Vernon/Giverny - Claude Monet's Residence

Here's a picture taken with my family while in France. This one in particular was in the small picturesque town of Giverny, a short bus ride from the neighboring town of Vernon, itself some 40-45 minutes from Paris' Gare Saint Lazare by train. Located at the border of historic Normandy, Giverny is home to a large Impressionist museum as well as where the famous artist Claude Monet lived (and died in 1926). His old house still stands today and is open to visitors.

As a bit of trivia, Monet was very much into Japanese art and culture, with a lot of illustrations, artifacts and memorabilia from that country. One could say that he was an early-20th Century equivalent to today's otaku to the point that he even  had a large, still vibrant to this day Japanese garden made. As a bit of an aside, France today is known as well for its large consumption of Japanese culture and media, with manga overtaking the local and popular BD (Bandes Desinee) in 2014. 

Also, although the paintings in the house are all replicas (with the actual ones either in Japan or the Musee d'Orsay in Paris), the furniture, lighting and even kitchen wear are either actual restored items or close reconstructions of what Monet used back when he was still alive. The one exception being his bedroom, of which no photographs exist and thus had be recreated using written accounts from Monet and his family.

It wouldn't be the last time I would use a train there. But hope you like the scenery!