Inside Corners

I had planned an idea of this adventure months before coming to France: when I told my host family I wanted to see Claude Monet's home in Giverny, they asked if I was sure I wanted to go to a museum on my one free day. This was not simply a museum but a beautiful home in the countryside where one of the greatest artists had lived and painted some of the most recognizable oil on canvas ever produced. I wanted to experience this scene now, because I never knew when I would be back again.
As my host family and myself investigated Giverny, we found it was approximately two hours to the north by car from their apartment in Frenes, just south of Paris. My hosts had never been there before, and Madame Hamrouni, who appreciated intellect and art as much as I did, was most excited.
After about 30 minutes in the car, we had definitely left the Paris metro area. The highway was a straight shot through meadows, cow fields, and lavender plantations. This drive in itself was a treat. Farmers tending animals in their front yards and wild flowers blowing in the wind reminded me of the France all tourists believe exists. Some come to Europe looking for this, and are disappointed when only staying in the cities--well now, I had found this vivid environment and it was breathtaking
Giverny is a small pink house with green shutters, surrounded by a garden of world flowers, primarily lilies. Ivy grows on the exterior wall, and pebbled paths lead through the garden. We visited in April, when not all flowers were in bloom, if I were to do it again I would go in the summer to capture all the floral essence, but still the sight was unique and magnificent. Inside the house are rooms of color--by this I mean the dining room is all yellow. Gingham table cloth and detailed china leave the space just as Monet had it. The kitchen is adorned with tints of blue and equipped with copper pots and pans. Japanese art and Monet's own work line the walls, including those of the water lilies.
Down the twisting paths of the garden are tulips and lilies from all over the world and capturing all colors in the spectrum. A brook has a row boat docked on the banks, and down the brook is the pond. Two green wooden bridges covered in ivy span its body, and flowering lily pads decorate its surface. I stood on these and knew why I had come here. This house is not a tourist attraction like the Eiffel Tower is. It is an inside corner that many neglect and forget, but who could forget this place.