Goldilocks, friends, and a big hungry bear go north to Monet's garden at Giverny

We've always said we wanted to visit Monet's house and gardens at Giverny - but we were waiting for a day that was not too hot, not too cold, not too windy or rainy, and not on a weekend. Those narrow garden paths are lovely in their own right but not designed to handle throngs of hungry tired plant-lovers... I was delighted to run into a friend shortly before we left and learn that she too had always wanted to see the house and gardens, but not in heat, rain, mobs, etc., and that she too was on her way to Paris, and our times there would overlap enough to allow for the day trip to Giverny. We fixed a day for the expedition and started looking into how best to get there and would there be lunch?

There are lots of tips for making the most of your visit to Giverny, the ones that we found most useful were (1) get tickets in advance on the web - avoids standing in crowded and unpleasant line and (2) if possible, time your visit for the middle of the day, when bus tours will be having lunch elsewhere - avoids crowding on narrow garden paths. A number of companies offer small van tours or car/driver options, if there are more than 2 or 3 of you, I'd recommend pricing this out and comparing it to other options. I didn't see that hiring a site-specific guide was particularly necessary. The flowers and trees all have little identifying signs, and the contents of the house are frankly not that amazing. Spend a little time reading about Monet's life, then go and enjoy the garden. There's a separate museum at Giverny, placed between the parking lot and the Monet house/gardens, which exhibits other impressionists, this is nice enough, but not where you go to see Monets paintings. His great work here is the garden. Wonderful collections of his paintings are to be found at your leisure back in Paris.

So the intrepid art-lovers, having timed our visit for when the group visitors would be elsewhere having lunch, and having had our respective concierges print out our tickets, set forth. Without further ado:

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some non-botanical inhabitants

And some views of the kitchen - no starving here...n

And a glance at the dining room

OK, this shot of the dining room shows why I felt let down by the house. I've read that Monet was so happy to be in this house that he designed everything that went into it, and for years I've loved the china he designed. So I thought the dining room would at least have a few places set for breakfast. No. The saucer under the tired plant on the table was the only piece of that china in sight. On the other hand, the kitchen was a wonder of convenience for its time. A special tap next to the stove allowed you to fill a pot or kettle and heat it without having to carry a heavy pot across the room. Of course you then had to carry the heated water to wherever you wanted it, but one trip was saved.

And finally we had come full circle. No elaborate lunch today, but you should know that there are a few places to grab a sandwich or a little salad. This suited us fine, as we had dinner reservations. And strangely, gazing at all the flowers had been - filling?