The birthplace of Impressionism, Normandy has already hosted four editions of the “Normandie Impressionniste” festival. Rouen (76 Seine-Maritime, Normandie) and the Seine Valley, have been important with their shared past with Impressionist masters such as Claude Monet, Camille Pissarro and Alfred Sisley, but also a highly influential movement in the art world: the Rouen School. The theme of the 4th edition of Normandie Impressionniste, which took place in 2020, was “Color day by day”… From 22 March – 22 September 2024, the 5th edition, will celebrate the 150th anniversary of the birth of the Impressionist movement!
Thr 2022 festival was held in various locations including Rouen. Dieppe, Caen and Le Havre. – www.normandie-impressionniste.fr
Rouen and Impressionism – the central theme of the 2016 edition was the Impressionist portraits with several major exhibitions which shows how rich Normandie is in Fine Art Museums
- Rouen, Musée des Beaux Arts
- Caen, Musée des Beaux Arts
- Honfleur, Musée Eugène Boudin
- Le Havre, MuMa André Malraux Museum of Modern Art
- Giverny, Musée des Impressionnismes
A must-see for art lovers to the region has to be Monet’s Garden at Giverny: http://giverny.org
Just to the west of Rouen is the Abbaye de Jumièges, the ruins of a Benedictine monastery which has been voted as one of the top places to visit in France by the French! (France2 TV).
“One of the first major achievements of Romanesque Art in Normandy surrounded by centuries old trees : the facade, bare and striking is flanked by towers. The large porch with a loft is the remains of the pre-Romanesque traditions. Before the destructions of the late 18th and early 19th centuries, the monastery buildings were set around the cloister, of which only the outline remains while a few remnants of the monastery buildings can still be seen.”
For more on the Abbaye de Jumièges see www.abbayedejumieges.fr/
Find best rates for hotels, B&B and self-catering in Rouen including a B&B in the heart of the city- L’encorbellement
Near Giverny (just 3km from Monet’s garden) in the village of Sainte-Geneviève-lès-Gasny is
a good B&B/Guest House La Roseraie with 3000 m² of landscaped gardens and pool.
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