Giverny Surprised me with a Beautiful Explosion of Tulips
Giverny, Claude Monet’s garden and home, is just a mere 70 km from Paris. It’s an easy day-trip from Paris. A half-day visit allows exploration of the gardens but the little village is delightful as is Vernon where the train arrives. Allow the whole day so as to not miss anything!
Tips to Help You Prepare
As I traveled solo, I scoured the internet for advice and tips in preparation. I pass these on to you!
- Buy your ticket online before you go to avoid the lines.
- Take the train that arrives at 9:05. Giverny opens at 9:30 so you will be one of the first visitors – better photos as there are fewer people!
- Depart Paris at Gare St-Lazare. A ticket can be had for less than 10 euros via trainline.eu – station destination: Vernon-Giverny.
- Walk out the front of the train station and the little white Giverny train will be waiting to take you to the gardens. It makes a circuit through Vernon, with a bit of historical information. At the time of this post, the ticket costs 8 euros round trip.
- Once the train leaves you at Giverny just follow the signs to the gardens AND watch for the small sign posted on a rock wall to your right that re-directs groups and ticket holders. It says “Entrée Groupe” and beneath that “Entrée Coupe File” which literally means “cut the line”. Arriving right at opening time, this long seemingly deserted little path seemed like the wrong direction, but I trusted the sign. As I walked down this high-walled path, I still had doubts until a uniformed gentleman stepped out from an open gate and asked for my ticket!
Now to enjoy Giverny!
Buying my ticket online in advance meant I entered from the back of the garden. This yielded the most lovely views with the house in the background!
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Giverny has so much to offer that to visit only once is to miss all of its beauty. I was here 4 days after the season opening. Trees were just beginning to leaf out in some cases and in others they were in full bloom. Vines creeping over arbors were coming to life and I long to see their explosion of color in the summer.
The cherry trees were a riot of color!
Tulips, pansies, forget-me-nots and daffodils were everywhere…..as well as several flowers varieties I was unfamiliar with.
Pink tulips, pink house, what’s not to love! (Click here to purchase a print)
Perhaps my favorite photo! (Buy a print)
Inside Monet’s House
I love this shot and it is destined to be a canvas print for my kitchen. The gardener was busy off to the right of the photo doing what gardeners do best- keeping this garden beautiful.
Inside Monet’s home, we were treated to a plethora of reproductions of his paintings and sketches.
I can just imagine Monet drinking his afternoon coffee or tea in this room and how I would love to have been there with him to hear him talk about his passion to paint!
And while he relaxed, he had this view from the window from which to gather inspiration for his next painting.
Copper cookware in a blue kitchen, now that is definitely a kitchen I would be happy to cook in! That cooker would’ve kept this level of the house toasty warm during the winter.
Do you see the ceiling reflection in both of the kitchen photos! If I had noticed that when I was there, I would’ve given it more consideration.
The kitchen diner just makes me smile; it is such a cheerful color of yellow.
Take time to explore the village before you go. This was one of my favorite ateliers.
Visit Monet’s Bust
It’s about a 10 minute walk from the car-park to the gardens. Allow an extra 30 minutes on your walk back to take in the views of the stream and to visit the lovely bust of Monet. The sign for the sculpture is just as you leave the carpark and head toward the gardens. It will be to your left.
One last look at the tulips!
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