Discover the world of Claude Monet on a relaxed half-day excursion from Paris.
Your experience begins at the France Tourisme agency, near the Louvre, where you meet your driver-guide and board your air-conditioned vehicle. Leaving the city, you’ll drive through the western suburbs and along the Normandy motorway while hearing about Monet’s life, the origins of Impressionism and how the painter transformed a simple village into one of the most visited artistic sites in France.
On arrival in Giverny, you’ll receive your entrance ticket and head directly into Monet’s house and gardens. Inside the pink-walled house, restored as it looked in Monet’s time, you can visit the blue sitting-room, the pantry and kitchen, the bright yellow dining-room decorated with Japanese prints, and the painter’s bedroom and private apartments upstairs. This is where Claude Monet lived for more than 40 years and raised 8 children.
Step outside into the Clos Normand, a rectangular flower garden laid out like a painting, where more than a hundred varieties of flowers bloom from spring to autumn: roses, nasturtiums, irises, tulips and rare plants from East Asia. With more than 100 different types of flowers, the colours and perspectives change with every path you take, just as Monet intended.
A small underpass then leads you to the water garden, with its willow trees, bamboo, and the famous Japanese bridge arching over the lily pond. Here you can see, in real life, the scenery that inspired Monet’s legendary Water Lilies series. Take your time for photos and to find the exact angles you recognise from his canvases.
Throughout your visit, you are free to explore at your own rhythm, using the information provided by your guide before entering the estate. You can also browse the large shop housed in Monet’s former studio, offering books, prints and souvenirs inspired by his work.
After approximately 2 hours on site, meet your driver-guide again and board the vehicle for the return trip to Paris. You’ll arrive back in the city with a deeper understanding of Monet’s art and the landscapes that inspired it and with the feeling of having stepped inside an Impressionist painting.
