VIP GIVERNY + HONFLEUR TOUR

Your journey starts with the drive to HONFLEUR that lasts 2 hours, a very picturesque 500 year old harbor on the Norman coast. Your eyes will feast on the many colored shops reflected on the water and the boats as they bob back and forth. This is a sit and watch the world go by kind of place that was fancied by many Impressionist painters (Monet, Pissaro, Renoir, Boudin ..). You will stroll along the restaurants, the souvenirs and ice cream shops, the inner harbor created in 1668 by Duquesne as a defensive measure, towards the market place where you will discover the Saint Catherine’s church and its belfry, constructed of wood 600 years ago by the local wooden shipbuilders as an act of devotion, using their established techniques. It has unequal double naves with inverted sheep-keel roofing, lean-to aisles and decorated internal panels. After having a closer look at the art galleries along the side and back streets, you will walk the cobblestone path around the harbor where you will stop for a very nice lunch in one of the restaurants which serve as their specialty, you guessed it, fish dishes.

After lunch, you will join your comfortable, air-conditioned van for the next exceptional destination on your program : GIVERNY.

Giverny is classified by the French as part of the “plus beaux villages de France” (most beautiful villages in France), indeed, you get caught by its charm as soon as you put your foot in it. The fact that Monet lived and worked there 43 years of his life adds to its magic. In fact, it is because of its beauty and picturesque location that he settled there, bringing it out of the shadow forever into the light.

Your private, licensed driver-guide will pick you up at your hotel in a very comfortable, air-conditioned minivan (Mercedes or similar). On the way to Giverny (the drive lasts about 1 hour), he will give you an introduction to Monet’s life and work.

Upon your arrival in Giverny, you will stop at the local church (that Monet painted several times) that leads to the village graveyard where you will have a close look at Monet’s tomb. A little later, your guide will stop at the former café Baudy, the residence of many American Impressionists (Whistler, Metcalf, Robinson, Mary Cassatt…) and friends of Monet that stayed there when they visited him (Renoir, Rodin, Cezanne..). You will have a look at the barn behind the café that these artists used as a studio in winter. Further down the street, you will pass the Museum of Impressionism that houses excellent temporary exhibitions before arriving to Monet’s house and garden.

Your guide will enter with you on the side entrance ( no lines) and start your visit at the WATER GARDEN that Monet created 10 years after settling in Giverny on a piece of land neighboring his property and crossed by a small brook, the Ru . It is inspired by the Japanese gardens that Monet knew from the prints that he collected avidly. You will find the famous Japanese bridge covered with wisteria, weeping willows, a bamboo wood and above all the famous nympheas that bloom all summer long. Monet shaped his subjects in nature there before painting them. He found his inspiration there for more than 20 years.

Leaving the water garden, you will arrive to the FLOWER GARDEN (called Le Clos Normand) full of perspectives, symmetries and colors. It is divided into flowerbeds where flower clumps of different heights create volume. Monet did not like organized nor constrained gardens. He married flowers according to the harmony of their colors and let them grow freely. At the end of the Flower Gardens you will arrive for a visit to MONET’S HOUSE (BLUE ROOM, FAMILY LIVING ROOM, MONET’S BEDROOM, ALICE’S BEDROOM, DINING ROOM and KITCHEN)

After leaving Monet’s house, you will finish your visit at his last STUDIO ( that he had built especially to paint the large Water-Lilies Paintings that are at the Orangerie Museum in Paris) that houses now a gift shop.

Leaving the magic of Giverny behind, driving along the picturesque “Route des Crêtes”, you will discover on your way back to Paris the exceptional panorama of the Seine Valley, an ancient watch tower of the 10th century (that was built during the Viking invasion), the village and château of La Roche Guyon (that became the headquarter of general Rommel during WWII) and make a last stop in the village of Vétheuil where Monet lived for 3 years before discovering Giverny.

This tour is available from April until the end of October.

Entrance tickets to Monet’s house and gardens included.
Lunch not included.

Extra charge for a pick up and/or a drop off outside Paris