Giverny Day with Monet Foundation Audio Guided Tour from Paris

The Monet home is...

The Monet home is beautiful and the visit an immersive experience. In order to make visit more successful, activity location links such as restaurant should be included in itinerary.

Response from the operator: Dear Charu, Thank you for sharing your experience and for this thoughtful suggestion! We completely understand how helpful it would be to have restaurant information included in the itinerary, and we'll be sure to share this feedback with the relevant department for consideration. We're delighted to hear you enjoyed such an immersive visit to Monet's home! We look forward to welcoming you again in the future! Kind regards, Extime Travel (formerly Paris City Vision)

via Viator

Extra time debatable and painting with artist is extra

Our bus left at 8:15 and arrived around 9:45. We could have gone back at 12:00, but stayed for the later bus at 6pm. The extra time was great as we didn't want to feel rushed for the house and gardens. The house, art, and gardens were beautiful, and enjoyed walking at a slow pace. We also saw the Impressionist Museum down the street. However, we did have a lot of extra time after those two included in the purchase. Site talks about "painting under the tutelage of an artist". This is not a part of this package. Found the shop for this on our walk. This is extra, 150 per person, and has to be reserved ahead of time through another place. This was not expressed in any way, so misleading. Not sure where to even go to make reservation. Plan for 3 hours for this. That's where the extra time would come in handy. The audio guide was from a website and had to use our phone and headset (downloading didn't help as you had to have the app to play it, but no app was found when trying to get it for android phone). Realized that when we got to the house, the audio was supposed to start when we left Paris. So didn't really listen to it.

Response from the operator: Thank you for your detailed review. We’re delighted to hear you enjoyed the beauty of the house, gardens, and museum, as well as having time to explore at your own pace. We’re sorry for the confusion regarding the painting activity and the audio guide. This activity is not part of the tour, and we’ll make sure to clarify this better in our descriptions. Your feedback is very helpful for improving the experience. Kind regards,

via Viator

Employee Training Needed!

The guide was rather rude, noted that 2 people would be staying but never noted that it was us. She talked too fast, gave copious instructions that were difficult to follow. Repeatedly she warned people that if they weren't at the bus on time, they'd be dumped. (Both my companion and I are university professors so we should be able to follow) We were happy that we were leaving the trip. When we returned, that guide was also rude, the bus was half full and, since we were there early the driver let us sit. When she arrived, she said, "those are not your seats. You will have to move". Since we hadn't been on the bus before, we had no idea. She was no help in giving us directions to the bus and couldn't wait to be off work. The bus driver, however, was kind and thoughtful and a treasure for your company. For all the kind we met during our 10 days in Paris (and this was certainly not our first visit, the people working for you are no asset to you. I would never recommend your company.

Response from the operator: Dear Susan, Thank you for taking the time to share your experience. We’re truly sorry to hear that your interaction with our guide fell short of expectations. Courtesy, clarity, and professionalism are values we take very seriously, and it’s deeply disappointing to learn that you felt disrespected and unsupported during your tour. We also regret the confusion around the bus seating and lack of assistance, this should have been handled with far more consideration. Your feedback is being shared with our operations team so we can follow up directly with the guide involved and reinforce our service standards. We’re glad to hear that the driver made a positive impression, we’ll be sure to pass your kind words on to him. We genuinely appreciate your candid comments and are very sorry that your experience with us contrasted so starkly with the warmth you otherwise felt during your time in Paris. Best regards,

via Viator

Download the app before you go if on the self-guided tour

Overall, our experience was nice. However, it would have been better if the tour company provided listening devices/ear buds as an option rather than rely on our phones to download an app. Even though I have a good international phone plan, I was unable to fully load the app in Giverny and noticed others had difficulty as well. That said, I was not able to listen to the narration on the self-guided tour until I returned to the hotel. I would definitely try to download the app ahead of time and bring earbuds.

via Viator

BOOK AT YOUR OWN RISK

BOOK AT YOUR OWN RISK. I have never written a bad review in my life, but this place warrants it. This was an extremely scary experience that put a huge damper on my trip to Paris. I booked a full day at Monet's Gardens, but they put me on a bus with people who had only booked a half-day. I was told halfway through the bus ride that I would need to find the second "afternoon" bus to get back to Paris. The tour guide gave me zero information on what the bus looked like, who the second guide would be, and didn't provide me with a name or phone number. She simply said "Just get here before 5:45pm and look around, you'll find it. The bus leaves at 5:45pm." I waited in that parking lot from 5pm to 6pm - a full hour - and asked every single bus driver in the lot. Nobody was with Paris City Vision. I was completely alone 2 hours outside of Paris, and I kept calling their customer service line but nobody picked up. I texted their WhatsApp, but nobody answered. I tried to get in touch with the tour guide, but she didn't pick up either. Eventually I had to call an Uber, which cost me $140. I've spoken to other people who've had similar experiences with Paris City Vision. Their customer service is virtually nonexistent, and you have to repeatedly call and email them over and over to even get a response. They finally looked into the situation and found that their tour guide had indeed given me the wrong time, but STILL refused to pay me back for my Uber. They essentially messed up on their end, I had to pay for it, and then they didn't absolutely nothing about it. Again, have never written a bad review in my life. But there's a certain way to treat people, and this is not it. I've never felt so snubbed and disrespected by a company before. Again, book at your own risk - this isn't the first time someone has been stranded because of a mess-up on their end.

via Tripadvisor