2 Best Restaurants in Giverny, Side Trips from Paris

Owner and chef David Gallienne brings all his considerable expertise to bear in the beautiful dining room at this hotel restaurant, where the menu focuses on the bounty of the Norman seaside. A destination unto itself, the restaurant and hotel are favorites of Giverny visitors seeking a dining "experience," so be sure to reserve in advance for both lunch and dinner. Prices are on the higher side, but for cuisine of this quality that's to be expected.

Back in Monet's day, this pretty-in-pink villa was the favorite hotel of the American painters' colony. Today it remains one of the most charming spots in the Île-de-France (despite the tourists), although the surroundings retain more historic charm than the simple cuisine (mainly salads large enough to count as a main course in their own right, or straightforward, if unremarkable, dishes like an omelet or gigot d'agneau [lamb and mutton]). A decent three-course prix-fixe menu is available at lunch and dinner. Renovated to appear as it did in Monet's time, the dining room is stage-set rustic; and there’s an extraordinarily pretty rose garden out back with embowered paths that lead to the studio Cézanne once used.