Our last shore excursion was in Giverny, a village in the region of Normandy. Claude Monet lived and worked here from 1883 until his death in 1926. He was a French painter and the founder of Impressionism painting. The term “Impressionism” is derived from the title of his painting, “Impression, Sunrise.” Monet’s ambition to document the French countryside led him to paint the same scene many times so he could capture the changing light at different times of the day and…
After our time in Les Andelys, we had lunch on our riverboat and then sailed to Vernon where we took a short walking tour through the old part of town. The picture above the title is the Old Mill. The Old Mill is a landmark in Vernon and was originally a water mill. It was built between two piers of an old bridge over the Seine. Several mills like this one used to be operating on the river all along…
The next day our tour took us to the town of Les Andelys. Even from a distance, we could see a medieval castle named Château Gaillard. Construction began in 1196 under the direction of Richard the Lionheart, who was both King of England and feudal Duke of Normandy. The castle was expensive to build, but the majority of the work was done in just two years. The Château Gaillard has a relatively advanced design, using early principles of concentric fortification….
Our next port of call was Caudebec-en-Caux. From there we took a bus to D-Day sites in Normandy. We first stopped at Pointe Du Hoc, lying between Omaha Beach and Utah Beach. In World War II, German forces occupied Pointe du Hoc, protecting the coastline with a battery of heavy guns. On the morning of June 6, 1944, US Army Rangers scaled 90-foot cliffs to capture this heavily defended position and then held it against repeated counterattacks. Their heroic actions…
The next day we visited Rouen which was one of my favorite towns on this trip. Rouen was once one of the largest and most prosperous cities of medieval Europe. These next pictures are ones of the Rouen Cathedral. It is famous for its three towers, each in a different style: Early Gothic, Flamboyant and Renaissance. Claude Monet was fascinated with the Cathedral and painted it 40 times between 1892 and 1894. Work on the Cathedral began in 1030 and…
After our time in Paris, our riverboat set sail for our first port of call, Poissy. From there we took a bus to the Palace of Versailles. Both the Palace and the Gardens are a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Walking to the Palace entrance, we were struck by the beauty of the gates and fencing surrounding the Palace. The gilded gates were originally built to impress guests and emphasize the grandeur of the monarchy. The gold leaf was a sign…
Our bus tour in Paris took us to the Palais Garnier, Paris’ opera house. It was the setting for the movie, Phantom of the Opera. The opera house is famous for its opulent common rooms designed to impress high society. When we visited, preparation for a performance was in progress so we could only visit the common areas and could not enter the auditorium. Pictured below is the ceremonial stairway. It is made of multicolored marble and splits into two…
We took Tauck’s “Impressions from the Seine” tour traveling from Paris to Normandy. We arrived a day early and stayed at the Hotel Lutetia, a beautiful hotel with an interesting history. During World War II, when Germany occupied Paris, the Nazis seized the Hotel and repurposed it as the headquarters for the Abwehr, the German military intelligence service. Admiral Wilhelm Canaris was chief of the Abwehr and unknown to many, opposed the Nazis and used his position to sabotage Hitler’s…
We were next on our way to the final city on our Canadian Capitals Tour, Quebec City. On our way, we stopped at Montmorency Falls. The Falls are 272 feet tall – actually taller than Niagara Falls. The Falls are at the mouth of the Montmorency River where it drops over the cliff into the St. Lawrence River. Known as the Ramparts of Quebec City, this picture shows a gate and part of the fortification walls around Quebec City. They…
Our tour next took us to Montreal, Quebec. Walking in the area near our hotel, we found that public art is important in the community. The first picture below is called “The Ring.” It was installed in 2002. The ring itself is a curved tube, weighing 50,000 pounds. The ring is 90 feet in diameter. When looked through at a certain angle, it focuses one’s attention on structures important in Montreal’s history. Another art piece we saw is part of…