Friday, April 12, 2019

We apparently left Vernon for Rouen at 5:30 AM. We had no tours this morning as we were cruising, so spent it relaxing and enjoying the landscape and one of the seven locks on this section of the Seine. The sun was warm, that welcome warmth in spring when the air is cool, so we decided to stay on the sun deck for lunch. We arrived in  Rouen at 1:00 PM while we were eating. The river was very busy with cargo vessels and would only be more crowded the closer it got to the sea, so I could understand why our ship would make a round trip back to Paris. The vertical lift bridge, Pont Gustave-Flaubert, was impressive, although we didn't see it in action. According to our Viking Daily, it was built between 2004 and 2008, and is the highest vertical lift in the world, rising over 180 feet.

Chalk cliffs

Pont Gustave-Flaubert

The bridge going under a bridge (Pont Gustave-Flaubert)

Gordon going under a bridge (same bridge)

A glimpse of the Rouen Cathedral spire (tallest in France)

Our Rouen Walking Tour with Samuel began at 1:45. Samuel was nice enough but we were a large group again and I may have learned more about Rouen, the capital of Normandy, from our Viking Daily. For example, it was established in 744 AD by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese, it was overrun by Vikings in 841, and William the Conqueror died here in 1087. King Philip II annexed all of Normandy to the Kingdom of France in 1204 and Rouen became a prosperous trading center, exporting wine and wheat to England and importing wool and tin. The textile industry here competed with that of the Dutch. In 1431, Joan of Arc was tried for heresy and burned at the stake in the Old Market Square. Several times during the Middle Ages, Rouen was decimated by fire and plague, and then World War II took its toll on the city. It has now been restored to its former glory. In addition to the Rouen Cathedral (of which I have no good photos but am including most of the bad ones) and a tiny fraction of the 700 half-timbered houses in the city, our tour included the Gros-Horloge, the 14th century astronomical clock, as well as the Church of St. Joan of Arc, built in 1979 on the site of her death. The curves of the church symbolize the flames that consumed her, but also represent an overturned ship (which was common among early Christian churches apparently). The stained glass windows come from a nearby church, Church of Saint Vincent, that was destroyed in World War II, the windows having been removed and stored prior.

Rouen Cathedral

Gros-Horloge

Church of Saint Joan of Arc

Church of Saint Joan of Arc

Back on the Rinda, we were invited to a cocktail party for the Viking Explorer Society, guests who had sailed with Viking before. We were included because the first part of this trip, on the Delling, was technically a separate cruise. (They had a similar cocktail party on the Delling to which we were not invited.) We felt very special until we found out that everyone got invited this time, probably because there had been a program in the lounge just prior and the crew would have had to kick every first time cruiser out, which would have been just rude. We had a good time anyway, and then we stayed for the daily port talk before dinner.

I think Alan went down early to get our table, but Dobo was already on it. He has taken to putting napkins on the backs of our chairs so that people know our seats are taken. We sit at a table for six and every night a different couple joins us. We joke that we're interviewing them for a permanent spot.

Thursday, April 11, 2019

We arrived in Vernon at 6 AM. Today we had two included tours. The first was a short walking tour of the town with our guide Virginie. At the beginning of the 11th century, Vernon became an important military town due to its position along the Seine. It sustained a lot of damage by bombs during World War II, but has been preserved and still has examples of buildings from the 12th through the 19th centuries. The oldest half-timbered building in Vernon is the Maison du Temps Jadis, dating to the 15th century. It is now the tourist office. Vernon was a nice little town, but we weren't happy with the tour. Our guide didn't seem to be the most knowledgeable and there were too many people in our group (I counted 43). They weren't the spryest bunch either (and that is coming from someone whose knee was giving her problems!).

Hôtel de Ville (Town Hall)

Maison du Temps Jadis (Medieval House)

Philippe Auguste's Keep

After the tour, we stayed in town and visited the Musée Alphonse-Georges-Poulain. Our guide had mentioned it had a lot of archaeological finds in addition to a couple of Monets. We did find the Monets, and, in the entry, a few artifacts, but most interesting were the paintings by Americans who had lived in the area. I also enjoyed the exhibition of a Normandy painter, Marcel Couchaux (1877-1939).

Marcel Couchaux, Vieille femme devant la cheminée.

Marcel  Couchaux, Nature morte aux prunes et pichet.

Maurice Denis, Enfants dans le bois de Silencio.

Pierre Bonnard, Vue du balcon sur la Seine (Vernon).

Frederick William MacMonnies (New York), Tête de Bacchante.

Mary Fairchild-Macmonnies (New Haven, CT), Un coin de parc par temps de neige.

Mary Fairchild-Macmonnies (New Haven, CT), Le Jardin de Giverny.

Paul Joanny, Vaches au pâturage.

Horace Vernet, Tête de camélidé.

Marcel Bodart, Pélican. [I want this for my sculpture garden]

Claude Monet, Nymphéas.

Claude Monet, Étretat.

Theodore Earl Butler (Columbus, OH), Collégiale de Vernon.

We walked back to our boat for lunch and then it was on to our afternoon tour, the Monet Foundation in Giverny, led by our guide Veronique. Claude Monet lived in Giverny from 1883 until his death in 1926. His house is furnished as it was when he lived there. I especially liked the kitchen and his remarkable collection of Japanese engravings. The gardens were beautiful, with a different array of flowers in bloom from my first visit there in September 2001, but most wonderful is the walk around the water garden. (The underground passage between the house/gardens and the water garden was created with the support of Walter Annenberg--we visited his Sunnylands estate in California when we were there in February.) It was much more crowded than I remembered, and a challenge taking pictures without people in them. I didn't even try to get one of the famous Japanese bridge.

After enjoying the water garden we visited the Museum of Impressionism Giverny. This was originally called the American Art Museum, established to display the works of the large colony of American artists who came to the area to paint. They currently have an exhibition Monet-Auburtin. An Artistic Encounter. Jean Francis Auburtin (1866-1930) was also from Normandy, though not well known and a generation behind Monet. The exhibition shows how the two painted the same seascapes in Brittany, Normandy, and the Mediterranean (unfortunately I didn't take photos of the best examples). Like Monet, Auburtin painted en plein air, but was less focused on capturing the light and atmosphere. He also painted some portraits of family and friends. Below are some of my favorites.

Portrait of Isadora Duncan

Étude pour Le Matin (diptyque)

Jean Francis Auburtin, Porquerolles, Crique du Brégançonnet

Claude Monet, Les Rochers de Belle-Île

Jean Francis Auburtin, Étratat

Claude Monet, Étretat, la Manneporte, reflets sur l'eau

Jean Francis Auburtin, Église de Varengeville

Claude Monet, L'Église de Varengeville et la gorge des Moutiers

Jean Francis Auburtin, La Plage d'Étretat, les voiles sèchant

Claude Monet, Nymphéas avec rameaux de saule/Water Lilies with Weeping Willow Branches

Gustave Caillebotte, Parterre de marguerites/Bed of Daisies

Paul Signac, Étude Port-en-Bessin (étude n°5, l'avant-port)/
Study of Port-en-Bessin (Study no. 5, the Outer Harbour)

We got back to the boat in time for the port talk by Lionel. Alan, Lyn, Gordon, and I are taking turns going down to the restaurant early to snag our table with Dobo. I think Lyn went this time. Tonight was a French buffet with mixed reviews by passengers because people had to wait in line at each station. I thought it was fine. Although it was chilly, the four of us went to the top dock (briefly) to enjoy the night view of Vernon. We found some not-very-big towels to keep us a little warmer.