and evening light that comes straight up the lane from the west end of the village. It is the one place in Giverny that reads as a Norman village rather than as an attraction.

It is a ten-minute walk uphill from the foundation gate, or two minutes by car. The churchyard is open ground with no ticket, and there is no lighting after dark.