Travel In The Footsteps of The French Impressionists

This tour is aimed at people genuinely interested in painting and who would like to spend a whole week in the company of a specialist guide learning more about the 19th century Impressionist movement in general and French Impressionism in particular.

Impressionist artists painted in the open air, travelling and painting from nature. Breaking free from the rigidity of the Salon, their paintings came out of every day life, finding wonderment in the ordinary.

Although each artist had their own technique, what they had in common was their attitude to light and the play of light and colours. Renoir said: "One morning one of us ran out of black. That was the beginning of the Impressionist movement."

IMPRESSIONISM : PARIS and NORMANDY

The tour is designed to offer us insight into some of the Impressionist artists' experiences, and allow us to discover the two regions where Impressionism was born -

The "Ile de France": Paris and the region around Paris which became within easy reach of impoverished artists thanks to the new railways. The river Seine and its valley where the light can be clear or misty, the sky clear blue, with light clouds or grey heralding rain and snow.

All the Impressionists lived and painted in or around Paris before going on to discover new environments, new skies and new light. (Gauguin, Renoir, Van Gogh, Utrillo, Dufy, Toulouse-Lautrec, Seurat, Signac, Degas, Manet, Monet, Morisot, Daubigny, Sisley)

Normandy: the region which gave the movement its name (after Monet's celebrated painting in Le Havre). It was within easy reach of Paris and its magnificent views over the sea and enchanting villages and small ports attracted most of the Impressionists who went there and worked ( Boudin, Seurat, Monet, Corot, Jongkind, Sisley, Courbet, Bazille, Daubigny, Renoir, Morisot, Degas, Millet, Pissarro, Dufy )

One can readily recognize nowadays most of the places where the Impressionists set up their easels and understand how they translated the light and scenery to their canvases which became famous all over the world and which have changed our own way of looking at the world. Now and again you will catch a glimpse of the evolution of that late 19th century new industrial world which they loved to paint, giving it a spellbinding beauty, but which can also invite us from time to time to meditate on the 21st century.

The whole tour will be accompanied by the same French but English-speaking guide who is an acknowledged specialist on the Impressionist movement, and is regularly booked by the Smithsonian Institution when they organize tours on this theme to France.

Itinerary

DAY 1	From early afternoon you can check into the charming hotel in the Latin Quarter. In the late afternoon there is a get-together for briefing session with your guide and a presentation of the tour. There will be time for questions and discussions before the Welcome Dinner.	Montmartre
DAY 2	In the morning the group goes by coach to Montmartre for a guided walking tour around Montmartre where the Impressionists lived and worked. Lunch is in the Auberge de la Bonne Franquette, where Pissarro, Sisley, Cézanne, Toulouse-Lautrec, Renoir, Monet, Zola and many others would meet and eat. The famous Van Gogh painting “La Guinguette” is meant to have been painted here. This “Auberge” is also the oldest one in Montmartre and King Henri IV dined here in 1590. In the afternoon your guide takes you for a visit of the Impressionist Musée d’Orsay. Free evening	Montmartre Musée d’Orsay Musée d’Orsay
DAY 3	In the morning the group goes by coach to Auvers sur Oise on the outskirts of Paris for an excursion on the theme : In the footsteps of Vincent Van Gogh. You will see Van Gogh’s bedroom during your visit of Auvers. Lunch is in the Auberge Ravoux where Van Gogh lived for a time. In the afternoon you will enjoy a private visit of the Maison Daubigny still inhabited by his descendants before returning to Paris for a guided visit of the Marmottan Monet museum. Free evening	Monet’s House
DAY 4	In the morning your guide takes you for the visit of the Orangerie Museum. Then leave by coach to the Forest of Fontainebleau for an excursion on the theme of Barbizon and the Barbizon school of painters (Sisley, Pissarro, Renoir, Monet) Lunch in Barbizon is in a delightfully picturesque restaurant, the building dating from 1846 and which has a history associated with painters (though not the Impressionists) You’ll spend the afternoon discovering the small town of Moret sur Loing as seen by the Impressionist painters before returning to Paris. Free evening	Monet’s Garden
DAY 5	There will be an early departure by coach from Paris with your guide via Vétheuil where Monet lived for three years. You’ll follow the Seine to Giverny for a guided visit of Claude Monet’s house and garden, followed by a visit of the American Impressionist museum in Vernon (just next door) There will be a light meal at the Auberge Baudy, dating from the late 19th century and closely linked to the artistic life in Giverny (Monet, Renoir, Rodin, Sisley, Pissaro) and Vernon (all the American Impressionists), in order to visit the gardens and the 19th century painter’s workshop. Before leaving Giverny , we have a private visit of gardens used by some American painters Then onto Honfleur. Settle in the magnificent Ferme Saint Simeon. Once the restaurant where the Impressionists met, it has now become a superb “Relais et Chateaux” hotel with a first class restaurant. Time and weather permitting, short drive to the Normandy coastal resorts of Deauville and Trouville, both places much favoured and painted by the Impressionists. Dinner at the Ferme St Siméon.	Japanese Bridge Honfleur Honfleur
DAY 6	In the morning your guide will take you on a visit of the lovely town of Honfleur and the Musée Boudin. Then we leave Honfleur to discover Etretat and Fécamp, other favourite places for the Impressionists before arriving in Rouen late afternoon to settle in a delightful Norman Hotel in the centre of the town. Dinner is in a 14th century restaurant, 660 years old, the oldest inn in France - remarkable surrounding and superb cuisine. After dinner we walk to the cathedral to admire the laser-lighting show reproducing Monet’s paintings of Rouen Cathedral.	Ferme Saint Siméon
DAY 7	In the morning there is a visit the historical centre of Rouen with your guide. We then leave Rouen for Chatou. This is where, along the banks of the Seine, across the Pont de Bougival, (alas no longer the original bridge immortalized in so many paintings but replaced in 1969) that we reach the Ile de Croissy, which is usually regarded as the birth place of the Impressionist movement. In the huge number of scenes painted here, Monet, Renoir, Sisley, Morisot and many others perfected the technique we all recognize as “Impressionist” It is here too on the Ile de Croissy that we come to the celebrated “guinguette” La Grenouillère, setting of many famous paintings by Courbet, Monet, Renoir, Van Gogh and others. La Grenouillère was a favourite subject of Monet and Renoir. Along the towpath , where Renoir so often painted the river, the banks, the rowing boats, we reach his favourite “bistrot “on the Ile de Croissy : La Fournaise, now an excellent restaurant. The group will enjoy a leisurely lunch before going back to Paris via Louveciennes and Bougival, important places for the Impressionists, where they painted and often lived. The coach returns to Paris where accommodation is booked for the night.	Rouen Cathedral Monet Spectacle Rouen Cathedral Monet Spectacle Chatou Chatou Restaurant Fournaise
COST:	$7500/person - Twin share

Departure Dates

Monday 26 May to Monday 2 June
Monday 18 August to Monday 25 August

If you are interested in other departure dates (or you have your own small group), please contact us direct to discuss further options.

Accommodation and meals :

The hotel chosen in Paris is a delightful “Hotel de Charme” in the Latin Quarter, while in Honfleur the group will be in the famous abode of the French Impressionists and their famous literary friends now a most beautiful “Relais-Chateaux”. In Rouen we have chosen a most agreeable “Hotel de Charme”.

The choice of restaurants has also been determined whenever possible to enable you to follow in the steps of the impressionist painters - as long as we are sure that at the same time you will enjoy top quality cuisine!

As you can see, the itinerary is packed, so we have allowed each evening in Paris free for you to relax!

French Travel Boutique only caters to small, select groups. We have the flexibility to offer individual attention. If you would like to organise your own group, we are happy to tailor make an exclusive itinerary to suit you.

Ferme St Siméon

Manoir de Butin

Restaurant Fournaise

Tour Costs

$7500/person (twin share)

Includes 7 nights accommodation
Most meals (as specified in itinerary)
All transport (airport transfers can be arranged if required)
All entries to galleries, museums etc

To view a printable PDF file please click here.