Monet's Garden

Monet’s Garden

Monet’s Garden is open from April to October and is an easy hours drive from Paris. I went last year at the beginning of April which was a huge mistake as very few of the bulbs were in flower. It didn’t really matter because there were cherry trees in bloom as well as some annuals and daffodils but it would have been so much more beautiful later on when the tulips, irises, wisteria, and so many other plants are in flower. You can see the flowering calendar here.

Whenever you go though, it’s still amazing to see the garden which inspired the Impressionist painter. The highlight is the Japanese water garden where you can see the famous Japanese bridge and water lilies depicted in his paintings.

Monet’s Garden is a little tricky to get to using public transport so I suggest hiring a car to get there.

Day Trips from Paris
Chantilly

The town of Chantilly is most well known for being the birth place of Chantilly cream. The French both invented and perfected Chantilly cream and if you’re anything like me you’ll enjoy it at every opportunity when in France. Of course I’m not suggesting you go to Chantilly to spend the day indulging in cream, the reason to take a day trip there is to visit the Chateau de Chantilly.

The chateau is just plain adorable. It’s surrounded by a moat and extensive formal and informal gardens. You can easily spend hours wandering around the woods and that’s exactly what I did.

Chantilly is easy to get to by both car and train so there’s really no reason not to go.

Chateau de Chantilly
Chartres

Chartres is one of the most relaxing day trips you can do from Paris. There aren’t loads of thing to do so there is no need to rush around. Take your time to visit the famous cathedral and then wander around the old town. My favourite thing to do when visiting towns like Chartres is to pick a nice little cafe to sit in where I can people watch or read my Kindle and then move along to the next little cafe and rinse and repeat. There’s not much to do but enjoy a long lunch, do a little window shopping, and cafe hop. What more do you want from a pretty town one hours drive from Paris.