Blogs from Giverny, Upper Normandy, France, Europe

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Europe » France » Upper Normandy » Giverny September 16th 2023

Today the cruise ship docks in Le Havre Paris. From Le Havre Renata and I wanted to tour Normandy to see the D-day beach sites. However, those Princess tours were all booked so we decided to go on tour to Monet House and the city of Rouen instead. Monet House Claude Monet’s home is located in Giverny, France. The house has a beautiful garden with a lily pond that could have been the inspiration for his famous “Water Lilies” paintings. Rouen After touring Monet’s House, we headed over to Rouen after a delicious lunch. Rouen is a city on the river Seine in northern France and is Normandy’s vibrant, historical and cultural capital, famous for its cathedral and museums. Places we visited in Rouen include: 1. La Couronne, founded in 1345, is the oldest inn in ... read more
Le Havre Cruise Stop
Le Havre Cruise Stop
Le Havre Cruise Stop

Europe » France » Upper Normandy » Giverny June 17th 2019

Today we arranged for a private tour of Claude Monet's former house and gardens in the village of Giverny, located about 50 miles northwest of Paris. Our driver for the day, Philippe Coste, an associate of Serge Molho whom we'd met two years ago, picked us up from our apartment at 9 AM. After some traffic congestion leaving Paris, we reached the former home and gardens of Claude Monet (1840-1926), the revered painter and founder of the French Impressionist movement, around 10:30. Once we left the Paris metropolitan area behind, the drive through green countryside and small villages was very scenic. When we arrived at the Fondation Monet, operated by a private, non-profit organization, the ticket line stretched for 150 feet! So we stood in line for about 45 minutes before gaining entrance, but the wait ... read more
Claude Monet's garden
Water lily pond
Claude Monet's garden

Europe » France » Upper Normandy » Giverny August 14th 2017

When planning a trip to see the house and gardens of Claude Monet in Giverny, it is definitely best to buy the 10.50€ tickets online a day or more ahead of time. http://giverny.org/gardens/fcm/ticket/. You can print them yourself, or if you don't have a printer available like us, you can pick them up at any fnac outlet. http://www.fnactickets.com/listePointVenteEdito.do. With advance tickets you can ignore the 1 to 2 hour lineup and walk straight in through the Advance Ticket and Group Entry. You can reach Giverny from Paris by train for 14.70€ from the Gare St Lazare station. We rode on the 8:19AM train, choosing forward-facing seats upstairs on the right side for the best views, arriving in Vernon at 9:05. Right outside the station door you will have various shuttle servic... read more

Europe » France » Upper Normandy » Giverny April 5th 2017

Made it to Paris no problems and got to the meeting point for the boat at the Pullman Hotel and were taken by bus to Avalon Creativity on the Seine, absolutely beautiful boat.Brrrrhhh! the air has a real nip to it, only 17 degrees. Sailed at around 6.00p.m. and woke up in Vernon. From here buses took us to our optional tours, we chose Monets House and Garden, it was sensational, but what made it that much more interesting, was our guide Pia, a fantastic storyteller and puts so much passion into telling you about everything...she obviously loves her job! The gardens are only open from March to October so we are the first Avalon tour to visit for the season, and of course the gardens change with the season, so if we went back in ... read more
GIVERNY
MONET'S HOME
MONET'S HOUSE

Europe » France » Upper Normandy » Giverny May 20th 2015

We were up early this morning for another big driving day and because we wanted to reach Giverny in time to see Monet's garden. We were down in the dining room by 7.00am, having breakfast with all the business people, checked out and on the road by just after 8.00am. We set the Sat-Nav for Giverny and off we headed up the A6 towards Paris. With our road map of Southern France about to run out at just north of Macon we stopped at the Aire (services) stop at Macon for a toilet break and stretch. Bernie was prepared to just trust the Sat-Nav, but I wanted to buy a map just to be able to see where we were actually travelling. We were able to purchase a map of all of France, but the scale ... read more
Monet's Garden
Monet's studio
Monet's Garden

Europe » France » Upper Normandy » Giverny September 9th 2014

Today was a little bit different from our other days so far, but a great day! Instead of touring Paris today, we had a day-long tour with Ann-Clair who took us to both Giverny and Versailles. Ok so to start, Giverny is this tiny village about an hour outside of France that to this day only has a population of around 500 people. So why the trip to Giverny? Because that's where Monet had his house, gardens and water lily pond! It was beautiful!!! Mom and I have always been big art people with a special love for the impressionists and so we were especially excited about this mini excursion. It did not disappoint and this is something I feel the need to recommend to anyone coming to France, art lover or not. The house was ... read more
Monet's Lily Pond
Drew and I at the Lily Pond
Water Lilies

Europe » France » Upper Normandy » Giverny July 1st 2014

Day 15 - Art Appreciation We planned a less ambitious day today. Northern France was the home of Claude Monet, the leader of the Impressionist Art Movement. His home and gardens in Giverny were turned into a museum open for public tours in the 1970s. Monet painted some of his most recognizable works while living there, including Waterlilies. We were able to walk through his home and see reproductions of the many works he painted while living there. We were also able to see the lily pond where he painted many famous works. Anne really enjoyed the visit. She took many pictures of the flowers, landscapes, and Tony and Michelle. Tony took many pictures of Anne taking pictures. We had lunch at the restaurant across from the museum with some French dishes. Afterwards we headed back ... read more
Worth a picture
Historic View
Worth a picture

Europe » France » Upper Normandy » Giverny June 20th 2014

We got an early start for Monet’s Garden today as we heard it can get busy. It was a beautiful day so after a breakfast chat with the other guests, two ladies from Scotland, we headed off. Arriving just after the opening, the line was quite moderate and we entered the amazing flower gardens. No wonder Monet was inspired to paint this over and over for many years. The first part of the garden is the flower beds with exotic species from all over the world which Monet would collect on his travels. The amazing flowers even kept Em entertained for about 1 ½ hours! Next you cross the road through an underpass into the water garden where you find the famous wisteria bridge. We spent another hour there wandering the gardens, watching the creek and ... read more

Europe » France » Upper Normandy » Giverny May 9th 2014

Thursday 8th May 2014 Up early this morning, sheets and towels in the washing machine, then the dryer. Mopped the floors and the house looked as if we hadn't even been there! This was confirmed when Fred & Helena, who oversee the house, came for coffee and to collect the keys. What lovely people they are, they had tulips on the table when we came and they gave us a gift of macaroons when we left. The weather was the worst it has been since we came here, it rained almost continuously all day. This didn't make for relaxed driving on the motorway where the speed limit is 130kph in fine weather and 110 kph when raining. The rain obviously wasn't noticed by most, we sitting on about 120kph and many cars passing in excess ... read more
Monet's Garden
Monet's Garden
Monet's Garden

Europe » France » Upper Normandy » Giverny June 17th 2013

Steady rain greeted us this morning as we woke up gradually, and it combined with the slow sloshing of water over the mill wheel to slow our pace. At breakfast we met a lady who had already been up and out to the gardens as part of a photography course she is doing. We were flat out making it down in time to eat! After breakfast it was time for a trip to the police station, and THAT was a hoot. There was absolutely no-one on duty who spoke English, so I found myself acting out a charade and hanging on to Frank as if I was on the back of a motorbike - sound effects included, much to the children's mortification. Isabel had to leave the room. Unfortunately I didn't have a knife with me ... read more
It looks just like the painting!
On the Bridge
On the way to the museum




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