Last June we found wonderful directions from a Fodorite to get to Giverney. Now my friends are in Paris and I just can' find this post. Can you help?

Take the train from Gare Saint-Lazare to Vernon. The ride takes 45 minutes and the fare is €13.30. Take a bus or a taxi from Vernon to Giverny. Or rent a bike for the 4.5km ride.

Use the website www.tgv-europe.com for info on train schedules and if you are comfortable in French you can use www.voyages-sncf.com.

http://www.fondation-monet.fr/fr/
http://giverny.org/giverny/giverny.htm
http://www.vernon-visite.org/rgb4/who_we_are.htm

Have them buy their tickets for the gardens at a FNAC store beforehand. This will save lining up once there and allow entry right into the garden from the lower group entry gate. If they go by the first train this will allow them to at least see the famous Japanese bridge without 10 people on it posing for photos.

Train tickets can also be bought in advance at any station or SNCF boutique previous to departure day... we were in line at St Lazare for 1/2 an hour and had to run to catch the train.

If into walking the 4.5 km walk largely along the abandoned railway line that Money once used to commute between Giverny and Rouen when painting that cathedral facade incessantly, is a sweet walk - you enter the village on the cemetery side so you can see Monet's grave and then meander into the old village past the newish American Museum to the house and gardens.

I think that's a good idea to get the tickets in advance, you never know how long those lines can take in the stations, and buying the entry ticket at FNAC is also a good idea, although it might actually be a tradeoff as to how much time you spend doing that vs. waiting in line for entry.