France Odyssey: Seine River, Reims, & Paris Day 11

Friday, October 13th, 2023

This morning we left Reims and the bus took us back to Paris. We said goodbye at the Charles De Gaulle airport to our other travelers who were heading home and the six of us met our Uber driver for a ride to the Hotel Du Continent in Paris. It was difficult to find a hotel room because the Rugby World Cup 2023 was going on while we were there.

Our Uber driver was great and got us to our hotel without any issues. Our rooms were ready at the hotel so we checked in and put our luggage in our rooms. Our room was definitely unique. The room was fine but we had to take stairs to the bathroom!

After dropping off our luggage we headed over to the Musée D’Orsey in the center of Paris along the Seine. We had a timed-entrance ticket for 3:30 PM and it was after 3:00. The Musée D’Orsey housed the largest collection of impressionist and post-impressionist masterpieces. It was the second biggest museum in Paris. The building was the former Orsay railway station which was built for the Universal Exhibition of 1900.

The Musée D’Orsey housed art creations from 1848-1914 and the largest collection of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist masterpieces in the world. The main hall was once the train tracks and the platforms.

The museum had three enormous clocks. The gold clock near the entrance was stunning and you could see another scaled model of the Statue of Liberty from behind.

The other two clocks were made of steel-framed and glass. Because the clocks were glass we could see Paris through the clocks!

A couple of pictures of Paris from the museum.

A few of the most famous works that we saw:

**Van Gogh’s Starry Night Over the Rhone!**

**Vincent Van Gogh’s Portrait of Dr. Gachet**

Edgar Degas’ *“Petite Danseuse de 14 Ans” (Small Dancer, Aged Fourteen)*

**Auguste Renoir’s Moulin de la Galette**

Some of our other favorites are located in the following slide show. We took so many pictures that it was difficult to choose.

We had a little time before our timed entrance into the Orangerie Museum. The distance between the museums was about a five minute walk so we were looking for a restaurant on the way to grab some dinner. We found a small little restaurant, Nicole’s. Everyone had a very good meal before it was time to leave for the museum.

This was the Orangerie’s night where they stay open late. It was so nice because it wasn’t crowded at all.

The Musée de l’Orangerie or Orangerie Museum was a stone building that was built in 1852 and was originally an orangery. It was a winter shelter for the orange trees that lined the garden of the Tuilleries Palace.

The museum housed Claude Monet’s 8 decorative panels. He gave them to France as a symbol for peace in 1922. These huge water lily panels were installed in 1927, a few months after Monet’s death. They were a permanent exhibit.

Seeing Monet’s Water Lilies was a highlight here but we did see artwork by Picasso, Matisse, Cézanne, Rousseau and more!

The museum had a display about the life of Paul Guillaume (1891-1934). He was an art dealer and collector. He wanted to collect enough art to create his own museum. Unfortunately he died at the age of 42 and his dream was never realized.

After the museum we walked back toward our hotel. We passed the Rugby Village for the 2023 World Cup.

Closer to our hotel we stopped and watched the Eiffel Tower sparkle! We’ve experienced before but it was still magical! It was a great ending to our day!

France Odyssey: Seine River, Reims, & Paris Day 7

Monday, October 9th, 2023

This morning we arrived in Les Andelys and it was foggy.

As we left the riverboat we past a medieval church located in the old town of Andelys. The St. Savior Church of Petit-Andely had a gothic facade and took four years to complete (1198-1202).

We also passed the Collégiale Notre-Dame de Vernon. It was another medieval Gothic church built between the 11th and 16th centuries.

Our first stop this morning was Giverny, the home of Claude Monet for 43 years. He lived here until he died in 1926. Claude Monet was the master of impressionism. The town became well known because of his Water Lilies paintings became famous world wide and many of his followers came to visit him in Giverny.

He designed several gardens: his water garden with its Japanese bridge and water lilies and Clos Normand walled garden.

The water garden was beautiful. Because we took so many pictures of the lilies and garden, we made a slide show. Please click through to view the beauty of this garden.

His other designed garden was the Clos Normand garden, which was in front of his house. Clos Normand meant enclosed garden Normandy. The name was given by an esteemed French gardener, Georges Truffaut who also gave Monet advice.

Monet could see the Clos Normand garden from his second story bedroom. Could you imagine waking up to that view each morning? There were paths that lead you through the garden and arches that he had his staff install for climbing roses. Many of the flowers were still in bloom and it was beautiful!

After we walked through the water garden and around the Clos Normand garden we toured his home. It was filled with replicas of many of his paintings, his collection of Japanese prints, furnishings, and photos of Claude.

Monet’s first studio was in the main house. He stored paintings he didn’t want to sell in this room. The furniture and objects that decorated it were authentic but the paintings were all copies!

In 1899 he built a large studio that now served as the gift shop!

This afternoon we went to visit the Château de Malmaison. It was purchased in 1799 by Joséphine Bonaparte without her husband’s knowledge. When he returned from Egypt he approved of the purchase.

Parts of the Château were under renovation. From 1800-1802 it was the seat of the French government along with the Tuileries. In 1802 the family moved to Saint-Cloud but Josephine made frequent trips to the Château to do renovations. After her divorce in 1809 from Napoleon he gave her the property. She lived here until her death in 1814. It became a museum in 1905.

The slide show below gives you an overview of how ornate the castle was decorated and furnished. It also had souvenirs from Napolean’s exile.

We walked around the grounds before we left.

France Odyssey: Seine River, Reims, & Paris Day 5

Saturday, October 7th, 2023

This morning we arrived in Le Havre, France. It was a major port city in the Normandy region and it was located where the Seine River emptied into the English Channel.

Near our dock we could see the last US Army tugboat that served here from 1944-1946. The boat was now a museum ship.

We rode through the town of Le Havre on our way to Étretat. Le Havre was almost completely rebuilt after WWII. It was the first modern city and one of two post-WWII cities recognized as a World Heritage site by UNESCO. Auguste Perret was the chief architect for reconstruction and used reinforced concrete.

A little over 370 acres of concrete made up the city.

This memorial was to commemorate residents of La Havre who had lost their lives in WWI, WWII, wars in Indochina (1946-1954) and Algeria (1954-1962).

The “Catène de Containers” art installation was constructed from shipping containers by Vincent Ganivet for La Havre’s 500th anniversary.

The Le Havre Cathedral was one of the few buildings that survived the bombings of WWII. The main facade was Baroque and the bell tower was from around 1520.

The Cathedral was built in the 16th-17th century and was only partially damaged during WWII.

This morning our first stop was Étretat. It was a seaside town that was known for its white cliffs which many impressionist painters had painted. The most famous was Claude Monet.

Erosion created arches and the needle-like structure. We had time to climb the east side or west side of the beach. We climbed the west side path that also lead to an 18-hole golf course. The views were beautiful from the top of trail.

Click through the slideshow to see the gorgeous cliffs, beach, and town!

The old wooden Covered Market was built in 1927 for fish stalls. Today there were shops inside.

Etretat had old medieval half-timbered homes.

Maurice Leblanc’s home was built around 1850. Maurice was a French novelist. He called the home “Clos Lupin” after his fictional character from his popular short stories that began in 1905. The home was confiscated by the Germans during its occupation of Etretat. The home eventually was purchased by his granddaughter and she turned it into a museum.

Our next stop was Honfleur, France.

Bell tower would signal when time to get back to work!

Le Vieux Bassin, the old port was a focal point of this beautiful city. It was lined with distinctive tall, narrow, timber-framed, and slate-clad townhouses built from the 16th to 18th century.

Sainte Catherine Church was the largest wooden church in France. Its bell tower was separate from the main building.

The inside of the church.

The La Lieutenance was the last bastion of medieval Honfleur.

We walked past the town hall.

We saw the Roncheville manor which once was the residence of the governors of Honfleur. We walked into the Courtyard of the Roncheville Manor.

Closeup of the entrance to the courtyard of the manor.

We walked down the Rue des Petites Boucheries. The name of this street dated to the 17th century and was named because it was lined with butchers stalls.

Near the harbour was a beautiful vintage carousel. Four of us rode it and enjoyed our ride!

After our tour of the town we had free time. We walked around the beautiful harbor and then found an outdoor patio for champagne and an afternoon snack. The owner, waitress, and a neighbor child helped us and were so kind and attentive.