impressionism – Dave and Kay's Travel Adventures

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!

Thursday, October 5th, 2023

Over night we arrived at Conflans-Sainte-Honorine which was located 27 miles on the right bank from Paris. This village originally was called Conflans because it was located at the confluence of the Seine and Oise rivers. Sainte-Honorine was added to its name in the 13th century after the female Saint Honorina.

We woke up early and the sun was rising and outside the river looked ominous!

Once the sun was up the river mist cleared and the river and sky looked beautiful.

This morning was a walking tour “Tracing Vincent Van Gogh’s Footsteps” in Auvers-sur-Oise and Auberge Ravoux.

As we were walking into town we were excited to see the Horse Chestnut trees with many of the nuts falling on the ground. To those of us from Ohio we all picked up what we called a Buckeye! They were very similar!

Van Gogh lived here from May 20th, 1890 until July 29th, 1890 when he died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. He was very productive in the few months he lived here. Some of his best works were painted from this area.

During the time that Van Gogh lived in Auvers-sur-Oise he painted almost 80 works in 70 days. One of his paintings was of the Notre Dame d’ Auvers church. The church was begun in the 11th century from local stone and was added onto in 1170. We visited this church which had a copy of his painting hanging in the sanctuary. This church became infamous thanks to Van Gogh’s painting!

We walked by the stairway that was in Van Gogh’s painting, “Stairway at Auvers”!

Another building that Vincent Van Gogh made famous because he painted it was the Town Hall. What he painted was his view of the Town Hall when he left the Auberge Ravoux which was where he stayed.

We also visited the Auberge Ravoux and the room where Vincent Van Gogh lived and died. He arrived here on May 20th, 1890.

L’ Auberge Ravoux Inn and Restaurant since 1876.

Dave sat at the table in front of the Auberge Ravoux and inside Vincent Van Gogh’s table was near the back of the dining room.

He paid 1 franc a day for room #5 which was a little over 75 square feet and was lit by a sky light. He paid 2.50 francs per day for his meals. We walked up the staircase and saw his little room but no pictures were allowed. Vincent Van Gogh tried to end his life by shooting himself in the chest but made it back to his room and two days later died in his attic room.

Vincent Van Gogh was buried in Auvers Cemetery. Six months later his brother Theo died in the Netherlands at the age of 33. In 1914 his wife had his remains moved so that the two close brothers could be reunited after death! We walked to the Auvers Cemetery and visited their graves.

The brothers graves were covered in ivy and sunflowers interspersed.

Emile Boggio was another impressionist painter that died at the age of 63 in Auvers-sur-Oise and was buried here.

We walked back into the center of town we passed a statue dedicated to Charles Francois Daubigny. He died in 1878 at the age of 61 and was a French painter. He was known for his landscape paintings and was considered to be an important precursor of impressionism.

We really enjoyed our walk around the town and in Vincent Van Gogh’s footsteps! Back to the boat we went for lunch and our afternoon was free.

This afternoon we explored the town of Conflans-Sainte-Honorine. We walked up toward the old upper historic center of town.

We stopped at the Saint Maclou Church. It was built between the 10th and 12th centuries and enlarged in the 15th, 17th, and 19th centuries. It had a Romanesque-style bell tower that was topped by a stone spire.

The relics of Saint Honorina were kept in the Saint Maclou Church. She was the oldest revered virgin martyr of Normandy. It was said that her body was thrown into the Seine near the town of Le Havre and drifted to the site of Conflans-Sainte-Honorine and the town reportedly collected her remains and they buried by the Christian community. Her bones are kept in the church.

We walked along the narrow street, Rue de la Tour, and a class of school children on a field trip passed us. Many said hello in English.

Rue de la Tour gave us great views of the rooftops and the Seine River. We also saw the forest of Saint-Germain-en-Laye. This forest had many 100 year old trees and it also was part of the ancient forest of Yveline where many kings of France hunted.

Back down near the river we walked passed City Hall that was finished in 1896.

We looked back up the hill and we could see the Monjoie Tower in ruins. It was part of the medieval castle of Conflans. It was built in the 11th century on the site of a fort that was made of wood.