Holiday details - Monet's Garden by Eurostar
Your holiday summary
FranceCountry
TrainTravel type
From £599Price range
Brightwater HolidaysSupplier
3 nightsDuration
Just across the channel in northern France are to be found some of the most beautiful gardens in all of Europe, with those at Giverny continuing to give as much pleasure and inspiration today as they did to their creator, Claude Monet.
The lovingly restored gardens give a vivid impression of Monet's favourite subjects. The gardens are filled with poppies, lupins, delphiniums and peonies, and throughout the year the atmosphere is of abundant colour and luxuriant growth. Arched bridges, painted an acid apple green, are festooned with wisteria and the draped fronds of weeping willow frame the water lilies - Monet's paintings brought unnervingly to life.
- 3 night's dinner with wine, bed and breakfast at the Chateau de Montvillargenne. All rooms have private bathroom
- Return standard class rail travel from London St Pancras
International to Paris. (The option to join at Ebbsfleet International
or Ashford International is possible - please contact our office for
more details. First Class upgrades and regional connections also
available on request).
- Comfortable coaching in France
- Guided tour of Paris
- Visits to the Orangerie Museum, Monet's Garden, the Chateau de Chantilly, Royaumont Abbey and Senlis
- Services of a Brightwater Holidays Tour Manager
Day 1
Friday
We depart from London St Pancras International on the morning Eurostar service through the Channel Tunnel to Paris Gare du Nord. (The option to join at Ebbsfleet International or Ashford International is possible, please contact our office for more details. First Class upgrades and regional connections also available on request).
On arrival we will be met by our comfortable local coach and travel to the
charming town of Chantilly, situated in the heart of the Chantilly Forest, nineteen miles north of Paris. Our hotel, the Chateau de Montvillargenne, is approximately 3 miles from the town centre set in its own wooded grounds on Avenue Francois Mathet. Please note the hotel has a heated indoor swimming pool. In the evening once you have settled into your room join our party for a welcome glass of Kir in the bar before dinner.
Day 2
Saturday
Enjoy your buffet breakfast. This morning we transfer to nearby Senlis, a pleasant market town typical of Picardy, where we will have some free time to wander round the shops or perhaps enjoy some patisserie.
Following an opportunity for lunch in Senlis (not included) we will visit the Chateau de Chantilly, a magnificent structure which stands on a rock surrounded by water, for a guided tour which includes the sumptuously decorated Grands Appartements, dating from the 17th-19th centuries and the Galeries de Peintures, whose collection of pre-1850 paintings is second only to the Louvre. We will return to Chantilly in time for dinner.
Day 3
Sunday
This morning, following breakfast, we depart for Giverny and the world famous house and gardens of Claude Monet. Our early start today will ensure an early arrival at Giverny - a time when the gardens are at their most tranquil. Both the house and gardens have been lovingly and accurately restored - one would believe that the family have just gone out to walk in the garden. You will have plenty of time to explore this marvellous garden at your leisure. Light lunch facilities are available near the garden (not included).
On our return to Chantilly we will break our journey at the tranquil surroundings of Royaumont Abbey. Surrounded by streams and lying near a bird sanctuary, the Abbey was built in a protected environment developed by the monks. The remarkably well-preserved Abbey still stands surrounded by wetlands and forests and its cloister and refectory are among the most outstanding still extant today. The garden is a landscape evocation of the medieval world, illustrating the experimentation with the plant kingdom that was possible in the Middle Ages, the way in which the gardener observed, tended, selected and reproduced plants. Created by landscape architect Olivier Dame, the garden is designed as a plant observation laboratory embellished with
ornamentation to enhance its appeal. Dinner will be served at the Chateau de Montvillargenne in the evening.
Day 4
Monday
Enjoy your buffet breakfast. Today we will travel into Paris where we have arranged a short guided tour of the city. We will continue with a visit to the Musee de l'Orangerie des Tuileries, which re-opened in May 2006 after an extensive refurbishment programme. The highlight of the museum's impressive collection is undoubtedly the series of 2-metre high murals entitled Les Nympheas, a sequence of impressions such as clouds, reflections and sunsets which Claude Monet installed between 1914 and 1918, when he was at the height of his extraordinary powers.
To stand before these unique paintings in peaceful meditation is a moving and memorable experience. In addition to the Nymphas, the Orangerie offers a fabulous collection of masterpieces from the Jean Walter and Paul Guillaume Collection, a highly original insight into modern art featuring Cezanne, Renoir, Picasso, Rousseau, Matisse, Derain, Modigliani, Soutine, Utrillo and Laurencin.
Thereafter you will have free time to shop and sightsee at your leisure. Paris is, of course, the most romantic city in the world with wonderful art galleries, churches, and shops. Later, we return to the Gare du Nord for our Eurostar train back to London where we expect to arrive in the evening.
Your Hotel is set in 15 acres of parkland in the Forest of Chantilly, the Château de Montvillargenne is a magnificent 19th century château hotel, a former home of the Rothschild family. The bedrooms are beautifully decorated and furnished in a variety of different styles. The hotel boasts a heated indoor swimming pool, sauna, solarium, gym and tennis court. Along with a welcome glass of kir on the first night a bottle of wine per couple is included with dinner each evening.