Filed under: Art, day trips, gardens, top-feature
Finding Your Muse in Giverny, France
Exploring your options for day trips outside of Paris? Well, I’ve got another that is well worth your time and effort: Giverny (map). It is like many towns in the French countryside: charming, cute, quaint, peaceful. But it’s in Giverny where painter Claude Monet found the inspiration for his wonderful impressionist paintings. Come for a visit – perhaps you too will find your muse in Giverny.
Monet’s Garden
Without a doubt, most folks come to Giverny to visit Monet’s Garden. It’s where he spent most of the last 40 years of his life, and critics agree almost all of his best works resulted from his time here. Once you see it, though, you’ll see why – in fact, you’ll be scouring your backpack for a paintbrush after an hour wandering the paths of these gardens!
The style is what I’d just call hectic. It’s organized to the point you can get around, and it’s all very well manicured, but otherwise Mother Nature has been given her own artistic license to do as she sees fit – and if you look at Monet’s paintings, the gardens haven’t changed drastically since his days spent here. You’ll note in his paintings he paints the same setting in different seasons, so it’s interesting to contrast your experience with those in his various pieces.
These gardens were a ground-breaking painting style for Monet’s time. It was unheard of to just paint outside as you saw it, because most art was a well structured indoor pursuit - complete with lighting to ensure the perfect shot.
The gardens are only open April-November, and entry is 6 EUR (4.50 for the gardens only). I think it’s worth it to explore both.
Museum of the Impressionists
It’s one thing to just enjoy the scenic backdrop that is Giverny, but if you really do love impressionist paintings, then I’d suggest you pop into the Museum of the Impressionists (map) here in town while you’re here. Fair warning, it is all impressionists and I found it easy to be overwhelmed, but the collections and diversity of artists - both famous and not-so-famous – is very impressive. They don’t seem to have a regular gallery but just a rotating exhibit, so you never know what you might find.
Next door is the most picture-perfect of gardens, perfect for just soaking up that Giverny atmosphere and perhaps finding your Impressionist Muse. Tickets 5.50EUR, museum only open May-October.
Other Options
Ok, now that you’ve gotten your Impressionist overload, you’re ready for another option right? You have two options:
- Hiking: the Giverny valley has several hills and trails worth hiking. There’s the riverside path, but if you want some height, stop into the tourist office (back in Vernon), where you can get a trail map.
- Food: it’s France, so are you really surprised at this suggestion? Though I would suggest to you to brave your French skills and wander off the beaten path for your lunch. The restaurant by the gardens is crowded, overpriced, and the service is terrible. So find a place hidden in an alley or side street. As an alternative, you can always pick up some baguettes from the railway station in Paris on your way out and have a picnic.
Vernon, where you catch your train back to Paris, is nice to walk around – there are some beautiful homes and monuments, and more manicured lawns. I didn’t note anything of major importance to check out, but their official tourism website (French only) has a few suggestions.
How to Get There
Giverny is a fairly short trip from Paris, between 45-60 minutes depending on the service you take, but does require a transfer in Vernon (map). To reach Vernon, you’ll depart Paris by train via Gare Saint-Lazare (map). This is the second largest station in Paris, and I think it’s fairly well marked, but if you find crowds daunting you might want to give yourself a little extra time.
You’ll be taking the SNCF Intercités service. The Vernon train continues on to Rouen and Le Havre and departs regularly.
Queues can form for buying tickets so you might want to purchase your ticket online in advance – I’ve always found Rail Europe easy to use and reliable France rail tickets.
Once you’re in Vernon, it’s just a quick hop over to Giverny, which is just down the river a couple of miles. You can take a taxi, a taxi stand is just outside the station. You can also hop on the shuttle bus – there’s one that meets every train arrival. And across the street is a bike rental shop – you can bike along the river path (an old railway line) to Giverny.
If you don’t want to deal with the hassle of transport, there are companies who run day trip coach tours – though you’ll pay a premium of course. Most hotels have a deal with the providers, so it is worth asking.
Photo Credit: Ell Brown
