Monet's house - Heide Michels

Claude Monet was as meticulous in the decoration of his family home at Giverny as he was about the planting of its world-famous garden. Hundreds of thousands of people visit the house and gardens every year, enchanted by the vibrant-colored rooms restored just as they were in the house's heyday and decorated according to Monet's revolutionary views on color and light. As he moves through the house the author describes the mealtime rituals of the yellow dining room, the studio where Monet worked and entertained and the family activities that animated the blue room. She also opens the door to rooms not normally seen by the public - we catch a glimpse of private bedrooms and the cellar where wine was bottled and fruit preserved. This book is an invitation to visit the house on a summer's day in the 1890s to marvel at Monet's decorative vision and to experience some of the behind-the-scenes activities that underpinned the busy household.