The ParisSharing Blog

Posts Tagged ‘Monet’

In France, you can find yourself in a different historical era depending on the direction that you head.  Thanks to the country’s vast transit system including the TGV (Train a Grande Vitesse), much of the country and its rich historical sites are only a few hours away from Paris.  Luckily, this means you can discover treasures outside Paris nearly as easily those that you stumbled upon simply walking around the city.

In an earlier post, we talked about taking a day trip to London for the Royal Wedding.  London, of course, is an option for the extreme day tripper.  There’s so much to see in France that we recommend staying within its borders and exploring what the country has to offer.

Here is the first in a series of day trip recommendations.  Below, you’ll find three of our favorite day trips that you might want to consider if time permits.

Giverny – Home to impressionist painter Claude Monet, Giverny hosts about half a million visitors a year who enjoy his house, his famous gardens and the village of Giverny with its unique light.  The area also boasts archeological sites, chateaux and other museums.

Take the Paris/Rouen/Le Havre SNCF train from St. Lazare to Vernon.  The fastest train takes 45 minutes.  At the station, take a taxi, bus or walk the 4km from Vernon to Giverny.  There’s a lovely, mostly flat trail that you can take rather than walk along the road with the traffic.

Vaux Le Vicomte – If you’ve already been to Versailles, a visit to this beautiful 17^th century chateau is a magical alternative.  Thought to be the inspiration for Versailles, the chateau and its gardens are filled with history and art.  The gardens were created by André LeNôtre, France’s most famous landscape architect, Vaux Le Vicomte was his first major commission and what led to his appointment at Versailles.  And if you are a fan of Moliere, a visit to Vaux-Le-Vicomte, where many of his plays were performed, is a must.

RER B from Chatelet to Melun plus a ten-minute ride by shuttle bus provided by the chateau  (only on weekends)

Fontainebleau – Fontainebleau is both a weekend getaway destination for Parisians as well as a former chateau for the kings of France.  Many events of great historical significance happened in Fontainebleau including the signing of treaties, the imprisonment of a pope and the farewell of an emperor.  The chateau has been beautifully restored and features four museums, a collection of historical pieces including Napolean’s throne, opulent royal apartments and galleries that rival Versailles.  The park is also not to be missed featuring Le Grande Parterre by Le Nôtre.

From the Gare de Lyon, take a regional TER to Fontainebleau.  The trip takes about 40 minutes from Paris.

Do you have a favorite day trip outside of Paris?  Let us know.

Paris has much to boast when it comes to Monet. The Musée Marmottan features many of his works, the Nymphéas with their own rooms at l’Orangerie and of course Giverny, which is only an hour away by train. Beginning September 2010, Paris will be outdoing itself for Monet with the largest exhibition in thirty years, organized by the associated national museums and the musée d’Orsay.

The event will be hosted in the Grand Palais, as was the previous one in 1980. Since then much research has been done about the artist, bringing to light many lesser known aspects of his work. The exhibition will showcase Monet’s entire career which started in 1860 (60 years of painting!) and his evolution from a young, rather traditional artist to his emergence as an impressionist verging on the abstract.

The retrospective at the Grand Palais – containing nearly two hundred Monet pieces – juxtaposes famous and lesser known works, offering you a new take on Monet as an extraordinarily modern artist (after all, he died only 84 years ago!).

The Paris Claude Monet exhibition is held in the Galeries nationales at the Grand Palais from 22nd September – 24th January 2011. Open every day except Tuesdays and Xmas day from 9am – 8pm (last ticket). Admission 13€ / 9€. A joint ticket with the Orangerie is also available for 19€.
Guided visits (90 minutes, 9€) and kids workshops (2 hours in all, with a special guided visit, 10€) are also available.
Official Grand Palais site: www.grandpalais.fr