Rouen to Giverny Private Driver?

We have an overnight stop in Rouen in late May.

Our ship offers an excursion to Monet's home and garden which leaves at 8:45am and is approximately 4.5 hours long.

What I would really like to do is go to the garden in the late afternoon when the crowds are a bit more diminished.

Could anyone recommend a private driver for this journey?

We have an overnight stop in Rouen in late May.

Our ship offers an excursion to Monet's home and garden which leaves at 8:45am and is approximately 4.5 hours long.

What I would really like to do is go to the garden in the late afternoon when the crowds are a bit more diminished.

Could anyone recommend a private driver for this journey?

Albion Voyages is a reliable car service offering transportation from airports to Normandy and day trips within Normandy. Adrienne, one of the husband and wife team that own the company, is from Bethesda, MD . Arrangements are conducted in English and she provides her personal cell phone for reassurance. (The drivers are represented as English speaking, but the reality was somewhat different. The driver spoke limited English and I speak limited French so we coped quite well. But I'm trying to be as thorough and honest as possible in my description.) We used this company for a trip from GDG to Bayeux.

There's a form on the web site to get the process started.

http://www.albion-voyages.com/index.htm?lang=en

I don't know precisely where within Normandy Albion is located but Normandy is much larger than the D-Day area where most cruisers visit. (Even the D-Day area, assuming you want to include the British, Canadian, and US landing sites and some of the inland advance is much larger than most people realize.) You may find that you'll be paying a premium for the car to first travel from its office to Rouen. Another alternative is to look for the name of some hotels in Rouen and contact them for the names of more local car service companies.

Finally, I realize you've asked about private car transportation but Rouen and Giverny are on the same train line that ultimately ends in Paris. You'd be dealing with a 35-50 minute ride -- the number of stops varies depending on the time of day -- to Vernon, the closest stop to MOnet's house. From Vernon, you'd need to take a taxi directly to the house.

Have you considered just renting a car for the day? Driving in France (outside the major cities) is not much different then driving in the USA (other then the parking rules). A rental car, reserved in advance, will probably cost you less then $100 for the day. A car/driver will cost you hundreds of Euros.

Hank

Thank you both for your responses....As much as I like the idea of renting a car, my husband hates driving overseas.....We'll be celebrating our 30th anniversary this trip and to insure we make it to our 31st, avoiding driving will be key.

Cheers

Thank you both for your responses....As much as I like the idea of renting a car, my husband hates driving overseas.....We'll be celebrating our 30th anniversary this trip and to insure we make it to our 31st, avoiding driving will be key.

 

Cheers

ROFLMAO. Am wondering if DW has the same thoughts :). But the difference in driving yourself or hiring a car and driver can often be hundreds of Euros per day. So I guess DW just holds her breath and takes her chances. I do remind her that after more then 10,000 miles of driving in Western Europe we have never scratched a car or received a ticket for a moving violation. As to parking tickets, I used to think about papering one of our bathrooms with those. But since we have never paid a parking ticket in Europe I guess they are meaningless.

Hank