How much time should I give for the museum (to cover tha major artwork NOT all of it:-))? 1 day ok?
Also, anyone has done Giverny (Monet gardens) on their own from Paris? It seems that one can take a train for not too much money and then bus/taxi once they get there. Any suggestions?
thanks
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One day for the Louvre is what most people are able to do and choose to do. We spent 6 hours and saw most of what we really wanted to see. It%26#39;s good to go online ahead of time and have an idea of your personal priorities.
I%26#39;ve not been to Giverny, but it is a fairly common post on TA.
Rick Steves%26#39; Paris guide book gives good instructions. He says you take the Rouen train from Gare St. Lazare and get off at Vernon (23 euros). You are then 4 miles from Giverny - there is a bus going to Giverny that meets every train and will take you back to catch a train.
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I love the Louvre, and often visit it multiple times on vacation,, but if I only had one day to visit it, even I would find doing the whole day there tiring. It is wonderful,, but often crowded, and I still get lost in it..! I suggest you do what I occaisonally do,, visit twice in one day. As long as you keep ticket stubb you can re enter. I will spend a few hours in morning, then take off, walk around Tuilleries Gardens, or walk along Seine, have some lunch,, browse some touristy shops along Rue Du Rivoli,, then return for a couple of hours.. JUst one way of doing it..
I have not done Giverny yet, but I am taking a bike tour there this summer( Fat Tire Bike Tours) ,, but it is simple enough to do on ones own according to all who have( do a search on this site, there are posts outlining the how) ,, you can definately take the train to Vernon ,, then either bike, walk, take a bus, or a taxi to Monets House,, many others will be with you,, so no chance of getting lost I imagine!
I think it is an excellant idea to do it on your own.. I would except I really want to do the bike ride,, I am not even really into Monet,, LOL
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I%26#39;ve been to Giverny on my own. It is very easy. Once you exit the Vernon train station, there is a bus that takes you directly there. The adventurous can rent bikes in the town or hike there. The path leading from the town to the home is along a river and quite lovely. Great place for a picnic.
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We took over 6 hours, but we broke it up. On Wednesdays the Louvre has evening hours. We left for lunch, went up the tower at Notre Dame, and returned around 5pm. By that time the tour groups and kids groups had left for the day. The museum was quieter and we saw what we missed and had time to revisit the Mona Lisa(with smaller crowds).
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We took a small bus tour from Paris to Giverny. Got our tickets at an office next to the Hotel Regina...across from the Louvre. Enjoyed it very much because we didn%26#39;t have to worry about driving! We just wanted to do the %26quot;no brainer%26quot; option. The tour was small and allowed plenty of time to wander through the gardens and see Monet%26#39;s beautiful home. Once we were in Giverny, we were on our own so there wasn%26#39;t anyone to try to keep up with or to usher us along. A nice, pleasant way to do it. If I can remember the name of the tour company I%26#39;ll post again. It might have been Grayline. Have fun!
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Do you remember how much the bus was. I want to do no brainer stuff too but the cost seems to add up. I must have been living under a rock because I did not realize that Europe was so expensive :-) Thank you for all the help.
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Thank you guys for all the pointers. Breaking up the Louvre trip sounds like a great idea! I have been to Paris twice before but each time something was happening with the Louvre and we could not visit! I was so dissappointed!! I am going to see it this time!! thanks again. I could not do the bike thing :-) my knees... plus not good at it.
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Don%26#39;t worry about not being able to get on a bike. I was enticed to rent a bike at Vernon station and ride out to Giverney. It was a lovely ride but if we had jumped on the shuttle bus at Vernon station instead we would have just beat all the daily tour buses that come out from Paris and had a few slightly quieter moments in the garden. We also got rained on while riding which is pretty common out there....the bike hire man laughed when we returned the bikes and just said %26#39;Of course! [it rained on you]%26#39;
Crowds at Monet%26#39;s Gardens are large in summer and so it can be worth the effort to get that first direct train out there in the morning. There%26#39;s another load of tour buses which do the afternoon tours so I don%26#39;t know if there%26#39;s any other time of day that works for crowd avoidance.
It%26#39;s well worth the trip though - I love my photos from that day.
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One day for the Louvre will be enough, but I strongly recommend you follow the OP%26#39;s advice and plan ahead using the website. We made a plan, and it was the only thing that kept us from becoming overwhelmed and helped to make sure we saw everything we wanted.
Giverny is easy. There are several trains from Gare St Lazare daily to Rouen, Vernon is the second stop (40 minutes). We bought our tickets at a SCNF Boutique down the street from our apartment, since I didn%26#39;t want to waste time in line at the train station. We chose the 2:20 pm train, which got us to Vernon around 3. You walk out the door of the station and there is the bus. One thing we were not expecting - it is a 5-10 minute walk from where the bus drops you off to the house and gardens. It was still quite crowded when we arrived, but we had some quiet time after 4:30. It was an amazing experience all around. Have fun!
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thank you for the hint about the train and the web search/planning about the Louvre.
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