Day Trip from Paris: Giverny

Background

I’ve had a framed poster of Monet’s water lilies on my wall since I was a teenager. I’ve had a book called Monet’s Years at Giverny for as long. In Paris, visiting The Orangerie museum, which was purpose-built in circular galleries to display some of Monet’s water lily murals, was a spiritual experience. So, we had to put Giverny on the itinerary this time.

Getting There

Most people seem to visit Giverny as part of a tour bus group, so the website is pretty unclear about how to get there as an independent traveler. The day of our visit (for which we had pre-purchased timed tickets), most of the trains were canceled from Paris to Giverny except for one at 7:00 am. No part of me is a morning person, but I was determined not to miss this excursion. If you take a bus to a train station in Paris at 6:30 am, the city is still asleep, so that was pretty cool to observe the quiet streets. When we arrived at the train station in Vernon, we took a wrong turn and ended up in an industrial estate. We followed our weak GPS signal back to the train staion where we realized that the city centre was just a few minutes away from the staion in the opposite direction. Because we arrived so early, we planned to walk to Giverny, but after we crossed the bridge over the Seine, we were tired and still unsure of where we were going. The town buses don’t run very often (only every two hours or so), but we tried to catch it based on the timetable. We were unsuccessful. Thankfully, the shuttle bus pulled over and let us aboard. It’s about $10 pp round-trip (purchase tickets on the bus).

The Water Lilies

You can start with the house or the water lily gardens. We wanted to see both, but the pond was the priority, so we headed there first. The first thing that struck me was the copious amounts of bamboo. The water lilies were in bloom when we visited in July (what a treat). The arched bridges make quite a statement. Even with the crowds on the small walkways, it is a peaceful place. It felt like an honor to be there.

Monet’s House and Studio

I learned that Monet and many other impressionists were inspired by Japanese gardens and artists (hence the bamboo). The walls of his house are covered with Japanese art and stamps. Getting to go inside his studio was amazing. They have staged it well and lined the walls with paintings to give you a sense of what it was like for him to create. Every window has a gorgeous view. My 8yo suggested we rearrange some furniture to look out our windows like in Monet’s house, but our views wouldn’t be quite as nice! A team of gardeners was working in the flower beds which gave an idea of what it takes to keep up the grounds.

Inspiration

My 8yo asked me to buy her paints and canvases after this trip and my husband made several plans to improve our garden, so I count the trip as a win.