• Practical Info,  Transportation

    Travel Paris with Updated RATP App

    Getting around Paris is improving in French and English is getting easier. The RATP application has been updated and the Paris bus network has also updated many routes. The benefits of the application updates? After choosing the route to your destination, the metro lines the application propose include exit tips: which car and which exit number.

  • Giverny town map from Tourist office
    Day Trip,  Giverny,  Let's Explore

    Day Trip to Giverny via Vernon

    A day trip to Giverny is easy. The SNCF train from Gare Saint-Lazare takes you to Vernon/Giverny in 45 minutes. Rent a bike across from the train station and take your time pedaling to Giverny. The biggest piece of advice: buy your tickets in advance to Monet's house. Follow the online ticket links at Foundation Claude Monet. Twenty minutes before departure in the direction of Rouen Rive Droite, the departing platform (voie) is posted. While you wait, enjoy the updated three-level shopping mall at Gare Saint-Lazare. If you want to "powder your nose" the "2theloo" spot is open from 6 am to midnight and is constantly being wiped down and…

  • Auberge Ravoux/Maison de Van Gogh
    Day Trip,  Let's Explore

    Day Trip To Auvers-sur-Oise, An Eternal Village

    Auvers-sur-Oise will  be forever known because of the painter, Vincent Van Gogh. It is the final resting place of Van Gogh and was also a favorite village for other painters of the 1800s. In the last 70 days of his life Van Gogh painted 70 paintings in and around Auvers-sur-Oise. He lived here to be near his brother Theo, who lived in Paris. By direct train, the voyage from Paris takes less than 35 minutes. Auvers-sur-Oise (Auvers on the river Oise) lies within a provincial area once known as Vexin français. Because of its inclusion within the Parc naturel régional du Vexin français since 1995, Auvers-sur-Oise is eternal. According to…

  • Venice Train Gare de Bercy
    Transportation

    Gare de Bercy Is Not Gare de Lyon

    Two train stations very close to one another can be easily confusing the first time around. Whether your station (gare) is Paris-Bercy or Paris-Lyon depends on whether your train is a night train or a day train, if you are taking your car with you, if you are traveling to Italy or one of three particular French destinations. No TGVs leave from Bercy; they leave from Paris-Lyon. In preparation for our night train voyage to Venice, we took a stroll to reconnoiter our departure from Gare de Bercy. The Gare de Bercy is not next door to Gare de Lyon as I had thought. It was a walk outside for…