I'm very happy, very delighted.... for I am surrounded here by all that I love. I spent my time out of doors.... and naturally I'm working all the time, and I think this year I'm going to do some serious things. And then in the evening, dear fellow, I come home to my little cottage to find a good fire and a dear little family.... Dear friend, it's a delight to watch this person [his first son Jean, born in 1867] grow, and I am glad to have him to be sure...

1868 letter to Frédéric Bazille: K.E. Sullivan. Monet: Discovering Art, Brockhampton press, London (2004), p. 22 - 1850–1870