Day trips: Giverny, Auvers-sur-Oise, Vaux-le-Vicomte

Hi,
With six days in Paris including one for Versailles, I would only do one extra day-trip, and to me, it has to be Vaux-le-Vicomte, but I don't have any info on the candlelight tour.
To answer your other questions for completeness' sake:
- 6 hours for Giverny sound about right, due to the time in transit.
- Auvers-sur-Oise is indeed surprisingly time-consuming to get to (1 hour from gare du Nord, with a change), but trains are far more frequent than those to Vernon for Giverny. What I question, is whether it's worth it... I'd say only go if you are a Van Gogh buff (I am not).

We did the Candlelight Evenings in June. It is stunning! And the audio guide is fabulous!! We ate dinner there also which was really nice...and good food!

Our only problem came with transportation. We had already purchased the ticket for the shuttle that returns you to Paris Gare d'Lyon which was great because we were staying a block from where it dropped us off. The problem arose with getting to the chateau. Since we were there in June it stayed light until very late so we took the last train from Gare l'Est(6:46 p.m.). A shuttle bus is supposed to meet every train at Verneil l'tang. (Please excuse spelling here!). Our train was VERY slow and actually stopped several times so when we got off there was no shuttle bus because the train had arrived late. We waited, along with 13 other Americans, for an hour thinking they would surely send another bus knowing that the train was late. Plus one member of our little group said she had contacted the chateau and they were sending another bus. We waited and waited. No bus! Tried Uber and taxi. NOPE! Finally my husband and our friend went across the street to a pizza restaurant. They talked a worker there in to driving us. His wife drove another group. And our driver went back for another group. During the ride (which was longer than

I had thought it would be), I was thinking "This is crazy...we don't know this guy...we don't know where we are going, etc.", but now we look back on it and laugh a lot!

The trip was totally worth it despite the little hiccup. Just be sure you have reliable transportation!

Thank you both for the feedback. I decided to opt for Vaux-le-Vicomte for this trip. Baandyfan, I appreciate your transportation horror story! Thank goodness for the pizza restaurant...sounds like they graciously saved the day! Desperate situations require desperate measures!
After reading more reviews, I went ahead and booked the candlelit tour for our last night in Paris. We also booked the shuttle direct back to Paris Gare Lyon at 11:30 p.m. after dinner and the fireworks. It seems the safest bet to get us home efficiently. Hope getting the shuttle to the chateau goes smoothly!
My plan for this day trip is to leave from Gare l'Est on the 1:45 p.m. train, getting us to the Chateau by shuttle at around 2:45 p.m., (as the candlelight ticket is good anytime after 2:00 p.m.) I am thinking of doing the tour of the chateau (with audio guide) in the daylight, including a trip to the dome to see the views with light as well. Then for the remainder of the afternoon, exploring the gardens and the carriage house. Get a snack late afternoon. Then I thought we'd go back to the chateau when it re-opens at 7:00 and experience our select parts again by candlelight. Our dinner reservation at Les Charmilles is the last time slot at 9:15; I hope this is not too late. I wanted plenty of time to see the chateau again and view the gardens in candlelight as well.
My only worry is the restaurant. Les Charmilles has gotten very mixed reviews, both food and service-wise. I am glad to hear you thought the food was good! Some of the reviews were several years old (trip advisor, mostly). Maybe it has improved? I'd love to hear positive experiences with this part of the evening, but I've booked the reservations regardless, so we'll hope for the best. I do anticipate that the rest of the experience will be well worth it, according to what I've read.

Several friends and I went to Vaux le Vicomte in lieu of Versailles, and so may native French people applauded our wisdom. We were not part of a tour. We took the train from Paris and got off in the town; we were approached by a man in a taxi who offered to take us there. We were a bit timid but were brave because of our numbers, and went for it. We arrived in the afternoon, rented a golf cart and toured the gardens. It was enchanting. We returned the cart in time for our dinner which was scrumptious. By the time we finished our leisurely multi-course dinner, we went out to discover the entire gardens all in candlelight with piped in beautiful classical music. We were brought to tears. It was incredible. I attempted to tour the castle/mansion, but the crowds were too much. Ideally, we ought to have toured the castle and then, the gardens with the cart and then, dinner. After dinner, we could have enjoyed the candlelit grounds by footpath with the lovely music and then, the grand finale was fireworks. Magnificent day all around. We asked someone to call us a taxi to the railway station and returned to Paris. We took a taxi from the railway station to our apartment as that area did not appear very populated and it was dark. I highly recommend Vaux Le Vicomte; it has been four years and I still am enchanted by memories of that day as are my friends. You will not be disappointed.

Giverney is a must. Training from Paris is easy. I believe we arrived in Vernon and then, took a taxi. The gardens are wonderful and Monet's house is lovely.. I came home and redid my kitchen in yellow because of Monet's kitchen. Standing on the green bridge which I had seen in so many paintings was a once in a lifetime experience....BUT, I have been back to Giverney FOUR MORE times! There is something enchanting about the place. I have seen it in spring, summer and fall. Summer would be best, because the flowers would be all in bloom.

Must say caution re Auvers. I visit Paris each year and am very comfortable taking short excursions from Paris, Had seen cautions on this site about the train connections but thought I’d be fine. Wrong. Return train from Auvers to connecting town to then get to Paris was cancelled at the last minute but by then the train station was closed. No signage to indicate who to contact and with the next scheduled train early evening, was starting to panic, bot knowing if that might also be cancelled. Thankfully I was able to flag a bus which took me to a neighbouring town and from there was able to get a train to Paris. Auvers was lovely, few hours is fine but the stress associated with the travel leads me to suggest not going.

Thank you for your responses! Adrianne, I am so glad you had a wonderful experience at Vaux. I really am looking forward to it and feel somewhat better about the plan to eat at the restaurant. Your comments also re-affirmed my idea of touring the chateau when we get there in addition to in the evening.
However, I wasn't able to purchase the additional dome ticket when I got the online tickets for the candlelight tour. Question: I am hoping that when we get there we can just pay the extra 3 euros for that part on the spot. I emailed Vaux directly asking this question, but have not heard back, and that was a couple of days ago.
My other question: Does the 25 euro shuttle ride ticket that returns us to Paris at 11:30 p.m. include a shuttle ride FROM the Verneuil d'Etange train station to the chateux when we get there?
As for Giverny, unfortunately I think it will have to wait until another time.....I love hearing how much you liked it, but I don't think we are up to 3 days trips during our 6 day visit. Oh well! Something to look forward to later! Also, as we will be there in October, the gardens would not be at their peak (but I'm sure still lovely).
Patty, I appreciate the caution about Auvers. If day trips are too complex, it is indeed stressful. Plus, we got a big dose of Van Gogh when we were in Amsterdam last year!

loved Vaux le Vicomte and it is lovely but Versailles is exponentially more grand. Neither the wonderful gardens of Vaux le Vicomte or the chateau are a substitute for Versailles IMHO.