In the summer of 2017 I decided it was time to treat myself to a retirement/new life trip. I had been receiving emails from Road Scholar and saw a trip to France that focused on the Impressionist painter. Half of the trip was based in Paris and other half with be cruising down the Scene of a modest river boat. It sounded perfect and I made the commitment! Only point of indecision was to go as a single or be assigned a roommate. In the end to save money, I elected to take a roommate. This decision hung over my head, especially after I saw a picture of the boat's stateroom in early spring. I was told, however, that it was too late to change my mind. When things are meant to be - things have a way of working out. When my assigned roommate arrived in Paris, she decided that the hotel accommodations were too small for 2 unrelated traveler and being a regular Road Scholar, it was decided that we each should be assigned our own rooms. Fate was looking over my shoulder as it would have be uncomfortable to share the small room/cabin. The other concern was how was I to get to Boston or New York airport. Again, problem solved when I asked the travel agent from Road Scholar if I could fly out of Hartford. Suddenly, I was booked on an Aer Lingus plant flying from Hartford to Dublin and then Dublin to Paris. It had been a long time since I took of a trip like this, so I spend last winter/early spring thinking about what to take and shopping. Ed and Wilda were very helpful in reminding me it is really best to travel light. I did travel pretty light and now I know I could have even travel lighter.. lesson for the next trip.
May 19 - Sue an Rob took me to the airport - I was nervous something might happen on the way to the airport, so they agreed to see me on my way. Aer Lingus check in was no problem and I was on my way. Seat with a nice gentlemen with no one sitting between us. I read and before I was in Dublin. Dublin has a long low terminal, with a little help from my seat mate, I was the right gat for the trip to Paris. Arrived, found luggage, met a member of the group and the Road Scholar driver found us. The adventure began!
The group was booked into Hotel Les Jardins du Marais. It was a very nice hotel with a very nice open courtyard area.
The best news was that my assigned roommate decide that the room was simply too small for two related persons to share. Road Scholar accepted her request that we each be given our own rooms - at the hotel and on the boat. Jean was to be my room mate and while we enjoyed each others company on the trip, it was wonderful not to have to share. Actually Jean took me on a walking tour of the area around our hotel and to the open air market. It was a wonderful introduction to the neighborhood.
All throughout the afternoon, participants arrived and soon we gathered for orientation. Most of group was in love with the impressionists and looked forward to seeing where and what they painted. That evening we made a pleasant walk to Chef Jenny's for the first of many wonderful meals. Next time I travel, I'll keep a food diary as I had some wonderful food, but I can no longe recall the details.
On Monday, we began our exploration for the French Impressionists we when headed off to Montmartre. It was already clear that some of the participants would not be able to walk up hill, so we took the tram which was very pleasant. Once we arrived at the top, we could look down on Paris - what a wonderful sight.
Then we headed off to the Museum of Montmartre. This museum and gardens was a delight - it recounts the history of Montmartre, recreated Renoir's Garden and offers an video which highlights history of the area as well as the story of artist Suzanne Valadon.
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| Grandma in Renoir's Garden |
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| Restaurant where we enjoyed |
I really enjoyed walking around Montmartre, as it provided a hint of what it was like when the Renoir and the other greats lived and painted in this area.
After lunch we headed off to the Louvre. Certainly the Louvre is magnificent and it was important to stop there. I, however, the logistic were awkward: it was crowded, several of the participants felt they needed wheel chairs and then for some reason no one explained, the galleries were shut down for a brief period of time. In the end I saw the Mona Lisa and was glad I went.
On our fourth day, we headed out of Paris for Auvers-sur-Oise to see were Vincent Van Gogh painted and spent his final days. It was amazing how the bus driver maneuvered through the streets of Paris. I was interesting to see the country side and I particularly enjoyed the housing styles as we traveled though the smaller towns to arrive at Auvers-sur-Oise. The highlights of our time was Auvers Town Hall, the Notre Dame D'Auvers and the Le Maison de Van Gogh and finally the cemetery where Vincent and later his brother were buried. We also stood in the field where he probably used to painted in July 1890.
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| street scene - then and now |
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| the fields above Auvers-sur-Oise |
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| Notre Dame D'Auvers |
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Formerly the Favoux Inn
Le Maison de Van Gogh |
After walking through the town, up to the church and the cemetery and through the fields where Vincent painted, we walking back to a restaurant opposite the Town Hall. I'll admit it, I was thrilled to see the key landmarks in Vincent Van Gogh's life. After the standard excellent Road Scholar meal, but got on the bus and headed back to Paris. As we approached the city, the bus driver reported the hospital workers were on strike, so it would be impossible to get close to our hotel. When we met up with the demonstration, we got off the bus and walked back to the hotel. We stopped at the Picasso Museum which is a modest but pleasant museum.
The Musee d'Orsay is simply amazing. The converted railroad station is handsome on the outside, but absolutely amazing on the inside. The architect did a wonderful job dividing up the huge space into comfortable, manageable galleries and then there is the art!
Clearly, many of the painting are ones that you recognize, but you can't believe that you are seeing them all in once space.
Road Scholar once again provided us with a delightful lunch inside the museum. It gave one a sense of luxury that travelers must have enjoyed.
The history of the museum is very interesting. Below it is captured from Wikipedia.
In 1970, permission was granted to demolish the station but Jacques Duhamel, Minister for Cultural Affairs, ruled against plans to build a new hotel in its stead. The station was put on the supplementary list of Historic Monuments and finally listed in 1978. The suggestion to turn the station into a museum came from the Directorate of the Museums of France. The idea was to build a museum that would bridge the gap between the Louvre and the National Museum of Modern Art at the Georges Pompidou Centre. The plan was accepted by Georges Pompidou and a study was commissioned in 1974. In 1978, a competition was organized to design the new museum. ACT Architecture, a team of three young architects (Pierre Colboc, Renaud Bardon and Jean-Paul Philippon), were awarded the contract which involved creating 20,000 square metres (220,000 sq ft) of new floorspace on four floors. The construction work was carried out by Bouygues.[3] In 1981, the Italian architect Gae Aulenti was chosen to design the interior including the internal arrangement, decoration, furniture and fittings of the museum. Finally in July 1986, the museum was ready to receive its exhibits. It took 6 months to install the 2000 or so paintings, 600 sculptures and other works. The museum officially opened in December 1986 by then-president François Mitterrand.
I recall seeing many of Rodin's sculptures on the Sanford Campus, so I wasn't all that excited about going to the Rodin Museum - but once we entered It as clear that it was worth our time.
Of course, I spent some of my time searching pieces by Camille Caludel and was not disappointed.
My experience at the Rodin Museum acted as a reminder that one should keep on looking even at the end of a long day filled with much wonderful art as there is always something more to see. And so, several of us around the energy to go to the de l'Orangerie.
Claude Monet's Water Lilies
After hearing about the de l'Orangeries and Monet's water lilies, a group of us just had to find a little more energy and take in one more museum. It certainly was worth the effort even if our tired brains, eyes and feet could only take on the water lilies! But the experience did set the stage for Giverney a few days later.
After another delightful dinner, we boarded our bus and headed out to tour Paris at night. Unfortunately, it was a rainy evening. But the rain stopped when we arrived at the Eiffel Tower where I played tourist and had my picture taken when some new French friends.
On morning of Day 6 we boarded our bus and headed out for Normandy. It was a lovely ride through the French country side. After several hours we arrived at the white cliffs of Etretat. The grey clouds didn't really distract, once I buttoned up my jacket.
This lovely sea side town inspired many french impressionist and me too.
This lovely sea side town inspired many french impressionist and me too.
