Monet's Home & Rouen

Enjoy a scenic drive through the Norman countryside on the motorway to Monet's home at Giverny on the Seine. Claude Monet spent the last four decades of his life creating a magnificent garden at his home and memorializing it in oil on canvas. Upon arriving, you’ll embark on a guided walking tour through a flower garden called Clos Normand, that is ablaze with colors of tulips, roses, dahlias, sunflowers and nasturtiums in the summer. Inside the pink crushed-brick house, adorned with green shutters through the garden entrance, you will visit the salon, Monet’s bedroom, his Nympheas Studio, the yellow dining room and the tiled kitchen. You will notice the Japanese prints and the work of his artist friends lining the walls throughout. Spend some time to shop in the gift boutique offering books, cards, reproductions and souvenirs before continuing to the water garden. You’ll marvel at the Japanese-inspired water garden as you witness the Japanese bridge surrounded by wisteria and azaleas as you look over the lily pond. Enjoy some free time for lunch on your own in Giverny before a drive to Rouen to begin your walking tour. You’ll visit the Cathedral Notre-Dame de Rouen, a superb example of French Gothic architecture that took 300 years to complete. The cast iron spire is the largest in France and the central portal features an elaborately painted "Tree of Jesus." Your guide will escort you into the interior, which features a Lady Chapel, the tombs of Rouen's archbishops, secure behind wrought iron gates, and impressive 15th-century stained glass windows. Then visit Place du Vieux Marché, the Old Marketplace, the site where the English burned Joan of Arc at the stake. Today, the square boasts the Great Cross of Rehabilitation erected in tribute to the Maid of Orleans.