Expeditions to France

Expedition leader Carole Devillers was born in France and spent her childhood in Paris which she learned to love and discover as her father took her to the various museums and attractions. Today she invites you along for an intimate look at her native land. What better way to discover and understand France than to explore its many facets with a French photographer? Not only will you understand French culture better without the language barrier, but you may get to learn some French too!


THE IMPRESSIONISTS PARIS, GIVERNY and ROUEN - Walking and photographing in the footsteps of the Impressionists
DATES: August 1-10, 2010, 10 days/9 nights
PRICE: $3,850 (land arrangements only, based on single occupancy).
ARRIVAL: August 1st. You need to leave the USA on July 31st to arrive the next morning in Paris.
DEPARTURE: August 10 from Paris.

Impressionism is a 19th century art movement that began in France with painters such as Claude Monet, Edgar Degas, Alfred Sisley, Vincent Van Gogh, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Edouard Manet, to name a few. The term comes from the title of Monet's work "Impression, soleil levant" (Impression, Sunrise).

What characterizes impressionist paintings is the emphasis on light at different times of day, the composition, ordinary subjects in daily situations, the brush strokes. Instead of painting portraits, still lifes and landscapes indoors as was commonly done at the time, Impressionists started painting outdoors, in the open air, to capture the transient effects of light on everyday life, and capture candid poses in a realistic manner, much like a snapshot, instead of arranging a composition.
As photography was gaining popularity, it encouraged and inspired painters to capture the moment in the day-to-day lives of the people. Both Degas and Monet also took to photography and enjoyed this new medium.

On this trip, which is open not only to photographers but to all interested in art, we'll walk in the footsteps of the impressionist painters and discover and photograph the places they loved to paint, the places where they lived, examine and admire their works exhibited in various museums, and get a feel for life by the Seine river which they so often depicted. We'll also try and recognize moments of life that impressionists would have captured on their easels and make our own "impressions".

From our hotel in Paris we'll travel by rail to the surroundings sites on day excursions. In Paris, we will visit museums such as the Musée d'Orsay and Musée Marmottan, both reknown for their impressionist paintings collections, experience Montmartre and stop for a break at a cafe frequented by Monet, Degas, Van Gogh who lived and worked on the Butte Montmartre.

HIGHTLIGHTS OF THE TRIP

- Day trip to GIVERNY (L): guided tour and visit of Monet's gardens and house. We'll spend time in the gardens photographing the beautiful landscapes and flowers - the nympheas will be in bloom - cultivated and arranged the same way as Monet did. Lunch in Giverny. Visit of the town.

- Day trip to AUVERS-sur-OISE (L): Auvers is a quiet little town where Van Gogh spent the last two months of his life, painting some 70 pieces there. We'll explore the town, visit the Church of Auvers which was rendered famous by Van Gogh's painting and go to the cemetery where he and his brother are buried. We'll have lunch at the Auberge Ravoux where the painter was a tenant and visit the room where he died and which has been left untouched. We'll make a stop at Musée de l'Absinthe which retraces the history of the most popular drink of the 19th century.

- Day trip on the SEINE and MARNE rivers, to "THE LAND OF GUINGETTES" (L): Full day cruise from Paris along the Seine and to the banks of the Marne. Picnic stop for lunch at Joinville-le-Pont, the land of the guinguettes (open air cafes and dance halls), a cultural tradition enjoyed by the impressionists. The return to Paris is accompagnied by accordion music and views of protected countryside.

- Day trip to ROUEN (L,D): In 2010 Rouen, the capital of Upper Normandy and superb city of art and history, becomes the City of Impressionism with a huge exhibition named "A City for Impressionism: Monet, Pissarro and Gauguin in Rouen" gathering a hundred important paintings by great masters. The city Pissarro found "as beautiful as Venice" will host the "Normandy Impressionist" event from June to September.
Besides being famous for Joan of Arc being burned at the stake, Rouen became also reknown when Monet immortalized its Cathedral Notre-Dame with a series of paintings.
We'll visit the Museum of Fine Art, stroll the medieval streets lined with half-timbered houses, visit inside the Gros Horloge, a 16th century astronomical clock.

- Day trip to CHATOU, "THE ISLAND OF THE IMPRESSIONISTS" (L): Nestled in a loop of the Seine, the island of Chatou has attracted painters and artists with its boating and country charms. Renoir was a regular guest at the Restaurant Fournaise on the island. The restaurant, closed in 1906, was reopened in 1990 after restoration and we'll enjoy lunch there, surrounded by water and nature. Renoir painted his famous "Déjeûner des canotiers" (Luncheon of the Boating Party - 1881) on the restaurant balcony (painting now in the Phillips Collection in Washington).
In the afternoon, we take a one-hour small boat ride alongside the banks of Chatou, Reuil-Malmaison, Bougival, Louveciennes and Croissy-sur-Seine, with a guide recalling the great era of river boating depicted by the impressionists.

- An evening in Montmartre and after-dinner soirée at the famous Montmartre Cabaret "Le Lapin Agile"(D): Enjoy cabaret music, songs, humor and poetry in the oldest artistic cabaret in Paris. The Lapin Agile has retained the same atmosphere it had at the turn of the century when it was a favorite of locals artists.

- Our farewell dinner cruise on the Seine, not aboard a touristy bateau-mouche, but on a truly special barge, with gleaming colors, 19th century wood panelling and stained glass windows, panoramic terrace and a piano lounge designed around an original 1879 Steinway piano. We say good-bye to Paris and the impressionists with class (D).

Expedition Cost: $3,850 (land arrangement only, based on single occupancy).
Reservations: A $1,000 per person deposit is required to secure a place on our expeditions, which can be paid via Paypal (with 3% fee) or by check. The balance is due 90 days prior to beginning of expedition.
Group Size: minimum 2, maximum 6. Under 4 sign-ups, a small-group supplement of $300 pp will be requested.

*Expedition Cost includes:
3-star hotel accommodations in the Marais or Latin Quarter; public transportation by metro or batobus; round-trip rail transportation to Giverny, Auvers-sur-Oise and Rouen; all breakfasts, 8 meals as indicated (lunch, picnic, dinner); entrance fees at Orsay Museum and Marmottan Museum in Paris, Absinthe Museum in Auvers, Fine Art Museum in Rouen, Gros Horloge in Rouen; cruise on Marne river; boat trip at Chatou; dinner cruise on Seine ; cabaret evening in Montmartre (one drink included); services of expedition leader.

Cost does NOT include:
Airfare to/from your home city and Paris; transfers from Paris airport to hotel and from hotel to airport (you will receive proper transportation directions with itinerary); taxis or public transportation taken on your own; beverages at meals (whether bottled water, non-alcoholic or alcoholic); meals not indicated in itinerary; items of personal nature and incidentals; luggage porters; mandatory travel insurance; entrance fees not mentioned above; passport fees; tips and gratuities to tour leader.

NOTE: American and Canadian nationals do NOT need visa to enter France. Other nationals should check with their French consulate. You need a valid passport.

For complete details, see our General Information page.