Monet's Garden

Claude Monet was born in Paris, but lived for many years...








...and died...




...in the pretty village of Giverny.








































His home and garden alone are worth the trip to Normandy.




Dahlias! Just like Grandad's garden.















And sunflowers, another favorite.




As well as some strange things I've never seen before.




This is the fantasy. His famous painting, The Waterlily Pond.




And this is the reality. Tourists jostling for position on the bridge.




I waited ages to get a shot of an almost empty bridge, then I messed it up by cutting off the waterlily pond. Grrrr!




I don't like this one, either. The edges are too distracting.




Crap! More tourists! Oh wait, we know these ones :-)




Such a beautiful place. For me, a definite highlight of our trip.












Side note:
I'm taking an on-line photography course. The first assignment was to get closer, fill the frame, and decide what your photo's story is.
This was my homework submission.




Was I close enough? Probably not, or I would've noticed the tiny green bug before I uploaded the image.
Does it tell a story? No, not really, it's just a pretty flower.
My instructor's critique said that a) I wasn't close enough, and b) it should have been approached from a different angle, as this straight-on shot is too confrontational. Harrumph.
Whatev. It doesn't matter to me whether she likes it or not, because to me it says "Hey, remember that amazing day when you strolled around Monet's garden?"