A newcomer to Giverny, Monet in Vernon

Claude Monet 1883 Houses on the Old Bridge. Oil on Canvass. @New Orleans Museum of Art. Promised and Partial Gift of Mrs. John N. Weinstock in memory of Mr. and Mrs. B. Bernard Kreisler.

Shortly after moving to Giverny in April 1883, Claude Monet began painting some of the local landmarks. The church at Vernon was one of these, and he would revisit this subject again 11 years later. Another very quaint, historical landmark he painted in the summer of 1883 is the Old Bridge; definitely worth a quick visit for anyone on their way to Giverny via Vernon.

Anyone coming from Paris to Giverny by train, it is at Vernon where you get off the train and head to Giverny by other means. Giverny to Vernon is only a few kilometres, and if the weather is good, cycling is a popular option – bicycles are available for hire at the train station in Vernon. On your way to Giverny, while crossing the River Seine and looking to the left you will see the remains of an old stone bridge, those painted by Monet in 1883 while on a boat on the Seine.

These remains were once part of a Medieval bridge built King Philip II while he was at war with Richard the Lionheart; he had the stone bridge built so that he could move his troops across the river with ease. The bridge was heavily protected, on the south side was a town, Vernon, with its castle and walls, and the remains of a keep are still visible today. While on the north side of the river, in what is today Vernonnet, there is what was a fortified bridgehead, today called the Tourelles Castle.

The bridge very quickly became an economic feature rather than a military one, and soon there were five mills built on it as well as some fisheries. But the bridge was never well maintained and soon fell into disrepair. Originally built with 25 arches, by 1830 there were only 8 left standing. The bridge was originally abandoned as a fully functional bridge in 1651 when two arches were lost during a particularly bad flooding event.

There have been a series of other bridges across the Seine at this point, but most have been destroyed in various wars and battles. The bridge in use today was opened in 1954, and is named after the World War I Prime Minister of France Clemenceau, a friend and supporter of Monet and his art, and who owned a house in a nearby village.

What remains of the houses on the old bridge today, 2010.

For anyone wishing to stay overnight in Vernon Booking.com lists Hotels in and near Vernon for you to choose from.