Monet's Trail, Rouen France
September 8, 2023 - by Muriel Dassen
For the tour that we have called Monet's Trail we have chosen Rouen as the central point. Rouen is the capital of Normandy and was a thriving commercial city due to its location on the river Seine giving direct access by sea. The city was heavily bombed during WW II but on the North bank many sights have been preserved, making Rouen almost an open air museum in its entirety. The Cathedral of Our Lady inspired the French impressionist painter Claude Monet for his impressive series of impressions of the cathedral facade. So a perfect central point for our Monet inspired tour. With the rides we will be exploring this part of Normandy with some Monet inspired and other stops to fully enjoy your roadtrip here.
Of course you can download the GPX / ITN files and full e-books of the 2 rides we have in this tour via our roadtrip planner but you can already find the info in this blogpost.
The Cathedral, also called a lacework of stone, is definitely the highlight of Rouen. But Rouen has more to offer, such as the Rue du Gros Horloge and the Place du Vieux Marché. And you will also find some interesting places on another famous French person: Jeanne d'Arc. If you are interested, you can visit the Historial Jeanne d'Arc where you will get to know everything on this heroine. Find more info on its website here.
Recommended hotels:
Rating on Booking.com: Very Good 8.4
With private secure parking on site – not covered – reservation needed and fee
applicable
In city centre Rouen
Rating on Booking.com: Very good 8.2
With private parking garage – reservation needed and fee applicable
In city centre Rouen
Rating on Booking.com: Fabulous 8.9
With private parking garage – reservation needed and fee applicable
5 to 10 minute walk to city centre Rouen
Rating on Booking.com: Very good 8.5
With private parking garage - reservation not needed (but we do recommend to mention
secure parking)and fee applicable
With bar
35 minute walk to centre Rouen, public transportation nearby
Rating on Booking.com: Superb 9.4
With free on site – not covered - parking
selfcatered accommodation
12 km / 7,5 miles from centre Rouen
Rating on Booking.com: Superb 9.4
With on site free private and secure parking
Breakfast included and (Italian) dinners can be prepared upon request at an
extra cost.
8 km/5 miles from city centre Rouen, public transportation nearby
Rating on Booking.com: Very good 8.2
Private parking on site - reservation is not needed (but we do recommend to
mention secure parking) and fee applicable
10 minute walk to centre Rouen
Ride 1
Ride 1 of Monet's Trail tour is a beautiful ride through this inland part of Normany of 205 km / 130 miles. Besides the absolute Claude Monet highlight in this area - his house and gardens in the village of Giverny - this ride has a coffeestop in a lovely village and will give you a nice view on the so called Haute Seine.
In Lyons-la-Foret you wille find some amazingly well-preserved Normandy style half-timbered houses next to some bars and terraces on the Place Isaac Benserade. A perfect first stop of this ride 1.
As this is Monet's Trail tour, we could not leave Giverny out of this ride, as Claude Monet rented a house in the village in 1883. He stayed here until he died in 1926, creating his own sublime garden that gave him the inspiration for some of his most famous paintings. Saumur is also famous for its castle and again we added a "Kodak point" to your gpx file to have the best view from across the river. If you are sure you want to visit the house and gardens you might want to book your tickets in advance as it can get really busy here. For more information on the Fondation Claude Monet and tickets, please visit this website.
From the ruins of Chateau de Gaillard you will get this beautiful view on the part of the river Seine that is called the Haute Seine. A very popular stop amongst bikers to stretch your legs and enjoy the views.
Rouen Panorama de la Cote Sainte Catherine
Following the river Seine will bring you right back at Rouen, the central point of this Monet's Trail tour. And what is a better way to end this beautiful ride 1 with an absolute Monet highlight than with this amazing view over the city of 100 bell towers. Can you spot them all?
Ride 2
The 215 km / 130 of ride 2 of Monet's Trail tour will take you through the natural park of the loops of the Seine towards Honfleur at the coast. Honfleur was also a very popular place for Monet to visit as he loved the soft light on the harbour and in the picturesque alleys. To get to Honfleur, we will have to cross the 3 big bridges over the river Seine!
Just before will be crossing the first bridge in this ride 2, the Point de Brotonne, we have added a coffeestop in Rives en Seine, where you can get this view on the
bridge. The Pont de Brotonne has crossed the Seine since 1977 and gets its name from the surrounding forests. It is a cable-stayed bridge and reaches 320 metres
(350 yd), made of prestressed concrete. It was the first bridge of this type in the world. The bridge is considered to be the inspiration for the much larger Sunshine
Skyway Bridge in Florida.
Pont de Tancarville
The second bridge we have to take to cross the river Seine is the Pont de Tancarville, a suspension bridge. It was completed in 1959 at a cost of 9 billion francs.
The last bridge over the Seine before the river reaches the English Channel is the Pont de Normandie. It is also the newest of the 3 bridges as this one opened on 20 January 1995. It is a cable-stayed road bridge, because it was both cheaper and more resistant to the hight winds than the alternative, linking Le Havre on the right bank to Honfleur on the left bank of the river Seine. Its total length is 2,143.21 metres /7,032 ft.
For your lunchstop in this ride 2 we have taken you to a place that Monet frequently visited ánd painted: the lovely city of Honfleur. We are sure that you will find a nice place to have lunch - if you're up for it the fish is deliciously fresh here - and maybe have a little walk through the small alleys.
Since we left Honfleur after lunch it has been a nice ride and just before the ride will reach the last loop in the Seine before Rouen again, we have added another
stop if you do not want to do this in one go. You can have a drink and stretch your legs in Bourg-Achard where we found Café de la Place on the Place de la Mairie
with plenty of parking.
Go on your own QUAZY RIDE
You can download the GPX / ITN files of the rides and the full e-books via our roadtrip planner and then we hope you will enjoy the rides you will be doing in this Quazy Rides Monet's Trail tour and your stay in Rouen.
If you are posting on social media, don't forget to tag Quazy Rides or use the #QuazyRides, because we LOVE to see you having fun with our rides.
