Countryside Adventure: Giverny

After a jam-packed day of Bastille Day activities, I slept in on my Saturday morning. Despite my slow start, this day was anything but lazy. Inspired by our visit to Musée D’Orsay and L’Orangerie, Natasha and I decided to take a daytrip to the countryside town of Giverny to visit Claude Monet’s house and gardens.

Finally making it out of the house around noon, we hopped on the metro to Saint-Lazare Train Station. We purchased train tickets, grabbed some sandwiches, and were soon on the train watching the countryside pass by. Once outside Paris proper, the scenery changed to tall grasses and open spaces as the train tracks followed the gentle river bends.

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After about an hour, we arrived in the town of Vernon, where we then took the bus to Giverny. We crossed over the river and admired the rolling green hills. In one of the farm plots we saw alpacas and cows roaming, in addition to what must have been someone’s pet ostrich (???). I unfortunately don’t have a picture of it, but I was not expecting to see an ostrich for the first time in the French countryside!

Once in Giverny, we walked through the idyllic town to Monet’s House. Because it was a Saturday and such beautiful weather, there was a bit of a line. However, the wait wasn’t long and soon we were wandering around the gardens!

Featuring a variety of flowers, including dahlias, irises, poppies, and peonies, the gardens are colorful and fragrant. The gardens are elaborate and have rows of flowers to wander through. I don’t know if I’ll be able to go to the Provence region of France to see the lavender fields during my Travel Study program, so this was a great substitute!

Monet lived here from 1883 until his death in 1926, using his gardens for inspiration. His most famous pieces, Les Nymphéas which I saw at L’Orangerie, were painted here at the water lily pond in the back of the garden.

Seeing paintings from one of your favorite artists is one thing, but seeing their inspiration is truly indescribable. Monet was a pioneer in impressionist art and his unique style conveys the beauty of the surrounding landscape.

Before leaving, we went inside Monet’s house. Bright and colorful, it was exactly how you would expect an artist’s house to be.

hi, Natasha!

Having enjoyed the gardens, we next strolled through the town of Giverny. Cute restaurants and local shops lined the streets, in addition to farmhouses which fulfilled all my countryside dreams. We heard that there were sometimes poppy fields on one of the hillsides so we had to go look for them. Ice cream in tow, we set out on the hunt for poppies!

Unfortunately, we discovered that the poppies were out of season, but that's just another reason to come back. Realizing the bus back to the train station was leaving earlier than we had expected, we rushed back in our effort to not miss it. It felt like a movie, sprinting down cobblestone streets in our sundresses while piano music played in the background, hopping on the bus right as it was about to pull away. Laughing (and happy to have not missed the bus), we boarded the train to head home, smiling after another great day in France.