This is our 1st trip to Paris, but would like to see the above. If it%26#39;s possible, what time do we need to leave Paris? What time would we get back? What are the highlights/or must sees in both places before we move on to the next? Thanks.--ML
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YES---it is possible to visit both Monet%26#39;s Home and Gardens at Giverny and spend a few hours at Versailles.
You need to take the 8:17 SNCF train tfrom PARIS-Gare Saint Lazare to VERNON (47 mins), then #151 regional bus (10-15 mins), directly from out in front of the station to Giverny and the gates of Monet%26#39;s Home %26amp; Gardens. This will get you there before the gates open at 09:30 and in early, before the crowds arrive and should provide you with ample time and relatively clear sight-lines and camera angles. The gardens are not nearly as large as the impression most people have and they fill up quickly once the tour buses from Paris begin to arrive. From Giverny, you can catch the same #151 bus back to VERNON station in time to catch the 1:00 PM (approz (12:50-something) beack to Paris. But instead of taking the train all the way back to Saint Lazare, you simply get off at the VERSAILLES-Chantiers station and make your way across town to the Chateau. The chateau closes at 6 PM but this still allows you a few hours to wander about.,,,OR..you could continue on back into Paris and visit some of the the original Monet work painted there at the MUSEE MARMOTTAN or MUSEE d%26#39;ORSAY
An alternative to Versailles, is to take the 12:50-something train down the same line from Vernon to ROUEN for lunch and a Rouen-lite toour of that interesting city.
Bear in mind that BOTH Monet%26#39;s Home %26amp; Gardens at GIVERNY and CHATEAU de VERSAILLES are CLOSED on MONDAYs.
SNCF--
www.voyages-sncf.com/dynamic/_SvHomePage…
GIVERNY--
http://www.giverny.org/
VERNON--
http://www.ville-vernon27.fr/
MUSEE MARMOTTAN--
http://www.marmottan.com/
MUSEE d%26#39;ORSAY--
http://www.marmottan.com/
CHATEAU de VERSAILLES--
http://www.chateauversailles.fr/
VERSAILLES--
http://www.versailles-tourisme.com/index.html
ROUEN--
http://www.ville-rouen.fr/accueil/index.php
www.rouentourisme.com/default.asp…
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OR, if you want to leave the driving to them, you
could take a tour.
I went by ParisVision 3 years ago. It was relaxing,
enjoyable and quite educational.
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No. Not possible.
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If you do visit Monet%26#39;s Home %26amp; Gardens at Giverny, it%26#39;s best to get there EARLY--which is why the 8:17 train is so good. Youwill arrrive at the entrance 10-15 minutes before they open for the day. As I mentioned, the water gardens are not nearly as large as the impressions one gets from viewing the pictires. So with this in mind, you%26#39;re best bet upon enterring is to blow past the house ans upper flower gardens and make a bee-line to the water ganden below and to the right of the house (follow the %26#39;..Les Nympheas..%26#39; signs. This will get you down to the water gardens before most other visitors discover where the entrance to them is and give you a %26#39;..window of opportunity..%26#39; to get photos with relatively clear sight-lines and camera angele....rather than photos of other visitors, taking photos of them, taking photos of you....
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I would be much easier to do both in one day with a car. About one-hour drive between Giverny and Versailles. Personnally i wouldn%26#39;t try both on the same day by train.
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I would not try to do both in one day no matter what mode of transportation was at my disposal.
It is a remarkable experience going to the d%26#39;Orsay as a Monet primer, visiting the gardens the next day and then ending your afternoon at the Marmottan, seeing the same sights through the eyes of Monet.
Versailles is another day trip, with an hour or two required for the house... then time in the gardens, at the hamlet and finally over to the Trianon.
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I have done both several times on one day with a private car/driver with my clients, and it is doable. But it doesn%26#39;t leave much time to enjoy the park, trianons and Hamlet which is my favorite part of Versailles. So a bit of a rush.
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i would not advise it, though it may technically be possible, as others have posted. we just returned from paris about two weeks ago and did a day trip each to giverny and versailles. versailles was easy; numerous trains from several points in paris. giverny was a bit trickier. trains are more infrequent; as i recall only four a day. each site is completely different, so it depends on what you enjoy most. monet%26#39;s home and gardens are a very compact site. you can stroll through the home and around his famous lily pond in an hour easily if you do not stop and linger. ah, but there is so much to linger over, if you enjoy an exuberent country style flower garden. we thought it was gorgeous. versailles, on the other hand, is simply the grandest palace in europe. it%26#39;s on 2,500 acres; you could not see it all in several days. my own view is that both deserve to be seen while strolling, not running.
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Having provided the detail on how both Giverny and Versailles CAN be done, I don%26#39;t necessarily believe that it SHOULD be done. There%26#39;s just too much %26#39;..Versailles..%26#39; to do more than rush through in a couple/few hours. I%26#39;m not an especially big fan of the Musee d%26#39;Art Americain down the road from Monet%26#39;s Home and Gerneds, so I don%26#39;t see much else in the immediate area that can be reached conveniently via public transportation, worth staying for.
Given a choice, we%26#39;ve taken the train onward for lunch in Rouen and to the cathedral and few of the sites there...and we%26#39;ve gone the other way and returned to Paris and spent the rest of the day at the Marmottan and 4th floor of the d%26#39;Orsay looking at some of the pictures Monet painted at Giverny (it%26#39;s a genuine pity that the l%26#39;Orangerie%26#39;s large %26#39;Les Nympheas%26#39; panels have been out-of-sight for so long).
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The whole thread reminds me of a remark made by Samuel Johnson. (And before anybody starts beating up on me for the misogyny implicit in his comment, I quote it only by way of analogy, not because I agree with the content.)
%26quot;Sir, a woman%26#39;s preaching is like a dog%26#39;s walking on his hinder legs. It is not done well; but you are surprised to find it done at all.%26quot;
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