Who: Another DIY-solo trip saga, and by saga I mean I had to go around the block a few times, waited for a long time for my ride back to Paris, and had to speak to strangers to ask for directions and know little to no English.
What: Monet Gardens is an easy day trip from Paris, you take a train to Vernon, then a bus to Giverny (pronounced Jee-va-nyee, not that it matters). The train to Vernon was 2 hours delayed but once onboard it was a pretty short ride, from Vernon you exit the station and a few meters away are buses that will take you to Giverny. It pays to buy tickets online specially for visiting the gardens because you get a special line if you do (versus falling in line to buy and then enter). The gardens weren’t as big as Versailles but they were the inspiration for the actual works of Monet so it was pretty cool to actually walk in them. Plus, I got to go inside Monet’s actual cottage and it was still furbished with old furniture etc, you can’t touch them, of course. The bus back will definitely arrive and you wait where you’ve been dropped off just be aware of the schedule, I’ll be honest I did worry for a while after waiting for so long.
Where: Giverny, France, Europe
it begins with a step 