france - day 11

Feeling better on Day 11, I was ready to visit Giverny, the long-time home of Impressionist Claude Monet. But first we went to the city of Rouen, situated on the banks of the Seine River. We saw lots and lots of people walking with determination toward a common destination. There was going to be a large demonstration against the increased retirement age and it seemed that all the citizens of Rouen were enroute.

We, however, were enroute to the Cathedrale Notre-Dame. This Gothic masterpiece is dominated by the famous west facade, painted over 30 times, in different lights, by Claude Monet. We were shown where Monet had 3 different studios, each overlooking the cathedral from different aspects. Monet would move from one to the other, depending on which light he was painting.

We visited the interior of the church, known for its stained glass windows and cast iron steeple, and then exited through another portal which was also highly carved in the Flamboyant Gothic style:

We walked down the rue du Gros-Horloge (Big Clock Street), passing by this delicious tea and cakes shop:

Medieval and more modern buildings lined the street. We were told how to recognize the older buildings - in medieval times the building owners were taxed on the footprint of the building, so in order to get more space, they would build second and third stories that projected out from the footprint, thus avoiding increased taxes. The building on the right, below, is from medieval times; the one on the left is more modern.

The 16th century Gros-Horloge has a single hand, to tell the hour, and indicators for the day of the week and the phases of the moon. The street below is now only for pedestrians.

We walked down to the Place du Vieux Marche, the Old Market Square, where we saw the very modern (1979), dragon-like Church of Joan of Arc. In a sheltered courtyard was the spot where Joan of Arc was burned alive in 1431, having been tried and sentenced to death for heresy. She was 19 years old.

Then we were on our way to Giverny, the home of Claude Monet. A protege of Eugene Boudin of Honfleur, Monet was one of the most prolific painters of the Impressionist school, producing over 2000 paintings in his lifetime. As an art history major in college, I studied all the great masters. I liked some of them and disliked others. I LOVED Monet and the opportunity to see the spot where he painted so many masterpieces was truly thrilling for me.

Monet lived and painted at Giverny for over 40 years. Today, the gardens and his house are beautifully maintained by a charitable foundation, with admission fees helping to cover the enormous expense of taking care of the property. His lily pond was featured in many of his paintings...

as was his green Japanese bridge. Monet was highly influenced by Japanese woodblock prints, many of which are displayed in his nearby house. The photo below looks just like one of his paintings, but I actually took the picture. :)

We were there!

We left the lily ponds and wandered through the gardens on our way to Monet's house.

I couldn't believe I was seeing in real life what I had so often admired in museums or in art text books. I was in heaven!

Then our visit was over and we were on our way to our last stop, Paris.