Hello travelers! We are staying overnight on a Saturday night in a B&B in Giverney so that we will be able to get to Monet's Garden and House when it opens Sun AM. The Eurostar leaves from Gare du Nord that Sunday at 5:30 pm. How much time should we allow to get back to Paris from Vernon to Gare du Nord via Gare St Lazare? Is it a long trip between the two stations? We don't have to worry about this at the beginning of the trip. I'm worried now that we won't have much time at the gardens afterall. This will be so disappointing! Thanks for any advice.

I don't think you'll have a problem. You are wise to get there early - and here's a tip - when you get into the gardens, go as quickly as you can to the opposite corner to the entrance for the waterlily pond. Hopefully you'll be as lucky as me when I did this and I had the place to myself for awhile and got some beautiful photos of the bridge and flowers.

The gardens open at 9:30 (I think) and take 2-3 hours to go through. Plus, you can grab a nice lunch across the road. The train ride to Paris is 45 minutes (check the routes though, there is a "fast" train and a "slow" train - it makes more stops - and you want the fast train).

You can check the schedule at:
http://www.voyages-sncf.com

I checked a random Sunday and it looks like there is a 14:59 train that arrives at 15:44 to Gare St. Lazare. I'm sure someone else can give you more info about getting to Gare Nord.

Have fun! I've seen the gardens 4 times and can't wait to go back!

It doesn't take that long, there is an RER line that goes right between the two (line E). You'll have a bit of a walk at both ends because that line isn't right in the middle of the stations (at Gare du Nord you really get out at Chateau Landon).

However, it isn't really that optional when to go as there aren't that many trains from Vernon to St Lazare in the afternoon, so you are limited by the schedule. On Sundays, you'll have to take the 12:42 pm train that arrives at St Lazare at 1:31 pm. The problem is there isn't another train until 3:35 pm and it doesn't get to StL until almost 5 o'clock, so I wouldn't risk that myself to catch a 5:30 out of Gare du Nord. I just think it could take longer than a half hour to do all that, and I wouldn't risk it and miss my train.

In theory, perhaps you could catch the 5:30 pm train from Gare du Nord if you arrived at St-Lazare at 4:52. As I said, I wouldn't risk that myself, but some people might.

I was posting at same time -- well, maybe cl2 is right, but I also checked a Sunday schedule and it didn't show any trains leaving Vernon between 12:42 and 15:35. I checked June 3rd, just in case the schedule was changing at end of May. Check your own dates, of course, to see the options!

The RER E lets out directly into Gare du Nord, contrary to what was written above -- just follow the Grandes Lignes/Eurostar exit signs. I don't know how Christina came out at Château Landon, because that station is connected to Gare de l'Est, not Gare du Nord.

You can avoid a lot of walking (and probably get there sooner) by riding the N° 26 bus from right across Rue de la Pépinière at the west end of St-Lazare to right outside Gare du Nord. 10 min ETE.

10 minutes? Surely you're joking.

"I never joke about my work, 007."

You mean www.ratp.info exaggerates enroute times?

I didn't come out anywhere, I was just looking at a map. My map has the name closer to the Gare du Nord station, so it was an error. I believe the correct name was Magenta for the line E exit it was referring to, and I think that is the name that will be on the line E route (not Gare du Nord) and that it isn't really right in the rail station (lines B and D are). Anyway, RATP's map doesn't show a Gare du Nord stop for line E, either, but Magenta, and has it across the street from the station. Maybe there is another exit or a tunnel that connects them?

I believe the time cl2 posted was for a weekday, not Sunday, however.

Hi Christina, you're right! I forget that the calendars start on Monday, not Sunday.

The station is indeed called Magenta, but only for a technical reason. When they finally build the CDG Express rail link out of Gare de l'Est, they will build a connection from Magenta to Gare de l'Est (with moving walkways). At that time, they will probably subtitle the Magenta station 'Gare de l'Est-Gare du Nord' so they refuse to let people think that it is really Gare du Nord. But it really IS Gare du Nord and just a few steps from lines B and D. Believe me, I've taken it lots of times, because I live just behind Gare du Nord.

Thank you all for your quick replies re Monet's Garden and our sprint to Gare du Nord from Gare St Lazare. Looks like we will have at the most 2.5 hrs at the gardens before we have to leave. I hope we can take in all that it has to offer before we leave. I will do this differently the next time we go and there WILL BE a next time!!

clsParis - Merci! That's a great tip and will fully put that into action when we arrive.

Have fun, Kulagal! When I visted Giverny the first time, I set a lifetime of seeing it each of the 7 months it is open during the year. There are different flowers in bloom and I think it is so beautiful. I have 3 more months and I will have achieved my goal!

cls2Paris - Thanks! I plan to try that same plan while we're living in London. Have 2 years to do this. A friend told me recently that she and her husband went early Oct and the nasturiums were still crawling over the main pathway that is often pictured in mags and books. Lovely.