Enjoy a short break in France, combining the splendid house and gardens of Claude Monet, inspiration for so many of his paintings, with a full day in Versailles and time in Pays d’Auge, famous for its splendid green countryside, excellent cheeses and lush apple orchards. On this coach holiday, you’ll visit Versailles, home to the fabulous château created for Louis XIV and home to 800 hectares of stunning gardens. Entrance to the gardens at Versailles is included. We also visit one of the most famous gardens of all time, that of Claude Monet in Giverny – remember those water lilies? As for the Pays d’Auge in the Normandy area, this beautiful region is home to the village of Camembert, known worldwide for its famous cheese, where you can taste the delicious Camembert at a local cheesery.
5 days from $1148 pp
We offer flexible payment options
Once you have booked your tour either online, or by telephone ( 1300 811 500 ), you have the flexibility of how you pay off the remainder of your balance. You can:
Our contact and online banking payment details will be on your confirmation invoice to remind you of your choices.
For your convenience, you may choose to start this tour in the UK or at the first city in Europe.
A full-day included visit to Versailles, home to the famous château and gardens. Located on the western outskirts of Paris and originally created for Louis XIV, you will have time at leisure to admire the magnificent gardens from this once opulent era (château entrance is at extra cost). Enjoy a relaxing stroll through the gardens, or along Versailles' own Grand Canal, or why not discover the many fountains and pools, some of which are examples of fine sculpture.
Included Highlights
This morning we travel to the pretty village of Giverny to visit the home of Claude Monet. The artist lived here from 1883 until his death in 1926, and today his house, and in particular, the gardens – made famous by his painting of the water lilies, have been restored to Monet’s original designs. His gardens, stretching from his house down to the river, provided the inspiration for many of his famous paintings, such as the series of ‘Nympheas’ or Water Lilies and his ‘Pont Japonais’ or Japanese Bridge, which has also been rebuilt for visitors to enjoy. We then continue to the beautiful town of Rouen, where you will have time at leisure to explore this delightful Normandy town.
Included Highlights
We spend the day in the beautiful Pays d’ Auge, famous for its splendid green countryside, excellent cheeses and lush apple orchards. Our first stop is in the pretty historical city of Lisieux. Home to an extravagant hillside basilica, Lisieux is considered to be the second most important pilgrimage town in France, thanks to its 19th century saint, Therese Martin. We later continue to southern Normandy and the village of Camembert, known worldwide for its famous cheese. During the day we will visit both a local cheesery, where you can taste the local Camembert, and a traditional Normandy farm, where we will see how the local apples are made into cider, calvados (a local apple brandy) and Pommeau (a drink which combines apple juice with apple brandy), before sampling the produce.
Included Highlights
If you are leaving the tour in Europe, you will say farewell to the group after breakfast this morning. If you joined the tour in the UK, today you will return and continue to your original joining point.
Book online OR call our friendly travel advisers on:
1300 811 500
If you prefer, then you can join the tour at the hotel. To do this, we will require a copy of your passport for identification purposes and you must advise us at the time of booking.
No reduction will be given if you should choose to do this.
We are unable to guarantee that the hotel will be able to meet your dietary requirements. We find that the majority of European countries do not generally cater for vegetarians and that the meal supplied may well be what everyone else is having minus the meat.
We will of course endeavour to arrange for a vegetarian meal at the hotel. We do however suggest that you advise us of your dietary requests at the time of booking and recommend that you speak to the receptionist on arrival with regard to your request.
You will stay for four nights at the 3-star Ibis Rouen Centre Rive Droite, or similar.
Front row seats can be reserved for $35pp (up to 6 days' duration), $55pp (7 & 8 days' duration) and $60pp (9 days' duration and over) on all European tours. This offer is only available for bookings of two or four persons on the front row and is subject to availability. In addition to this, seats on the second row can be reserved for $18pp (up to 6 days duration), $35pp (7 & 8 days duration) and $42pp (9, 10 and days duration) $50pp (12 days and over). Guaranteed front/second row seats cannot be reserved on transfer journeys to/from the interchange. Children under 15 years cannot occupy a front row seat due to French Law. Central view seats are free.
Please note: On some coaches the legroom on front seats may be slightly less than that available on other seats due to the presence of a modesty board in front.
If your tour is cancelled for any reason and front/second row seats are not available on your new tour, you will be refunded the supplement. No other compensation will be payable.
Alternatively, we can take seating requests on your booking. However, requests are not guaranteed. All seat numbers are confirmed on travel documents approximately 7-10 days prior to departure.
Transfer coaches are routed approximately 2-3 weeks before departure. The route taken depends on where passengers are booked to travel from on any particular date as to which route is taken. If you require further detailed information regarding the route to the port you can contact our Customer Service Department on 1300 811 500 two weeks before you are due to travel. With regard to the route taken by the main tour coach, this is determined by the driver.
With regard to the route taken by the main tour coach, this is determined by the driver.
When it comes to getting you to your destination, McLachlan European Holidays make it easy, with a selection of travel options for you to choose from.
