Claude Monet Museum Giverny - Weekend Escapes

Dear lilioftheworld.com reader, here is Dimo, your co-editor.

Claude Monet had a long fruitful life painting many great works and defining a whole new era in art. His paintings are familiar even for people like me who are not into artworks. I was five or six years old when I saw his Water Lilies and Japanese Bridge for a first time. It was printed in the schoolbook of my sister. I remember I was genuinely impressed by the tranquility, brightness and positivism which I felt when staring at it. We have seen many paintings at school, but this very one I would never forget.

As a child I often imagined that I am at the magic place portrayed in the painting. But I never thought it still exists.

Until an year ago, when I was visiting a German language class. A conversation regarding Monet and his work started and one of the students said that he has visited his museum in France. The famous lily pond actually still existed at the Claude Monet Museum. Located in the small village of Giverny about 80 km west from Paris. It is the place where Claude Monet lived from 1883 until his death in 1926. Also the place where he painted some of his most renown paintings. And it is where my childhood memory was still living a live. I had to go and see it.

The same week I have convinced Lili that we should arrange the trip.

Vernon Train Station Giverny — *Just arrived at the train station of Vernon. This is the closest railway stop to Giverny.*

Dimo’s (Lili’s) 5 Good-to-know Tips when visiting Giverny and Claude Monet Museum

Buy admission tickets online in advance here. In this way you will secure the desired admission time. Further to this there is a “fast lane” for online reservations and you won’t wait on the same queue with the organized tourist groups.
Go early. Although it is a small place it gets very busy during the day. Try to avoid big tourist groups and use the beneficial morning sunlight to have the best visiting experience and take some good photos.
Rent a bicycle to get from Vernon to Giverny. It is a pleasant 30-45 minutes ride along picturesque nature, houses and gardens.
Have a coffee or lunch in one of the nice small restaurants along Rue Claude Monet.
Time your visit. Keep in mind that major part of the experience is the garden. Therefore, you would like to go late spring or summer to enjoy the full colors and spirit.

Vernon Giverny on a bicycle. — *Between Vernon and Giverny. As you see in the background, we were not the only early birds on this Saturday morning 🙂*

Getting from Paris to Giverny

Tourists usually visit Giverny as part of their excursion to Paris. If you want to learn more about what to do and see in Paris, you could refer to this article written by our travel buddy TravelistaGoesTo.

Giverny is located about 80 km from Paris, so you can easily go there within the day without booking a night at a local hotel. The two main transportation options are a car and a train. I would recommend the train as the trip is very fast and comfortable. Most of the trains in this direction depart from Saint Lazare train station. Your destination is Vernon (about 6 km from Giverny).

There are trains every couple of hours (every hour in the early morning) and the ride takes about 50 minutes. You can check the timetable and buy your tickets here. Once you get to Vernon you have several options on how to get to Giverny and the Claude Monet Museum: taxi, shuttle bus and bicycle. Taxi and shuttle bus are fast and straightforward options. But, if you want to enhance your overall experience and enjoy very beautiful nature and nice rural scenes, the right option for you is a bicycle. This is what we used and we highly recommend.

bicycle road claude monet museum — *The bicycle road between Vernon and Giverny is like a fairy tale itself.*

The bicycle ride

You can rent your bicycle from a cafe just outside the train station. The majority of the bikes were in a scrappy, but still acceptable condition for the easy 6 km ride to Giverny. The price as of July 2018 was 14 euro per person.

As usual we arranged our trip as early in the morning as possible to be at the museum for its opening time 10:00 AM. On the very day of our journey the preliminary booked train was cancelled. However, the train station staff provided us with full assistance and re-rooted us so we can arrive by approximately same time as planned.

Flowers Aroma Claude Monet Museum Giverny — *In July we were able to enjoy not only the spectacular scenery, but also the scent of various flowers.*

Upon arrival at the train station we went straight to rent bikes in the nearby cafe L’Arrivee de Giverny. It was a friendly and uncomplicated procedure. Ten minutes later we were on our way to Giverny. Mornings could be cold even during the summer, so we definitely recommend having some light jacket with you.

The ride crosses Seine on a big bridge. Then the road continues south east. Just follow the signs. And don’t forget to stop and take photos of the nice rural houses and surroundings. Enjoy the colors, enjoy the scent.. ..enjoy the overture to the magic experience which awaits you in the Claude Monet Museum.

House Giverny Claude Monet Museum — *Did I mention the nice rural views? 🙂*

Rue Claude Monet — *If you see this sign, that means you are on the right way 🙂*

Rue Claude Monet Giverny — *Along Rue Claude Monet*

The Claude Monet Museum

We arrived at the museum area about half an hour before the opening time. We used the time to take a breakfast and coffee at a very pleasant restaurant just outside the museum – Les Nympheas. I highly recommend their Quiche – you won’t regret it 🙂

Les Nympheas Claude Monet Museum — *Les Nympheas has a great garden.*

Half an hour later we were in front of the Claude Monet Museum entrance. We were lucky, because we have purchased our tickets online and we didn’t have to wait on the huge queue. One can be really surprised how many tourists find the way to the small village of Giverny. So, don’t forget to buy your ticket in advance. Once you enter the Museum, there are two parts: the house (along a Flower garden) and the Water Lily garden.

Garden Claude Monet Museum — *We have started our exploration from the Water Li*ly garden.

The Water Lily Garden

The Water Lily garden is located across the road, as Claude Monet initially bought just the house area. Years later, when he had the means to, he purchased the plot across the road. That is why you need to go through a tunnel to get to the Water Lily garden.

I couldn’t wait to see the pond, the lilies and the Japanese bridge, so we went straight to the garden.. ..and once we made it out of the tunnel, we found ourselves in the middle of a fairy tale.

Japanese bridge Claude Monet Museum — *Happy to be there! In the background – the famous Japanese bridge.*

A less known fact is that the whole garden was initially designed and built by Claude Monet himself. Even after he had seven gardeners, he continued to develop the design on his own. It is one of the not so many cases, where the painter has created himself the decor of his paintings.

Flowers Claude Monet Museum Garden Giverny — *Beautiful flowers are all around the garden.*

The garden served as a great inspiration for many paintings of the renown artist. Claude Monet often portrayed one and the same area during different parts of the day. Thus he was able to reflect the play of the light and the shadows, which sometimes gave the feeling for a totally different place. Another interesting fact is that Monet often focused more on the water reflections of the flowers, than on the flowers themselves.

water Lily Pond — *Another view to the Water Lily Pond.*

You will be surprised that despite tourist crowds, you could still make great photos. Main reason for this is that the garden is asymmetrical and offers plenty of different angles to the ponds.

Water Lily Garden Claude Monet Museum — *Peaceful, isn’t it?*

Water Lily Claude Monet Museum Giverny — *Lili and the Water Lily Pond 🙂 Despite many tourists you can still make some great photos of the area.*

The House and the Flower Garden

We have expected that after the Water Lily garden, the house and the Flower garden would be less impressive. We were wrong. The Flower garden is just adorable. Rainbow of colors hits you from everywhere. We have even forgotten to take photos. We just wanted to enjoy this exhibit of nature.

House Claude Monet Museum Giverny — *The Flower garden offers further inspirational scenery 🙂*

Claude Monet Museum Giverny — *We were lucky to steal a frame without other tourists around. Rare.*

Claude Monet Museum Garden Giverny — *More colors from the garden.*

After we spent some time in the garden, we have entered the house. The house welcomes you with its colorful, warm and inviting atmosphere. You can see many replicas of his paintings on the walls. There are several parts, where you will see Monet’s collection of Japanese prints, which were the inspiration for the Water Lily garden.

Claude Monet House Museum Giverny — *Could it be the same bed, where the great Claude Monet has rested after long day of painting?*

Claude Monet Hause Museum Giverny — *Well, I imagine that it is a very good start of the day to take a look at the magnificent garden right after getting up.*

Another less known fact is that in the last years of his life the sight of Monet was hindered by a cataract. This is the reason why in this period his paintings had a reddish tone, usual for people suffering cataract. He underwent two surgeries (to my great surprise this was possible in 1923). It cannot be said if the operations were fully successful, but Monet was able to at least repaint some of his reddish paintings. However, we didn’t see those during our visit to the house.

Claude Monet Museum House Giverny — *A photo of Claude Monet in the Gift Shop.*

On the way back from Giverny to Vernon

On the way back we have rewarded ourselves with a glass of locally brewed Mademoiselle Giverny in a very nice place called Au Coin du Pain’tre. No matter if you stop at this place or any other along Rue Claude Monet, enjoy yourself and use some time to reflect on the wonderful experience that the tour in the Museum gave you.

We had a great time at a place, which isn’t on each and every touristic book. Such places are the main reason we travel: no matter how many things you have seen, there is always something new, something different out there. The Claude Monet Museum is exactly this different experience.

So next time you visit Paris in late spring or summer, make sure that you plan and visit the magic Giverny!

Yours,

Dimo

PS: For more short Europe trip ideas, visit our dedicated section Weekend Escapes!