
Giverny (France): Claude Monet’s House and Gardens
There is a train from Paris / Rouen to Giverny every hour. Instead of renting a car, we decide to simply go by train. The train does not go directly to Giverny but to Vernon, then you have to take a shuttle (10€ round trip) to Giverny
Part 1: Travel Diary
Part 2: Practical Tips
Part 1: Travel Diary
In Vernon itself, you can visit a very nice old mill. The Shuttle can drop you off on the other side of the bridge, and you can take it back later to continue your way to Giverny.

Giverny is always a good idea, whatever the season. We went there a few years ago at the end of the summer, and we did not see the same flowers as today. There are always a lot of people, so plan to go if possible during the week and early. That’s what we were hoping to do today
But surprise! Because of the Covid, the cash desk is closed and the only way to buy tickets is online. We buy in panic the tickets on the Fnac. Phew, there are still tickets for today, but the entrance is in 3 hours! Some foreign tourists ask us questions about the tickets, and I can’t see how they can go to the Fnac, create an account, and choose the ticket that suits them from their phone when they don’t even speak French. It’s really disappointing for the Claude Monet Foundation to manage access in such a complicated way.
In a nutshell. Before coming here, book!
We have 3 hours in front of us and even if the village is very small, the whole village is beautiful and we can spend long moments looking at the flowers, the gardens, the galleries. We take a snack on the other side of the village…

before going back through the village, looking for a nice place where we can rest

Museum of Impressionists

Access to the garden of the Impressionist Museum is free and there are a few benches where you can sit. At one point, we even cross a field. The poppies are no longer there but I imagine that in June, it must have been all red and beautiful. Here, the pesticides seem to be absent because we are invaded by insects. They look particularly like fleas and like to stay on clothes, hair and bags. Sometimes, we cross big clouds of insects without knowing how to avoid them. But they don’t bite, that’s the main thing! Next to that, there are a lot of dragonflies and butterflies. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen so many butterflies.
Old Hotel Restaurant Baudy
A good option for lunch would have been the Baudy restaurant, whose history is very romantic. I copy/paste here the history of this restaurant which has become a must for American painters:
In the spring of 1886, the American painter William Metcalf pushed open the door of the grocery store run by Angélina and Gaston Baudy in Giverny. He will return a few days later accompanied by three of his compatriots also painters. Mrs. Baudy cooks for them and even offers them her room.
To their amazement, they learn that Claude Monet, the master impressionist, lives there, a few steps away. The latter will receive them and invite them for lunch. Back at the Julian Academy in Paris, they are enthusiastic: “Claude Monet lives in Giverny, a small Norman village where there is a boarding house that offers room and board for a ridiculously low price”. From then on, every weekend the little train pours out a horde of young bearded and cheerful people… It’s the rush to the grocery store-buvette of Giverny. In the garden, a first painters’ workshop is born, soon followed by two others. It is from now on the Baudy Hotel where one enjoys oneself very late and where the walls are covered with paintings, tokens of friendship… or of settlement. The establishment welcomes Renoir, Rodin, Sisley and Pissaro. Monet and Clemenceau often spend long hours in the park. But it is the painters from the other side of the Atlantic who provide the bulk of the troops: Metcalf, Sargent, Robinson, Hart, Butler, Beckwith, Watson, Young, Mc Monnies, Frieseke, Mary Cassat, Collins, Perry… and so many others that we end up calling it the Hotel of American painters.
Source
I heard that there is a wild rose garden but I confess that I did not see anything. We couldn’t test the restaurant because we just wanted to have a drink, or a dessert, which was not possible.
The Gardens of Claude Monet
The time has finally arrived, we can finally visit the gardens and the house of Claude Monet. You should know that before, the famous water garden had no water. It was Claude Monet who diverted the small arm of the Epte, the Ru, to create the pond. He has always been fascinated by the reflection of clouds on the water and wanted to create a pond in his garden. The famous green bridge in the axis of the central alley is inspired by the Japanese bridges in the prints that Monet collects. But not to do exactly like the Japanese bridges, red was replaced by the color green. However, the plants keep this oriental spirit: bamboos, ginkgos biloba, maples, Japanese tree peonies, lilies and weeping willows. Water lilies have been added to make the pond bloom.
This magnificent garden was the pride of Monet, who received his guests there. A full-time gardener was in charge of its maintenance, and removed every dead leaf so that it remained of perfect beauty.



The House
A door is opened for us to cross the road and access another garden, next to Claude Monet’s house. This central alley is forbidden to access and it changes from one season to another. When we went there a few years ago, it was much more flowered and small plants almost covered the alley.

All the wood is painted green as well and just in front of it, there are lots of rosebushes


The living room-studio is very luminous and we find this idea of a glass roof, letting natural light pass through, without being completely dazzled by it. This workshop has been reconstructed in 2011, with about sixty paintings replicated and hung on the wall in a very dense way

Monet’s collection of Japanese prints can be found throughout the house. Most of the furniture inside the house is authentic. The fake ceramic cat sleeping next to the fireplace, maybe not 😀

The part that impressed me the most was the kitchen. With the period stove, the period stoves, the period objects… the walls are very colorful, everything is very bright. It gives life to this uninhabited house.
As you leave the house, you can see a small alley covered with lavender. It is a little hidden and the nature is very dense so nobody dared to venture there. So I was able to get some very nice pictures there. The reality is a little more adventurous because here bees and wasps are very active. They aren’t aggressive, but it’s quite impressive. I’m so happy to see so many lavandins here, especially since we won’t be in Provence in time to see the lavender fields in bloom.

With that, I leave you. Tomorrow, we are leaving for a tour of France by car. You can already look at our program here
Part 2: Practical Tips
- Remember to book your tickets in advance on the Fnac for example
- Train tickets :
- Rouen – Vernon-Giverny : from 13€ in TER(link Oui.sncf)
- Paris – Vernon-Giverny : from 16€ in TER (link Oui.sncf) or you can take the transilien J, which is covered by your Navigo pass

