At the urgings of friends, I finally made a trip out to Giverny to see Monet's home and gardens. I took the all-public-transit route, which is more complicated than a tour bus, I suppose, but generally cheaper. I first caught a city bus, at the crack of dawn, from the Jardin du Luxembourg to the Gare St Lazare (nice view of the Opera Garnier in the early morning rays of the sun), then a train to Vernon (about $28 round trip), then a shuttle bus to Giverny (about $9 round trip). So all told, including the Metro trip home, about $40. You can buy your train ticket at the train station, or any of the other "grand ligne" stations (i.e. Gare de Lyon, Gare de Montparnasse, etc.) I did that a couple of days in advance so I wouldn't have to deal with it the day of the trip.
I was glad I had read up about Giverny in Rick Steve's guide book, since he tells you exactly where to catch the "official" shuttle bus at the train station. Otherwise, one might fall for the much less comfortable and more expensive one that meets you as soon as you walk out the door. He also pointed out that, if the return bus fills up before you get to it, you'll have to wait for the next one, which could be a couple of hours later (or get a taxi). I was a little concerned about that, but it turned out not be a problem-- there were two buses waiting, and we filled up only one of them. I guess late September is the off-season.
...which was good, because it was not very crowded! I've heard that the crowds can be terrible in the summer. The flowers may be better in the summer, but they are not bad at all in early fall. There were lots of dahlias, as I had observed elsewhere:
And other varieties:
Then there was this pathway full of color, which I couldn't stop photographing! You can see a little bit of Monet's home in the background of some of these shots.
Next, off to the famous water lily ponds. It was a cloudy day, but there were still some nice reflections:
I took a quick tour through Monet's home. Here is one of the flowerbeds near the house:
There was an impressive array of copper cookware in the kitchen:
and a cat knick-knack! A reproduction of this was available in the gift shop, but unfortunately it was rather large and heavy, and also a bit expensive, so I passed.
I had ample time left before the bus departure, so I walked around the town of Giverny a little:
I then proceeded to the bus stop... where even the views from the parking lot were pretty nice!
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