Giverny as a day trip from Paris, or on the way to Normandy?

We went to Giverny as a day trip but it would be easy on a trip heading out to the D-Day beaches. The only issue would be leaving luggage in your parked car.
Caen Museum was disappointing.
We also went to the British and Canadian beaches. British beach museum was excellent.
We did a tour of American beaches but toured British and Canadian beaches on our own.

I know it wasn't your original question, but I also found the Caen museum disappointing, and overly hyped by RS. There are many, better museums in the area.

To elaborate on the original topic....I, too, am planning a trip to Paris at the end of May & I would like to take a day trip to Giverny. For anyone who has done this in the past-did you take a bus tour from Paris (and, if so, what was the name of the company?) or did you take a train from Gare St. Lazare, then a taxi from there to gardens? RS pocket guide says bikes can be rented from the cafe across from the train station in Vernon. Has anyone done this?

You absolutely don't need a tour to Giverny -- you take the train to Vernon from St. Lazare and there is a mini train that meets the train (step lively because when the train is full, it is full and you have to wait for the next one). The train also returns to meet your return train. There is a short walk from the mini train stop to Monet's home and gardens and it fairly easy to follow the route -- we went through the town afterwards and had lunch at the museum although we didn't visit the museum.

Get tickets ahead so you don't have to wait in a ticket line. -- you use the group entrance when you have timed tickets. They have a nice gift shop; I got some nice placemats of Japanese prints from Monet's collection.

Here's a 2023 thread about day tripping to Giverny Monet Garden

We have done the day trip thing from Paris via train several times. We rented bikes from the bar across the street from the station then biked to a grocery store that is on the way for picnic supplies. The bike path is an old railway I think and very smooth and level.
If you can do the bike ride that is my recommendation.
As far as a day trip vs a renting a car, the train is very nice. I think between the getting bikes and picnic supplies we spent about 6 hours in Vernon and Giverny. The house, grounds and gift shop are lovely and we really soaked it all in. It is the one site that we just got 'lost' in and could visualize many of the scenes he painted.
Regarding the Caen museum, we have been twice and we both thought it was a great museum. It tells a story about what led up to the war and who it played out. There are many museums in Normandy so depending on your interests and time it could be skipped.
This one https://www.memorial-falaise.com is worth an hour if your travels take you to the Falaise Castle or near. The castle is great and highly recommended.
Wife and I just returned from a World War II Museum tour through Normandy and saw several museums that were great.

denisek,
In 2017 we drove to Giverny en route to Bayeux. We visited during the morning, ate lunch at the cafe there, and drove on to Rouen to spend the night. We had time in Rouen to visit the wonderful cathedral that Monet painted so often and to wander the streets for a couple of hours before dinner. Next day we drove via the Route des Abbayes along the Seine River to Bayeux. It was a lovely drive.

The Musee Victor Hugo is along the way, at the town of Villequier, and the Abbaye Jumieges is worth a stop as well. You might find this a leisurely way to transit from Paris to Normandy.
I haven't been to the Caen museum, but can vouch for the British museum at the beaches. Also, the flag lowering ceremony at the American cemetary was very moving. Don't miss the tapestry and cathedral in Bayeux. We self drove areound the D Day sites, so can't speak to tours. My husband lived some boyhood years in Normandy right after WWII, often playing among the abandoned guns near the beaches, and with his memories, and those of his grandmother who lived with Germans occupying her home, and liberation after D Day, we have never felt the need for a detailed recounting of the battles. Of course, Overlord Tours must be good because everyone here has good things to say about them. If you decide to drive around yourself, I concur that it is nice to set your own pace. For my part, although I have BA in history, I can only take in so many details about the D Day invasion. (Perhaps I had enough battle details in my college classes for one lifetime, or perhaps I have watched too many WWII movies and PBS television shows. Who knows?) Whatever you decide, pace yourself and don't feel obligated to do anything that sounds tiresome or boring to you. The gray skies of Normandy and of Bretagne (one of my favorite parts of France), along with the weather, give off a mystical feeling of connection to ancient times and peoples. The sea is a powerful personality there. It seems to imbue all the lands in Bretagne and Normandy. It's hard to explain, but the land IS a personality itself.
I wish you well and hope your trip leaves you with wonderful memories.

I liked the museum in Caen, but it is truly a full-day commitment, because it begins with the lead-up period before the war and extends into the Cold War period. In addition, the museum is rather expensive and often quite crowded. For those with limited time in Normandy, I don't recommend using one full day in this museum.

Bayeux's invasion museum is very good; it takes perhaps 2 hours or so to see. It's outside the historic center near the British Cemetery. It's an excellent place to go while you're on your own and staying in Bayeux.

The full-day Overlord tour covering US invasion sites includes a stop in St-Mere-Eglise over the lunch period. You have an option there: a sit-down lunch in a place like a creperie or wolfing down a sandwich and going to the Airborne Museum. I chose the latter approach and was able to see all I wanted of the museum before returning to the tour van. That museum is rather old-fashioned in its presentation when compared to the museums in Bayeux and Caen. I wouldn't make a special trip there myself, but I'm sure it would be important for folks especially interested in the activities of the Airborne troops.

I very much liked the Falaise Memorial Museum, whose focus is different from many of the others in the area. It addresses what life was like for civilians during the war and also covers Resistance activities. I spent several hours there.

All the WWII-related museums in Normandy seem to have excellent explanatory material in English.

Thank you all! I was last in the area 25 years ago and it's great to get updated advice - several museums mentioned that I haven't heard of before. It will be hard to narrow it down! I appreciate the advice re: both options for day trip and driving - I think we need to decide on our Normandy priorities and then figure out how much time we have to spend.

I think that if you are set on Giverny, then the most efficient way for you to visit is by rental car, either on the way to Normandy or on the way back. That way, you can see Giverny in just a few hours, vs. it taking most of a day as a round-trip from Paris.
You can rent a car in Paris if you dare (preferably around Porte Maillot or Neuilly), or if you'd rather not drive in the city, you can rent a car in Mantes-La-Jolie, an easy train ride from Gare Saint Lazare.
Luggage in the parked car will not be a concern at the Giverny parking lot. Plus, I have yet to see a rental car without a luggage cover in this country.