Private Tours NORMANDY Monet
Advised tours : MONET
These programs are given as an example, they can be modified depending on the pick up location and on your interests.
TOUR 1 :
On the way to Normandy from Paris or vice versa : Visit to Giverny and Monet’s Gardens / Rouen or Honfleur.
TOUR 2 :
From Deauville or Honfleur : « Into the heart of Claude Monet » : Honfleur / Rouen / Trouville.
TOUR 3 :
Leaving from Bayeux or Honfleur : « Monet and the picturesque Auge area » :
Trouville / Honfleur / Pays d’Auge (Lisieux, Visit to a cider farm, Beuvron en Auge).
MONET
Claude Monet is a painter recognized today around the world as one of the most famous French impressionists. His work can be viewed in museums and art galleries found throughout the four corners of the world. However, you may not be aware that most of Monet’s work was inspired and painted here in Normandy. He grew up near the Norman Port of Le Havre and following the completion of his studies in Paris, he naturally returned to the place of his childhood. During his time in Paris, he met Eugene Boudin, a native of Honfleur who was to become his mentor and lifelong friend. Following the example of Boudin, Monet experimented with a new technique of painting in the open-air at a time when most painters worked indoors. He was inspired to do so by the scenery and light conditions found on the Norman coast. He completed most of his coastal scenes around Honfleur and the beaches of Trouville, a seaside resort since the 1860’s. The paintings he did in Rouen contained a series of the Cathedral showing how different outdoor lighting could affect the majestic subjects of his work. Monet spent more than half of his life in the little village of Giverny surrounded by beautiful country landscapes. It is possible today to visit the artist’s house to get an insight to the inspiration of this master painter. The gardens that he first landscaped, he then spent half of his life painting, notably the « Japanese bridge » over the « Water Lily Pond ».
Advised toursGIVERNY :
At the centre of a rich and undulating countryside, the village of Giverny, just outside Vernon, had the privilege of being, from 1883 onwards, the principal residence of the impressionist painter, Claude Monet. This charming village of Giverny became, in just a few years, famous worldwide thanks to the presence of this talented precursor of modern art. To this day, Normandy represents one of the central places for modern artists to work outside in the same circumstances and places as the original Impressionists. Claude Monet counted amongst his friends Eugene Boudin, another celebrated impressionist from Honfleur, and George Clemenceau, who was twice French Prime Minister. During the 1890’s, artists, principally Americans, started to visit Giverny to meet “The Master”, amongst others, Robinson, Metcalf, Theodore Butler, Finn, Perry, and Jongkind the Dutch painter, who stayed mainly at the Auberge Baudy during their time in the village. Over the years the number of visitors coming to show their respect to this talented man that was Claude Monet increased. Today’s visitor, after having visited all the rooms of the great artist’s house and having seen his collection of Japanese prints, can walk the paths of the garden which gave Monet his inspiration for his garden series of paintings a century ago. You can see the lilies, the Japanese bridge and the colourful passages of this garden that is shown in the majority of his work. A visit to Monet’s house and gardens at Giverny is simply captivating where you can relive the atmosphere, the interests and the passions that inspired his work.
ROUEN :
Complete your day in the world of artists by a visit to this town, also much loved by Monet. The town of Rouen is quite simply a work of art in itself, with its medieval half timbered houses, religious architecture, the massive Town Clock and the famous who have lived and died here, such as Flaubert, Corneille and Joan of Arc.
HONFLEUR :
After a visit to Monet’s house in Giverny you can visit Honfleur, the other town in Normandy where painters lived including the French impressionist artist and friend of Monet, Eugene Boudin. Honfleur is the town that the impressionist artists loved, with the variety of colours and contrasts offered by the sights of Sainte Catherine’s Quay, the port and the town rising up behind.
TROUVILLE :
This little fishing port on the « Cote fleurie », “Flowered coast” in English, is situated at the mouth of the River Touques. Trouville grew rapidly from the very start of tourism as an industry and its popularity originated from sea water bathing which allowed the town to expand from the 1860’s onwards. Taken by the charm of this village, the Impressionists Claude Monet and Eugene Boudin painted some of their first seaside works here, immortalising the aristocrats of Europe by the sea around the Hotel of “Les Roches Noires” in the 19th Century. After trying some of the local seafood, the tour can be finished with a walk along the port past the fishing boats sitting on the bottom at low tide or past the casino along the seafront promenade.
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