ALLEZ ELIZABETH - FEATURED IMAGE - GIVERNY HANGIN WITH MONSIEUR MONET

Giverny: Hangin’ With Monsieur Monet

If the path be beautiful, let us not ask where it leads.

Anatole France

Gare St. Lazare: Grand Central Station of Paris

I thought about this on my way to France. Initially, I had planned to visit Versailles and Giverny, but after jet lag ate one of my days, I decided to hang out with Monsieur Monet. The SNCF mobile app is a doozy. You're better off buying the ticket online through their site than downloading the app to retrieve your ticket. It seems like a lot of hassle, but it is worth it.

Losing my favorite black scarf along the way, I skipped breakfast and watched as passengers ran to and from trains. It was too early for my liking, and this was not the day to lose my scarf. I could already feel the cold slapping my face around. Gare St. Lazare has places to eat, shop, and train to get you to any part of the country. The app was useful since trains often changed platforms without warning. I saw a line starting to form with confusing anglophones pointing and asking, “Giverny?” That must be it.

Gare St. Lazare, Paris

Take the Train and Experience France's Changing Landscapes

I haven’t started my trip and am already cold and hungry. I grab a window seat, lay my head against the window, and let out a sigh of relief. As the train begins to move, my eyes are fixated on the graffiti-laced walls on the gritty side of Paris. Suddenly as if someone had drawn a curtain, the scenery changes. Tall apartment buildings reminiscent of the projects in the 1980s Los Angeles sporadically littered with rubbish are far from the postcard Paris we all have grown accustomed to, the one that sends us into a spiral of wanderlust.  The only thing I had heard about Saint-Denis is to avoid it. 

It was unreal to me that I was on my way to Giverny. I was standing in front of Monet’s Water Lilies painting at the Legion of Honor in San Francisco two years ago. I had the old tired ‘someday’ conversation with myself. Seeing the painting up close was an experience, but I had yet to be rendered speechless. For the next 40 minutes, I would watch France change before my eyes, and I fell in love with it as each kilometer when by. I could hardly contain my excitement and stared out the window, hoping the other passengers didn’t think I was some lunatic for having a smile on my face.

Gare Vernon-Giverny to Giverny

Arriving at Vernon felt like arriving in San Francisco, as in it was COLD. More than ever, I was missing my scarf. I don’t know where to go, so I enter the gare. It’s small. I mean like a thimble small with only a few rows of seats, a convenience store, and a ticket counter. The ticket counter closed, and the store clerk looked less inviting. I kept walking through the next set of double doors that led me to the bus stops. To get to Giverny, you’ll need to take a shuttle.

Do I take the Navette bus with Wi-Fi and comfortable seats or the children-sized train that looks like something your toddler begs you to ride at the mall? By the way, the mini-train is only a euro less than the shuttle. Unless you plan on staying the night, get the aller-retour (round trip) ticket. Greet the bus driver! When s/he hands you the map, don’t be a jerk and take it. In the brochure, you will find the timetable. You can also look up the Navette shuttle timetable online, but phone batteries die, and you can’t go wrong with carrying a good ol’ fashioned map. If you’re more adventurous, there is a bike rental across the street from the train station. This is a great option if you decide to take some time to explore Vernon. When you’re excited to go somewhere, it seems like an eternity. Don’t worry; the shuttle takes only about 10 minutes. 

Around Vernon
Gare de Vernon-Giverny

Arriving in Giverny

We pulled up to a dirt parking lot, stones digging into the tires and all. I’m ready to get off and get my day going. Still, I wait for the herd to get off. Most people are going to miss it if they blink. I almost did, but I stopped at the bust statue of Claude Monet. After all, this is why we come here. Of course, I took a few selfies but stood there to have a moment with Claude. The winds started to pick up, and I could feel a few raindrops on my face. Once I saw that the coast was cleared, I made my way into Monet’s Giverny. 

It was like walking through a fairy tale. I slowly made my way through Giverny, taking every bit of fresh Norman air and soaking up the little sun that peeked through the clouds. Picturesque. How light struck every surface, you soon start to understand Monet a bit more. Even a pedestrian underpass covered in maple and hazel leaves was dripping in color. This is the closest thing to time travel. Narrow streets are enough for pedestrians and bicycles. There is plenty to see and eat, but I was here for one thing only, Monet’s Gardens. It’s the only thing I wanted today, my birthday. General admission is 9.50 €, and the Fondation Claude Monet is open from April 1st through November 1st between 9 am and 6 pm. Your ticket has a picture of one of the gardens. It’s a cute souvenir. 

Note: Don’t bring anything that you wouldn’t like TSA to confiscate because you will get searched before entering the gardens. If you have photography gear, it’s best to take your camera gear out because you don’t want anyone mishandling your equipment. Flash a smile, say ‘thank you,’ and keep it moving. 

Walking through Monet's Gardens

The arrows will guide you through the gardens. Of course, plenty of tourists will ignore it, and you’ll end up getting stuck behind a clusterfuck of people. It happens, and all you can do is kindly ask them to move if you feel you’re time is valuable. I tried to move at a slower pace. Often moving to the side or taking a seat at one of the several seating areas available. Whatever your reason is for visiting the gardens, respect them. I often saw people trying to pick flowers. Don’t be that asshole. 

The gardens and the water lilies pond are separate attractions within the same compound. Just follow the drove of folks squeezing their way in. I had to wait a few minutes for some tourists who couldn’t figure out the concept of space. It was funny and sad at the same time. Once you’ve passed through, you’ll see a creek and bamboo appear. Go right and follow the path. I stood on the footbridge to meditate a bit. It’s quite lovely. 

Making my way through the crowds, I find a small marshy inlet where I catch my first glimpse of the water lilies. Before anyone sees me, I take a few moments to capture any images I can. The light reflects upon the water running away from the shadows as if it were playing a game of cat and mouse. The weather is changing from partly sunny with a slight overcast to gloomy, chilly with intermittent showers. I feel lucky to see the varying hues. While others rush to take pictures and get out of the pond, I’m slowing down time. From afar, I see a group of people sitting on a bench and start walking toward them. It’s as if they had been saving my seat the entire time. It was just enough space for me, giving me the perfect view of the water lilies and the green Japanese footbridge. 

FINDING LITTLE INLETS TO TAKE IN THE BEAUTY OF THE WATERLILIES IN MONET'S GARDEN GIVERNY - ALLEZ ELIZABETH
Monet's Waterlilies: the Offline Version
THE INFAMOUS WATER LILIES WITH THE JAPANESE FOOTBRIDGE IN MONET'S GARDENS
GIVERNY - ALLEZ ELIZABETH
You HAVE to see it in person.

Experiencing Monet's Gardens with other Travelers

Next to me, a woman from London asks if I’m with the tour group. Her husband, next to her, is taking a siesta, which allows me to engage in a friendly chat. We talk about how the tourists are being shuffled in and how quickly they dismiss the location they traveled far to visit. A group of 10 walks by only to obstruct the view momentarily for their souvenir selfies. In less than 20 seconds, they are gone. We couldn’t understand it since we ended up on that bench for roughly a half-hour, just gazing at the pond. After the bench cleared, I spent an additional half-hour thinking about Monet and how this place inspired some of the most magnificent works of art.

Serenity and light.


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ALLEZ ELIZABETH - PINTEREST - GIVERNY - HANGIN WITH Monsieur Monet

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