Bridge at Les Andelys Laurie Fox Pessemier Acrylic/linen 12 x 20" 30 x 50cm
Across the River Roche Guyon Blair Pessemier Acrylic/linen 11 x 16 inches 28 x 41 cm
Flow of the River Seine Blair Pessemier Acrylic/linen 11 x 16 inches 28 x 41 cm
Across the River Laurie Fox Pessemier Acrylic/linen 12 x 12" 30 x 30 cm
Artnotes: Keys to our Castle
This week we visited “unseen” France. We started out in Bennencourt, a small
village across the Seine from the Normandy highway, not far from Giverny. Here, Harika and I poked about near the
river, while Blair chatted up “Jacques” about places to launch a boat and rent
a small studio. Jacques had lived all
his life between Paris and Rouen. He was
most discouraging about the boat. “Before
the war, and during the war, everyone had a boat, but then no one wanted them
anymore. They are “out of fashion”, and
besides that, there are the authorities”, he moaned. This sort of discouragement is endemic here,
which makes the eventual achievement of the goal even more satisfying.
He sent us on to Roche-Guyon, 5 kilometers down the
road. Here we ate a terrific lunch at
the Les Bords de Seine, and painted pictures by the river. Harika rolled on newly-mown grass and drank
water from the river (yes, she’s still alive).
Roche-Guyon is known for its 12th century chateau, which
incorporates the rocky hillside into its structure. The castle is quite impressive, not clearly
beautiful. Field-marshal Rommel used it as
his headquarters in the fight against the Allies in Normandy. There is a magnificent organic orchard across
the street, open to the town citizens (550).
Roche-Guyon was an interesting place to visit, but came up null on the
rental house or boat launch fronts. I
might eat there again.
We visited Vertheuil, where Monet once lived; we painted at Les Andelys, an island in the Seine. On
April 1, we turned south to Barbizon and the Loing river, but the joke was on
us: we weren’t as happy there, and the
one house we inquired about did not respond to our messages.
Harika got gobs of exercise, and we breathed clean air. Our best bet for a studio at Etretat, where
we could rent an entire house for less than 500 euros a month. Unfortunately, it was further than we wanted
to go: 2-1/2 hours by train; the 120
euros round trip train fare really squelched it.
We had a wonderful adventure looking around for our
house/studio in the country. To get the ball rolling often results in a
solution down the road. Meanwhile, we
can get an air filter for our city apartment as we await the keys to our castle.
The start of 365 TREES
