Will be visiting Normandy and Paris in late March. Under ideal circumstances Givernay would be an ideal stop on the drive back to Paris but as we will be there in late March, I'd rather not stop when everything is still possibly dormant (would rather save it for a future trip when the foliage is at least emerging!). Let me know if you've been there in the second half of March and if the gardens were starting to wake up. Merci!
Jonathan
I think you should simply check the website.. I think its closed till April the 1st.. but do check . The website does tell you what is blooming in each season.
Just checked for you.. opens March 29th.. you can see it. Its not going to be dormant and ugly .. the gardens should be quite pretty.. do look at website.. they don't open it if theres nothing growing but in that area of France spring and gardens can look lovely by end of March.. its not like they are snow covered like in some places! lol ..
Just to put it in perspective.. where I live we have Butchard Gardens and we keep them open year round and they look GREAT all year long.. weather/climate in Giverny is VERY similar. The gardens will be lovely and not as crowded as when I have gone in summer.. that was rather unpleasant.
Just as a comparison, I went to Giverny a couple of years ago in mid-October, 2 weeks before they closed for the season. It was beautiful! As Pat said, they wouldn't open if it wasn't going to look good. I guess the big question is if you will be there late enough in March.
Thanks for the feedback. Pat, we've to Butchard several times including once during American Thanksgiving in late November and it was still beautiful! That puts Givernay into the right perspective. Thanks! I mean, merci!
