From the owner: Théâtre et cinéma Ouverte en 2004, le théâtre du Grand Forum accueille des spectacles mais aussi…read moredes séances de cinéma. Tout en gradins, l'acoustique de ce lieu est une véritable prouesse technique, ayant usé de nouveaux systèmes d'insonorisation, afin d'allier dans un même espace 7ème art et spectacle vivant. Avec le Théâtre d'Evreux, il forme une "scène nationale".

There is a wonderful exhibition on the Seine river in Rouen France where you can go in and a giant…read more365 degree room this enormous in about four stories high tells the story in the history of the creation of the city of Rouen. It is located in the old section of the city on the Seine river. Which is lined with many refurbish where houses along the river of that have become discos and exercise Pavilions. As well as bars and restaurants. And Incredibly fun place to visit. This is a place you go to for a beautiful river walk.

Great museum! Quiet and they have some unique ways of displaying the ceramics. It was about 8 euros…read morefor a ticket, they have a museum pass for a little more and you can go to 2 other museums in Rouen.

From the owner: Classé au titre des Monuments Historiques Peut-être parmi les musées méconnus du public, celui de…read morela céramique a pourtant beaucoup de choses à voir avec le passé de la ville... Installé dans un hôtel particulier construit en 1657 (juste au-dessus du square Verdrel), il présente une très belle collection de faïences de Rouen (qui a donné son nom au style "Vieux Rouen") avec de nombreuses pièces du XVIe au XIXe siècle. Cet ensemble d'importance fut réuni dès 1850, et permet d'apprécier l'évolution des styles et de la technique de fabrication de la faïence rouennaise, en comparaison avec d'autres pièces de faïence de Delft, de Nevers ou de Sinceny.

We visited in early June and the most wonderful flowers were blooming!…read moreWe had a guided tour through Viator, which you don't need. We only had to do it for the transportation from Paris to Versailles. We went through the house first, because later in the day, the line for the house can get long. The house had interesting decor and colors, and a TON of Japanese artwork, which he fancied. I enjoyed checking out the old school kitchen. There are some paintings of his in the first room, of both of his wives. The garden was magnificent. They have a path that has directions. You can't just go anywhere you want. Some areas are blocked off. Workers were busy pulling weeds etc. There is a Japanese garden that isn't too far to walk. That was very peaceful. It surrounds a lake with lily pads. Very picturesque. Summer is a great time to visit because lots of things are in bloom. Later, the sunflowers will bloom. So each season has its own stars. I have heard winter time isn't fantastic for flowers, which makes sense. So I would say spring summer and fall are best for the gardens.

Going to Monet's garden at Giverny had been a "bucket list" item for me, and I was able to make the…read moretrip recently while visiting Paris! It was such a beautiful place and did not disappoint. The flowers in mid-April were beautiful to see, with huge peonies, lots of tulips, crocuses, wisteria on the Japanese bridge, and other spring blooms. This also seemed to be a good time to visit as it gets more packed during the summer. Tip: Rather than doing a bus tour, it was fairly easy to simply take the SCNF train to Vernon. From Vernon, there are regular shuttle buses directly to Monet's garden for 5 Euros each way (10 Euros round trip), so it is very straightforward. The train from Paris to Vernon leaves from Gare St. Lazare. Also, if you do go via train to Vernon to get to Giverny, there was an adorable cat cafe there for lunch: Cookie's Cat Cafe!

Our river cruise ship docked in the town of Les Andelys and we were given the opportunity to visit…read morethe remains of Château Gaillard. This was an impressive medieval castle built by the English, led by Richard the Lionheart, in 1198 and overtaken by the French in a siege in 1204. The 30 minute hike up the hill to the strategic as well as scenic overlook was a great way to get some countryside fresh air as well as your fitness steps for the day. The state of the art castle was built in only 2 years. There's a lot of medieval history to be taken in here, and we were nicely treated to a 45 minute video documentary on the place before our arrival and that certainly enhanced the visit.

This little town was a stop on our river cruise. It was an overcast day, and my daughter and I had…read moreenough of looking at old ruins so we headed into town to go shopping, while my fiancé and son chose to go explore the ruin. There is a very scenic riverwalk along the one side of the town, which we strolled down at the start of our shopping adventure. We did experience a quick downpour, so we ran into the town church to get out of the rain. It's a beautiful, beautiful, quaint little church, with nice stained glass windows. Would highly recommend a peek inside if you're at that end of the town. The town itself is very small, but it had several very unique antique shops, and various boutiques where I picked up scarves and purses, and other mementos. One in particular, right near the hotel, virtually everything was hand sewn by the owner. Lots of great linens and other items to choose from. I bought several gifts for friends back home, along with sachets and other items. This was probably my most favorite little shopping adventure on our entire river cruise. My fiancé and son trooped all the way up to the ruin in the pouring rain, but they thought it was a great opportunity to see the views and do some exploring. We really enjoyed our afternoon in this little town and would highly recommend it!

From the owner: Un château reconverti en musée archéologique Le château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye a été résidence…read moreroyale de Louis VI le Gros (XIIe siècle) à Louis XIV (XVIIe siècle), qui y séjourna jusqu'à son départ pour Versailles. C'est pour sauver le château de la ruine que Napoléon III décida sa restauration en 1862 afin d'y abriter le "futur" Musée des Antiquités Nationales. Aujourd'hui, le musée présente les collections archéologiques parmi les plus riches au monde. Elles retracent l'histoire des hommes de la préhistoire au début du Moyen-Age. Tout au long de l'année, le musée propose des évènements et des activités pour tous public.

I was very impressed walking through this building. The display is in the information told me…read morethings that I never knew about something that I thought I knew quite a bit of bad. The presentation was well conceived and comfortable. There were plenty of places to stop and listen with the language interpretation headsets that were presented before going on the tour. It's self guided and at your own pace. It worked out wonderfully period it is attached to the Basilica which are able to wander around on the inside which is an amazing structure that was rebuilt after World War II you can imagine the massive size of this name out of work that went into restoring it to its former glory. Be sure to see this little storyboard showing the rebuild.

While I would say that it can be a little difficult to find, being located in a small alleyway…read morebeside the Rouen Cathedral, it is about Jeanne d'arc, and anything about Jeanne is pretty clearly advertised in and around Rouen (in fact they clearly mark all of the significant Jeanne related spots in the city). This isn't actually your ordinary museum, and it definitely isn't her house (you are going to have to go out into the French countryside to actually find her birthplace), but it is a museum that is dedicated to her (I believe that it is the former Archbishop's residence). The museum is more like a guided documentary that follows the second trial of Jeanne, the one that acquitted here (after she had been burnt at the stake mind you) and goes through all aspects of her life, her time in the military, the Battle of Orleans, and of course here capture, trial, and eventual execution. As it is set up as a video where you move from room to room for a different part, they only let people in every fifteen minutes, and the entire tour takes around an hour and a half (depending on how long you spend in the final rooms that look at her legacy). Certainly a different way to set up a museum, and definitely a place to visit if you happen to be in Rouen.

From the owner: Entre Ile de France et Normandie Dans un site stratégique et remarquable du Val d'Oise, cette…read moreancienne citadelle féodale fut érigée, après les invasions normandes, pour contrôler la navigation fluviale de la vallée de la Seine. Installé sur les flancs des falaises de craies qui surplombent la vallée de Seine, l'ancien donjon guerrier appartenant aux seigneurs de La Roche (dont l'aîné était traditionnellement appelé Guy et surnommé Guyon) s'est agrandi à partir de la Renaissance. Désormais de charmantes écuries côtoient les ruines de la tour de guet. Des animations font vivre les salles du château, expos, concerts, visites du château aux flambeaux...