Anthony

We will be staying in Paris in late May. We wish to visit Giverney by bus (or train.) Are there any restaurants or other things to see in the area? If you could also let me know the time it will take by bus to get there that would be appreciated.<BR><BR>Thanks.

mimi taylor

There is the American Museum, a must see with a restaurant, The Ancient Hotel Baudy, where the American impressionists lived, now a museum and restaurant. And the hotel-resto, Jardin of Giverny, all close to Monet's place.

Bill

The Gardens of Giverny (Jardin de Giverny) is just down the hill on the road back to Vernon. We had a wonderful meal there last year. The restaurant is a pretty little house with tables in the yard. The staff was very friendly and the food excellent. Another of our favorite restaurants in this area is in the Hotel D'Evereux in Vernon. We have eaten in the dining room and had a great meal with a very friendly maitre'd. The Calvados flowed freely and the food was excellent. On our last trip we stopped for a drink in the little bar and were welcomed warmly. The bartender even offered to take our picture. I would recommend having lunch at Les Jardins de Giverny topped off with a Calvados at Hotel D'Evereux.

bill

I answered your restaurant question, but failed to weigh in on the issue of train versus bus. By all means take the train. It is very easy and delivers you to Vernon from which you can take either a cab (which I would recommend) or a bus.

Christina

I don't know about buses, never heard of anyone taking one, but the train doesn't take very long -- about an hour as I recall. However, there are very limited runs, so you can't just go whenever you want, your time will be regulated by the train schedule. As I recall, there were only two trains at a time that would allow you to see anything at all (a few others later in the day, afternoon or later)--one was about 8-9 am and the other at noon. That was it. I took the noon one and you get there about 1 pm but the bus schedule is bad (I agree--take a cab the few miles) as it isn't coordinated with the train arrival.<BR><BR>Also, you must be very careful to note returning train times or you will be stuck there; one of the return trains is a real slow indirect milk run and you even need to change trains somewhere. That's the one I got stuck on due to timing; I could deal with it easily enough as I know French so knew to transfer quickly, etc, but I think it could be tricky for others. <BR><BR>Anyway, I haven't been in a few years so maybe train schedules have changed, but you really have to check that out.

Diane

The train ride is not very long. I do, however, recommend you allow plenty of time to purchase a ticket. I don't remember which train station we went to, but no signs were in English, and we had difficulty finding anyone who spoke English, and it took us a while to figure out which line to get in. Once in the correct line, we were in line about 30 minutes to purchase our tickets. We missed our train and had to wait about two hours for the next one, and through our dilly-dallying we almost missed that one too. It may be possible to purchase tickets via machine, but we didn't know how to use it.<BR><BR>We had lunch in the cafe across the street from the gardens and enjoyed both the food and the atmosphere.

Diane

Almost forgot, you can see some of my photos from Monet's gardens on my website:<BR><BR>www.travelswithdiane.homestead.com/france3.html<BR>

mimi taylor

Diane, thanks for sharing your site. You did a great job. i ate at that resto on the canal in Colmar across from our hotel the Marachel.The flowers all over Alsace are beautiful, but not crazy over the food as others are.

Diane

Mimi, We were wondering what all the fuss is about regarding the food. The only place I've been in France where I truly loved the food is Antibes...and the pastries -- almond croissants to die for. On the trip you're referring to, we had marvelous food in the Black Forest and still talk about it.