And now lets go back in time when we lived in a royal town of France ahh you need to read my blog lol! Well we took a lot of trips by car from there and one we went even for a lunch was Giverny. Ahh yes you know this town actually more like a village but a certain Claude Monet lived there and voilà a major tourist destination now. Good for a visit if you like me like Monet, the best painter of all time , me think.
Giverny is tucked in a bend just between the Normandy and the Ile de France regions, small, but very popular ,we all love to see Claude Monet. Giverny is for the artistic senses in you, the art lover. ou can easily come from Paris on the A15 autoroute that becomes the N14, and follow signs for Giverny. I always came by car but for info here is the public transport choices: take the train from gare St Lazare to Vernon, then take the Giverny Shuttle allows you to reach the village of Giverny from the Vernon-Giverny train station. Access to shuttle is within the limit of available places. Or local bus 10 from city center or 241 from train station, does the work too. You can take a taxi or walk/bike about 7 kms. The bikes can be rented from near the train station at Vernon , the bike rental I know is here: Bike rental Vernon Giverny. The bus line is here for SNgo: SNgo bus network Vernon Giverny
I would like to tell you a bit ,first, about Giverny. The things to see,and eat,and even stay in between your trip from the landing beaches and Paris. You have the house and gardens of Claude Monet, see the reading room or salon bleu that connects with the epicerie or grocery ,where he kept all the kitchen needs, then you go to his shop or atelier,where he worked until 1899. You go up one floor to his bedroom , with many paintings of his, and then the toilette or bathroom and the small bedroom and bath of his wife Alice , and the dining room below, all in remarkable state of preservation. You can see the Clos Normand, a beautiful vegetable garden and apple trees. At the end of the clos Normand he creates a water garden or jardin d’eau with a fountain,and a japanese bridge. It is here that he does the Nympheas painting now showing in the Orangerie at Paris. Here in the shop of Nympheas you will find a boutique/shop with all the trimmings. You can visit his tomb as well by the cemetery and small Church of Giverny.
The Fondation Claude Monet manages the house museum now , all info in English here: Fondation Monet
You can visit the museum of Impressionists, with painting from the period; it replaces the museum of American Arts from 2009. It is a wonderful place to see the Impressionists art movement and its effect on others over the years. As well recommended. We have fond memories of the old very informative and friendly service. The webpage for the new Impressionists museum is here in English: Impressionists museum of Giverny
There is a wonderful unofficial site with plenty of information on Giverny and things to see and do , transports eating lodging etc here giverny org. in English, it is loaded: Giverny org
Some of my recommendations for eating out here as lodging always came on one day hops from home.
As far as eating, my favorites are La Halle aux Grains, in Vernon,webpage Restaurant La Halle aux Grains Vernon
And the Auberge des Pêcheurs resto in Port Mort between Giverny and Vernon, All FRench local cuisine at its best. No web but the city hall webpage tells you in French: In Port Mort the Auberge des Pecheurs
In Giverny, for a quick meal in the Impressionist museum there is Terra Cafe, quite good for a museum resto. No need to enter the museum to eat here ok. Info from the giverny org webpage in English: Terra Cafe at the Impressionists museum Giverny
Another and historical but a bit touristic for me is the resto of the hotel Baudy, 81 rue Claude Monet just by the house of the painter. webpage: Restaurant Baudy Giverny
And there you go another pleasant memorable trip in my belle France, it never cease to amaze me the multitudes of things to see and do and Giverny is one of them just for Claude Monet.
And remember, happy travels, good health, and many cheers to all!!!
Paris1972-Versailles2003 