Giverney and Rouen on the same day?
Mar 31st, 2002, 10:27 AM
#2
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With modest expectations (for example, you could make an entire day of Giverny and Vernon), an early start, and returning at or after the supper hour, I would say it is do-able. I'd probably recommend a taxi to get you to Monet's garden/house and back (from the train station - - less than 5-10 minutes away. In fact, I don't know what other options exist (I have only gone by bus, or driven by there).<BR><BR>Best wishes,<BR><BR>Rex<BR><BR>
Mar 31st, 2002, 10:44 AM
#3
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I just did a post the other day about combining those two attractions with even two or three others all in a day, but I'd heartily suggest you do it by car. Waiting for trains, getting a taxi or bus, and waiting for connections to the next place will eat up much of the day. We rented a car from Avis at St. Sulpice, left early in the morning and were at Giverny before it opened, enjoying coffee and pastries in the little garden cafe across the street. We had a nice visit at both the house and the gardens before the crowds arrived, then went on to Honfleur for lunch and a visit to their market, took a stroll on the coast at Etretat, and then stopped in Rouen for quite a visit in the afternoon. No we didn't visit these places in depth, but we had a wonderful, wonderful day and were back in Paris in time for dinner, just before dark. Once before we visited Giverny by taking a train to Vernon from Paris and hiking over the hill and through the woods to Giverny. It was fun and a nice hike. We were going to take a bus back to Vernon, but we just missed one and it was going to be a couple of hours for the next one. They said it might be an hour to get a taxi, so we walked back to Vernon from there.
Mar 31st, 2002, 05:43 PM
#5
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Thank you for the feedback. Patrick, your trip sounds great, but we're leery of driving in and out of Paris. Also, the car rental offices we checked seem to open later and close earlier than we would like. In hindsight, I wish we had planned to spend several days outside of Paris, but it's a little to late to change things now. Next trip, I'd love to see Honfleur!
Mar 31st, 2002, 05:57 PM
#6
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We rented from Avis which is actually down in the garage at St. Sulpice. We went the day before and set up the rental and left the car right there in the garage. We went over about 7 in the morning as I recall and got the car and drove out of Paris and onto the highway with no problems. The rental place was also closed when we returned probably about 8 PM, but we just left the car there in the garage as planned. We went back the next day and confirmed that everything was OK. As I recall it cost us about $60 for the day, but there were four of us, so it was much cheaper than train tickets alone would have been. We didn't do this in advance. Just went the day before and got a one day rental. There was almost no traffic going out in the morning when we left, and surprisingly little coming back in. You get off the highway near the Eiffel tower and essentially just follow the river, then St. Germain, with one simple turn-off to St. Sulpice.
Mar 31st, 2002, 07:16 PM
#7
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Thank you, Patrick! I'm surprised to hear how easy it was to drive in and out of the city. It also didn't occur to me that we could leave the car after the agency closes. I was worried about meeting that 6:45 p.m. deadline. You managed to get to a number of places I want to see in just that one day, so if I can convince my husband (which is usually not too hard) maybe we will give it a try. Thanks again for your advice!
Mar 31st, 2002, 07:56 PM
#8
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Hi Mare! We took a Cityrama tour out to Giverny & really enjoyed it. We are completely independent travelers just for point of reference. Our guide gave lots of interesting info about sights along the drive in both French & English. We went in Oct on a rainy day, so there were no crowds at the gardens thank goodness. Otherwise, I would definitely vote for the idea of going as early as possible before the tour buses do arrive!<BR><BR>Maybe they have a tour of both?
