Giverny Vacations, Giverny Vacation Reviews, Tourism Guide

Giverny is a village and commune of the Eure département, in France. It is best known as the location of Claude Monet's gardens and home. Giverny sits on the "right Bank" of the River Seine. The village lies 80km (50 miles) from Paris, west and slightly north, on the border between the province of Normandy and the Île-de-France.

A settlement has existed in Giverny since neolithic times and a monument uncovered attests to this fact. Archeological finds have included tombs dating from Gallo-Roman times and to the earlier 1st and 2nd centuries AD. The town was known in ancient deeds as "Warnacum". The cultivation of grapes has been an occupation of the inhabitants of Giverny since Merovingian times. The village church dates from the Middle Ages and is built partially in the Romanesque style, though additions have since been made. It is dedicated to Saint Radegonde. The village has remained a small rural setting with a modest population (numbering around 300 in 1883 when Monet discovered it) and has since seen a boom in tourism since the restoration of Monet's house and gardens.