Giverny Off The Beaten Path

After departing Giverny, we followed the road to Vernon.

Located on this side of the River is Tourelles castle, which was built during the middle age's. It was a bridgehead meant to defend the town of Vernon which was situated at the border of the crown lands and the Duchy of Normandy.

It is OLD ....In 1196, it was thought of and then built to stop Vernon being conquered and turned into a base for military operation's. The King had a bridge built [a few arches are under the Old Mill], and the end of the bridge was protected by the Bridgehead which is the one standing today.
As you can see in the photo, it is tall and has four towers. One of these was destroyed in WWII and since has been rebuilt to make the Castle complete.
When looking at the Castle, we had to try and imagine people entering via the waterfront and the Castle being surrounded by a moat and linked to the stone bridge by a wooden flying bridge, a little hard to do when sitting high and dry on the land. The Castle was hardly ever involved in warfare.

It is FREE to enter the Park and have a look at the historic Castle.

From Vernon, cross the river. At the roundabout, turn left towards Gisors / Beauvais.
From Giverny, straight on at this roundabout towards Gisors / Beauvais.

Immediately after the roundabout, on the right hand side, there is the car park of a shop where you can easily park on Sundays. Or, on the left, 50 m after the roundabout, you can see a large gate giving access to a park (signs : " Base nautique / Centre de loisirs "). You can either park in front of the gate or drive inside the park (free entrance and easy parking).

This is the woman whom Claude Monet had an affair with while he was still married to his wife, Camille.

Alice Hoschede was the wife of Monet's patron, Ernest Hoschede. And when Monet's wife fell seriously ill, Alice left her husband to care for Monet's wife and provided companionship for the artist. However, Monet's wife died soon after and Monet fell in love with Alice.

Monet and Alice moved to Giverny after that and he married Alice a good 10 years after that (when Ernest Hoschede died in 1892 ).

NOTE : The potrait of Alice that you see over here is not painted by Monet but by his American contemporary , John Singer Sargent.

If you're interested to see this and more off beaten track destinations in Giverny, join a bike tour or click here to see more pictures. Web contacts are below

Visit the Market in Vernon.

It's always best to hit the town market before going anywhere....
this farmers market was small and very friendly!

The apricots and cherries I purchased here were fabulous!

Richard the Lionhearted (Richard, Coeur de Lyon) built this in the late 12th century. It is in a strategic location, very high above the Seine, so he could see any foe on the river below.

This was my second visit, my first was in 1999 with my friend William. The hills surrounding it just invite a nap on a nice sunny warm day.

http://www.casteland.com/puk/castle/hnormand/eure/cgaillard/gaillard.htm

http://perso.wanadoo.fr/jean-francois.mangin/capetiens/fenetres_filles/chateaux_gaillard.htm

25 km to the northwest, you can discover Les Andelys, a charming village, and Château Gaillard, the impressive castle built by Richard the Lionhearted in 1196. The castle provides striking views of the town and the Seine River valley.

See my Les Andelys page for more information.

The day we spent waiting for the train, after we had located the nice creperie, my wife decided she would visit a hair salon. I said, "This is France. There will be a Notre Dame somewhere." Sure enough, not far from the town centre (of course) I found a 12th C "collegial" church. I don't know what "collegial" means, so if you read this and know, send me an e-mail. At that time it was under much needed renovation and I have not been back, but it is a wonderful old building.

We did not know that there was a train strike the first day we went to Vernon and Giverny. We went early intending to return to Paris in the early afternoon. After some confusion, we figured out that the next train from Vernon to Paris was at 19:30. We decided to wander through Vernon for a bit and found this wonderful little creperie for a tide-me-over snack. It was some time ago and I don't remember what we had, but we both left saying what a nice place and good food.

Cyling is the best way to sight-see Giverny. The roads are quiet, the surrounding areas are lush with greenery and the places of interest are not too far away from one another. Why zoom past all these beautiful sights on a bus? Gimme a bike any time and let me breathe in the good country air and see the river, skies and hills anytime!

To convince you furthur, I've attached pictures and write-ups on all the places that I've seen on the tour. And if you're interested, contact details for the bike tour agency is given below.

Contact Details :
Click onto the weblink given below and contact Fat Tires Bike Tour to reserve a place for yourself on the Monet's Gardens Bicycle Tour. If I'm not mistaken, the tour runs daily in summer if there are enough people. The tour cost about 65euros but it is worth it if you want to maximise your time and avoid eating Prozac from interpreting maps and missing train stops.

Included in the tour would be :
1) Your return train ticket from Paris to Vernon
2) The entry ticket to Monet's gardens and house.
3) Your bike leader guide
4) Your bike, of course..