Visiting the Monet's house and garden in April rather than June meant far far fewer tourist. Last June, touring the garden meant walking single file through the narrow garden paths- never stopping too long because of the 100 other people walking behind you. It was so crowded last summer that the queue to enter Monet's house was two blocks long. This weekend's visit, while a bit colder than the last, was much more pleasant because there were far fewer tourist around. We could walk through the garden at our own pace. We frequently paused to admire the colorful bounty of flowers, that the Monet Foundation gardeners masterfully planted to create a floral patch work showcasing nature's finest products. Visiting the garden that was a source of Monet's inspiration will stir that spark of desire within you to become a great gardener or great artist or maybe both.
Last June's the garden was full of poppies and irises. This month there were countless varieties of tulips and other bulb plants.
The water lilies, the inspiration of Monet's Les Nymphéas displayed at the Orangerie museum in Paris, are located in the Japanese Garden portion of the property. The water lilies are not in bloom yet, but the frogs in the pond are quite vocal and provide wonder and entertainment to the garden visitors.
View of the garden from Monet's upstairs bedroom window. You can understand how his garden could be a source of artistic inspiration.
The neighboring town of Vernon, is the closest train station to Giverny. It has some interesting touristic sights of its own including a few enclaves of medieval buildings within the town limits.
In fact, you can take the train to Vernon and then bike 4 km (2.5 miles) to Giverny. Once you cross the bridge, there is a pleasant bike path situated away from the main road. It's a bit hard to find once you cross the bridge, but it's there and much calmer than sharing the road with the big tour buses.
Vernon's Gothic cathedral with a vintage Citroën passing by.
The interior of the cathedral.