Firsthand account of our September 2026 trip, with original photos and video. Planning references are linked separately; prices describe our visit.
Two days left in Europe: Monet’s garden in Giverny, Champagne cellars in Reims, and one last bouillon dinner in Paris before we head home. Watch the final part of our trip below, then use this companion guide for the route, connections, and choices behind it.
Watch Europe, Part 3 on YouTube. This video is not sponsored.
Our last two full days included Monet’s gardens, a return to a familiar kebab shop, Champagne cellars, and our third and fourth Paris bouillon meals. They also included an early train from Germany, another train to Vernon, a missed shuttle, and the decision to spend more on a rideshare instead of waiting.
This is the final chapter of Europe, our Replicate the Magic series about our September 2026 trip. Episode 1 followed our London stay, and Episode 2 took us through Paris to Europa-Park. This chapter starts with the train back from Ringsheim and ends with the flight home from Paris.
New to the series? Start with Part 1: London, the Harry Potter Studio Tour, and West End shows, then watch Part 2: Paris and Europa-Park. Together, the three videos follow ten days away, including eight full days to explore, using five PTO days and both weekends.
Video chapters
Each link opens the matching moment in the finished video. Times start at 00:00.
- 00:00 Two Days Left: Monet’s Garden and Champagne Cellars
- 00:26 Early Train from Ringsheim to Paris
- 02:00 Paris Bag Drop, Navigo, and a Transit Delay
- 04:00 Train to Vernon-Giverny and the Garden Shuttle
- 05:00 Monet’s Gardens: Water Lilies, the Bridge, and Flowers
- 07:12 Inside Monet’s House
- 07:56 A Missed Bus, an Uber, and Vernon’s Old Mill
- 10:12 Vernon Pastries: Mille-Feuille and a Raspberry Tart
- 12:19 Back in Paris: Checking Into Our Hotel
- 13:24 Bouillon Julien: Our Third Bouillon
- 14:59 La Défense: Candy Shopping and the Grande Arche
- 17:26 Our Last Full Day: Train and Pastries to Reims
- 20:22 Reims and L’Istanbul’s Kebab Sandwich
- 22:26 Inside Notre-Dame de Reims
- 23:48 Veuve Clicquot: Champagne Cellars and Tasting
- 27:00 Saint-Remi Basilica
- 27:47 Pink Biscuits and a Second Stop at L’Istanbul
- 29:40 Back to Paris for Bouillon République
- 31:00 RER B to Charles de Gaulle and the Flight Home
- 33:46 Europe in 5 PTO Days: Trip Wrap-Up
Our final Europe days at a glance
Friday and Saturday were our last two full days to explore. Sunday was the journey home. We kept Paris as the base for both nights, which let us make two different outings without carrying the luggage to every stop.
| Day | Our route | The connection to protect |
|---|---|---|
| Friday | Early train from Ringsheim → Paris hotel bag drop → Saint-Lazare → Vernon-Giverny → shuttle → Monet’s gardens and house → Vernon → Paris → Bouillon Julien → La Défense | The return shuttle or an alternative, followed by the booked train |
| Saturday | Paris → Reims → L’Istanbul → cathedral → Veuve Clicquot cellars → Saint-Remi → another kebab → Paris → Bouillon République | Cellar-tour check-in, the return train, and dinner in Paris |
| Sunday | Check out → RER B to Charles de Gaulle → terminal and gate → flight home | The airport-bound branch, current service, and enough time inside the airport |
Why we returned to a Paris base
Coming back from Germany did not mean moving directly to a hotel in Giverny. We returned to Paris, left the bags, and went out again. The same room then held our bags while we visited Reims on Saturday, and it was our starting point for the airport on Sunday.
That reduced the number of check-ins at the end of the trip, but it did not remove the journeys. Friday had an early long-distance train before the Giverny outing even began. If you are borrowing only this chapter, starting from Paris after a full night there would be a less compressed version. That is an alternative to consider, not a second version we tested.
Friday: Germany to Paris, then Monet’s gardens
Back through Paris before Giverny
The day started early. Our hotel prepared a takeaway breakfast, and we caught the morning train back to Paris. We left our bags at the next hotel before continuing toward Gare Saint-Lazare for Vernon-Giverny.
That sequence matters if you’re looking at this as an itinerary. Giverny was not simply the next attraction after Europa-Park. We first traveled back to Paris, dealt with our bags, and made another rail journey. It was a substantial travel day before the gardens began.
We also had to return to the hotel for a transit pass left in a stored bag. Keep the things you need for the day with you when leaving luggage behind, especially the pass required to reach your next stop.
Our train from Ringsheim was at 6:57 a.m. The hotel’s takeaway breakfast helped because we were leaving before a normal, unhurried morning. Do not make the same breakfast arrangement an assumption when choosing a hotel: ask what is possible if your train leaves early.
At the Paris bag drop: keep your transit pass, tickets, phone, payment method, and anything needed for the day with you. One of our passes stayed in a stored bag, and we had to turn back. The hotel stop also was not the same as checking into the room; that happened later.
Build the Giverny journey as three separate legs: reach Gare Saint-Lazare, take the train to Vernon-Giverny, then connect to the gardens. Check the last leg before booking the return rail time. The station’s name is not evidence that the garden entrance is beside the platform.
Monet’s water garden, flower paths, and house
We arrived at Vernon-Giverny station and took the local shuttle to Giverny. The gardens are a separate connection from the railway station. The official house and gardens visitor information explains the route from Paris Saint-Lazare and links to the shuttle timetable.
A seasonal note for planning: our visit was in September. The official 2026 garden season ran through November 1. For a visit after that date, check the next opening season before booking transport.
We started around the pond and Japanese bridge, then moved into the flower garden. The two areas gave us different things to look at: reflections and paths around the water, followed by planting that still had plenty of color in September.
“Hey, there's still a lot of flowers for being September.”
That describes the day we filmed. It does not mean every September visit will find the same planting or weather.
We went inside the house too. The house, flower garden, and water garden belong together as a visit, but you can give them different amounts of time according to what interests you. Leave enough room to look around rather than treating the bridge photograph as the whole outing.
Missing the shuttle changed the afternoon
Inside the gardens: our order was the pond and bridge, then the flower garden and house. Use that as a starting point rather than a timed circuit. Different visitors will want longer around the water, more photographs of the planting, or more time inside. Work backward from the shuttle you need, including the walk to its pickup, rather than waiting until you leave the gardens to look at the timetable.
We reached the pickup after the return shuttle had left. In the episode, we explain that we’d missed it by about ten minutes. Waiting for the next one would have left a narrow margin before our booked train, and we did not want to spend the intervening time standing in the heat.
The rideshare we chose was €22 before tip. In the video, we estimate that it cost about €15 more than waiting for the bus. That is our on-the-day comparison, not a verified shuttle fare calculation. We used the change of plan to see more of Vernon before walking back to the station.
At 09:10, we explain why a rideshare made sense here: paying more could buy back some of our vacation time. We still needed to keep the booked train in mind.
We looked around by the river and stopped at a bakery before returning to Paris. The bakery stop at 10:12 includes a mille-feuille, a raspberry and vanilla tart, and a baguette we asked to have sliced. It gave Vernon a place in the day beyond being the railway connection for Giverny.
The useful lesson is the relationship between a fixed rail ticket and a less frequent local connection. Our next shuttle would have reached the station only about five minutes before the train, according to the plan we discussed. We chose to spend more on a ride rather than accept that margin. Do not assume a rideshare will always be available or priced as ours was; plan a workable public-transport return first.
Vernon then became part of the day, with the old mill, the river, and a walk back toward the station. Add that walk only if your train margin supports it. We found another place to look around, not permission to stop watching the time.
Our advance rail tickets were €10 each way and tied us to specific departures. A cheaper fixed ticket can work well, but the return connection needs enough room around it. Check the conditions of the actual ticket before buying, rather than assuming every train fare has the same flexibility.
Friday evening: check in, Bouillon Julien, and La Défense
Back in Paris, we checked in for our final two nights. Keeping that room for the Reims day meant we could leave our bags there, travel out and back, and go to dinner without another check-in.
Bouillon Julien was our third bouillon of the trip. We had good things to say about individual items, but at that point we described Julien as our least favorite of the first three. Watch the Julien visit at 13:24 for the individual food reactions.
Later, we went to La Défense, bought Haribo World Mix at the supermarket, and looked up at the Grande Arche. After the older streets and churches we’d been visiting, this was a different skyline to finish the evening.
We did not go up the Grande Arche. The scale from ground level was the point of this stop.
La Défense is the optional part of this evening. We had already traveled from Germany, gone out to Giverny, and returned to Paris. If you want to repeat the garden day at a slower pace, dinner and the hotel can be the finish. Our supermarket stop and the Grande Arche were choices we made with the evening left, not requirements for a successful Giverny visit.
Saturday: Reims, a cellar tour, and the last Paris dinner
Set the cellar-tour time before filling the rest of Reims. Then allow for arriving from Paris, reaching the tour entrance, and returning to the station afterward. We put food and the cathedral before the tour, then Saint-Remi and another food stop after it. The final commitment was still a return to Paris, where we had dinner booked.
Reims began with a familiar sandwich
The next morning, we took the train to Reims. Beau once lived there, and one of the first stops was L’Istanbul, a kebab shop he remembered.
We shared one sandwich before the cathedral and cellar tour. Later, we went back for another despite already having dinner reservations in Paris. That second visit says more about our experience than a generic recommendation could: we had time for one more food stop, and chose the same place again.
The return also belonged to the wider day in Reims. We were not there only to taste Champagne and leave.
Reims Cathedral is its own reason to visit
Notre-Dame de Reims is a different cathedral from Notre-Dame de Paris. Its façade and interior gave us plenty to look at before the cellar tour.
The cathedral’s connection with French royal coronations is part of its history. UNESCO’s account of Reims Cathedral, the former Abbey of Saint-Rémi, and the Palace of Tau provides context for that relationship and the buildings’ architecture.
The episode preserves a personal comparison with Notre-Dame in Paris. It is an individual response to two visits, rather than a reason to declare one cathedral universally better. Reims also needs its own time in the day; it is more than a pause before a booked tour.
Underground at Veuve Clicquot
The Veuve Clicquot visit took us into the cellars and through explanations of how Champagne is made and aged, followed by a tasting. The underground setting held our interest alongside the production process.
At 26:01, Sean talks about his interest in the process, aging, and story behind the Champagne. That is the useful focus of this part of the visit: the setting and explanations are part of the experience alongside the tasting.
Use Veuve Clicquot’s official visit listings to compare the current tour formats. Different experiences can include different tastings and durations; the footage from our visit is not a promise that every booking follows the same format.
Compare the tour language, check-in time, included tasting, and duration on the official booking page. Our visit does not identify every current tour package.
Saint-Remi, biscuits, and the second kebab
We then visited Saint-Remi, a separate basilica from the cathedral. It added another stretch of architecture and quiet looking before we headed back toward the station.
And before the train, there was that second kebab.
We also picked up the pink biscuits associated with Reims. Souvenir shopping and a repeat lunch are easy parts to shorten if the cathedral or tour holds your attention longer. Keep the return station and train on the map while deciding what remains possible. This was a Reims day trip, not an overnight stay there.
Our fourth and final Paris bouillon
Our last dinner in Paris was at Bouillon République. With Pigalle, Chartier, and Julien already behind us, we could finally compare all four meals from the trip.
The final bouillon stop begins at 29:40. République closes the sequence that started with Pigalle and Chartier in Part 2 and continued with Julien here. The conversation includes enthusiastic reactions and a comparison with Pigalle. Watch the individual food reactions to see which dishes and dining experience sound closest to your taste.
These were four restaurant visits with different orders and individual reactions. They were not a controlled comparison of identical meals.
For current menus and visiting details, use Pigalle and République’s official site, Chartier’s official site, and Bouillon Julien’s official site. Our comments describe these visits in September 2026.
Sunday: leave room for the airport
We did not try to turn departure morning into another sightseeing day. We packed, checked out, and went to the airport. If you copy the final Paris base, look at the actual route from your hotel entrance to the RER platform and think about your bags on the stairs. Being near a station does not make every entrance or interchange equally convenient.
On Sunday, we checked out and headed to Charles de Gaulle on the RER B. The airport journey starts at 31:00, including the time needed to move through stations with luggage.
Check the destination and stopping pattern, allow for service changes, and keep your ticket or pass handy through the station exit. Île-de-France Mobilités provides official journey and ticket information.
Reaching the airport railway station still left the terminal and gate to find. We had no final sightseeing stop planned that morning.
Before boarding: confirm Charles de Gaulle on the departure information, rather than relying only on the line letter or a familiar color. Check current works and the stopping pattern, keep the ticket or pass accessible for the exit, and leave time after reaching the airport station for the correct terminal and gate.
Bookings and costs for this final chapter
| Decision | What our visit records | What to check for yours |
|---|---|---|
| Vernon rail tickets | €10 each way, booked early and tied to particular departures | Ticket conditions and a return connection with a comfortable margin |
| Return from Giverny | €22 before tip for our rideshare; the video estimates about €15 more than waiting for the bus | Current shuttle timetable and fare; do not assume a ride will be available |
| Reims cellar tour | A booked Veuve Clicquot visit with a tasting | Tour language, check-in time, route, duration, and included samples |
| Final Paris base | Two hotel nights with Reims as an out-and-back trip | Bag arrangements and your Sunday airport journey |
This table is not a total trip cost. We do not have a complete set of comparable hotel, train, meal, and attraction charges in this article. Its purpose is to show the decisions that changed our plan, particularly paying more to avoid waiting and using one Paris room for two nights.
How to adapt these two days
The clearest change is to plan the Giverny return before going into the gardens. Put the shuttle departure, pickup walk, station arrival, and booked train together. A low advance train fare is only a useful saving if the connections still let you enjoy the visit.
Friday is also the day to simplify if you dislike early starts. Someone already staying in Paris can reproduce the garden outing without our Germany-to-Paris leg. Someone returning from Europa-Park as we did may prefer omitting the shopping and La Défense evening. Those are ways to adapt our route, rather than additional firsthand itineraries.
Saturday fits travelers who want both the architecture and the cellars. Book the tour, then let the cathedral, Saint-Remi, food, and shopping fill the time around it. You do not have to repeat our second kebab or all four bouillon meals to make this part of the trip your own.
Map links for Giverny, Reims, and departure
- Paris departure for Vernon
- The rail connection for Giverny
- Monet’s house and gardens
- Our Vernon stop
- Reims station
- Our kebab stop
- Reims Cathedral
- The Champagne visit
- Saint-Remi
- Our last Paris dinner
- Departure airport
What the whole trip actually used
We flew into London and home from Paris, avoiding a return to London just to fly out. Between those flights were eight full days to explore, plus the travel at both ends, within ten calendar days away and five weekdays off work.
That made room for theater, museums, food, a theme park, gardens, and Reims. It also required moving luggage, watching departure boards, and changing plans when connections did not work as expected. The useful version to take from our trip is the set of choices, rather than an obligation to repeat every stop.
Start again with London in Episode 1, see how Paris and Europa-Park fit into Episode 2, or watch Europe on YouTube in order.
Filmed in September 2026. This companion article was updated October 30, 2026, against the finished video. Prices and transport conditions describe our visit and may have changed. The official garden season and Reims historical reference were checked October 30, 2026; check the linked operators for your own dates.
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