A Few Words About the Village of Giverny
First of all, Giverny is really tiny. The population is only about 500. This seems surprising for a place that is so well-known, but there it is.
So it is not surprising that you cannot take the train directly from Paris to Giverny. Instead you have to get off at the somewhat bigger town of Vernon, which is about three miles away. From there you can take a bus or a cab – or hike if you are so inclined.
Giverny may be small, but apparently its origins are very old, with some evidence that it has been settled since Roman times. Its medieval days are hinted at in street names like Rue Des Juifs (Street of the Jews).
The village is full of stone houses and walled gardens. The walls are charming, covered with roses and flowering vines, though they frustrate the impulse to snoop on the private gardens within.
A nice place to stay at Giverny is Le Clos Fleuri, a bed and breakfast with three extremely comfortable rooms. The B&B is run by Danielle and Claude Fouche. Danielle is French but grew up in Australia, so her accent is a little unexpected.
They are very welcoming and friendly, and Danielle is more than happy to talk plants and gardening. In fact, their home is itself is a clos normande-type garden with hedges, fruit trees, roses, and other flowers.
Their place is about a ten minute walk from Monet’s garden. You can buy your tickets directly from Danielle, which enables you to avoid the lines for getting in.
It’s a walk through pleasant countryside, including an enclosure that features emus, an ostrich, and a pot-bellied pig.
There aren’t many restaurants in Giverny, but a nice one is the Restaurant Baudy (formerly the Hotel Baudy). We had an unusual but delicious salad there of chopped summer vegetables with creme fraiche.
After spending most of the day at the Monet garden, we got a ride back to Vernon and then took the train to Paris, changed stations and took another train to Chartres. More on the next leg of our journey soon.
Lovely!
Thanks. It’s a pleasure to relive the experience through the blog.
Ah those darn walls!!! I can only imagine what lies behind!!! They are still gorgeous in their age and stunning vines!!! That bed and breakfast sounds like a great way to experience this quant little town!!! Beautiful!!!!
Maybe I should have brought a stepladder.
Jason,
I’ve been sharing your travelogue with others and must say its one of the more engaging series of posts I can recall in our garden blogosphere. Nicely done, my friend.
Thanks, Patrick. I appreciate the compliment.
You know, I’m pretty bold, and gardeners are the same everywhere. I would have walked up and knocked on the most tempting walled garden I saw and told the gardener how much I admired what I could see. Gardeners being the way gardeners are world-wide, I bet it would have gotten a guided tour and made a new friend. It has worked on me and made me some of my dearest friends. Gardeners are a separate breed!
You are bolder than I. Also I might have been inclined to go that route if we had been there longer. Unfortunately we arrived late afternoon and left about the same time the next day.
Do either of you speak French? That is my fear of traveling in a foreign county. Spending a summer in a Spanish speaking country, I had a really hard time not speaking the language.
Judy speaks some French, and some people (not everyone) speaks English. We were surprised by how helpful people tried to be even when they couldn’t understand us.
Great post! Your memories and photos bring back lots of memories. I can’t wait to visit again, but I’ll have to, as I don’t plan to return until September 2015. Can’t wait to hear what you thought of Chartres and Amboise:^) But then, I don’t think there’s any such thing as a bad visit to France, do you?
Based on the two we have had, it’s hard to imagine!
It looks like a great place to explore. I like those narrow old roads.
Yes, wish we had stayed longer.
It was a good idea to stay in the village. When I visited we did a day trip by buss from Paris. We had plenty of time to see the garden but it would have been interesting to explore the surroundings. You might have been lucky knocking at a door to see a local garden, but I remember snooping through a gate and being sent my way in no uncertain terms!
Well, that makes me feel less regretful about not trying it. I imagine that given the size of the village and the number of visitors, locals are not thrilled about tourists trying to get a look at their private gardens.
I think I would have really had to restrain myself from grabbing a few of those rose hips to dry or collect the seeds 🙂 I really liked that little village. I had no idea the population was 500 .. that is so crazy!
I’m afraid I am too impatient to grow roses from seed. I would have been willing to try making rose hip pastry, though.
O.k., my heart beat a little faster seeing all those gorgeous rose hips! I love traveling in France but have not been to this area so many thanks for sharing your experience in this small village. But do tell me you have some photos of Monet’s Garden!!!!!!!! It didn’t need necessarily sound like you would be sharing any photos of his garden. But, maybe it is not allowed?? Please enlighten.
I have about five recent posts about Monet’s garden! Most are headed Giverny in September, but in this case Giverny refers to the famous garden and not the village!
Oh, sorry! I’ll look back at other posts! Can’t wait to see!
Ah, that brings back memories. We went to Giverny over a decade ago. Wonderful place!
Yes it is!
It’s a sweet little village isn’t it, reminds me a little of Wordworth’s village in the Lakes. I loved the walls and those emu’s aree marvelous.xxxx
The emus do add a certain je ne sais qua.
What a wonderful experience! Thanks for sharing!
You’re welcome!
I just want to click my heels together and be there right now!
I think you need a LOT of frequent flyer miles to be able to do that.
What a charming small town! Love this series of posts!
Giverny sounds like a charming, rural place to stay. Thanks for sharing your images as well as the B&B which might come in handy some day.
I would recommend it if you go there overnight.
What a differentworld compared to here! The narrow streets, the ancient town, the old stone buildings, its really such a strong contrast to the wide lawns, roads and parking lots around here! I can’t imagine a restaurant or hotel without a big entrance and billboard signage.
The roads are much narrower, though usually in good shape. The cars are also smaller. It does make for a very different cityscape.
What a quaint, lovely village…almost lanes not streets they are so narrow…I hope to visit someday.
Amazing, I do love France:)
I’m reading your Monet series and drinking in the photos…a real treat and site for sore eyes…thank you!
peace