Normandie Impressionniste Festival begins 1st June 2010.

Inside Rouen Cathedral The major cultural event of the summer here in Normandy promises to be The Impressionist Normandy Festival which begins 1st June 2010, continuing throughout the summer until September 2010.
Horse Drawn carriage in Rouen.
The Festival's website is rightly very proud of the event:
Initiated under Laurent Fabius and numerous governmental authorities, including the Regional governments of Upper and Lower Normandy, the counties of Seine-Maritime and Eure, the Cities of Rouen and Caen, with the support of major businesses, this multidisciplinary celebration is on an unprecedented scale for France. For the public, it will be the perfect opportunity to discover exceptional cultural heritage and all the creative talent of Normandy, homeland of the Impressionist movement.La Dame au Balcon. Henri Ottmann.
One of the special exhibitions is to be held in the Fine Arts Museum in Rouen.

It is entitled "A City for Impressionism" and will include paintings by Monet, Pissarro and Gauguin, many of which will be on show to the public for the first time.

The streets in Rouen's historic district are lined with ancient half timbered buildings, and here you will find many excellent small cafes and restaurants.

Click here to read my Monet's Garden at Giverney post

Champ de Coquelicots, Environs de Giverny. Claude Monet.

Nearer to home, I'll be able to visit the Corot exhibition at the Saint-Lô Fine Arts Museum and the Millet exhibition at the Thomas Henry Museum in Cherbourg.

Hopefully we'll get a chance to visit Rouen once again to see the light shows and illuminations at the Cathedral.
Rouen Cathedral by Claude Monet.

More from the Festival website:
Impressionist Normandy encompasses the entire territory of two separate regions (Upper and Lower Normandy) and as such, is an unprecedented initiative in France. The event will take place simultaneously in dozens of cities, towns, and villages. The main Norman institutions, as well as numerous other public and private partners, will be associated with the festival. In addition to the desire to bring together an entire geographical area, the fact of multiple locations also illustrates the precedent established by the painters’ own penchant to wander through the countryside in search of new subjects to paint. Certain exhibitions will be sent to other countries and thus will act as "ambassadors” for Normandy. As an unofficial & unpaid ambassador of Normandy I'm very happy to be able to promote our adopted region of France in with my blog.

If you are planning on visiting France this summer do try and see one of the amazing exhibitions going on throughout the region, and let me know if you'd like some company!

I'm linking this post to Frenchy's wonderful, 1st June French Obsession meme

@Le Château des Fleurs.

I have been lucky enough to have visited the Fine Arts Museum twice now and these photographs were taken during one of my visits.

Mosaics, Meringue, Marais, Monet & Maggie's giveaway.

Mrs Matlock's class is discussing the letter M for this week's Alphabe-Thursday and to be honest I was spoilt for choice when thinking about today's post.
One of my very favourite weekly meme's, which I always try to join, is Mosaic Monday @ Mary's little red house. It was through Mary that I came to learn about Mosaics and how to create them. Click on the MM link to see Mary's Crab Apple Blossom Mosaic today.
When I wrote to ask her advice on how to make my mosaics larger she very kindly shared this information:
"to make your square mosaics (or pix) large, click on "Edit HTML" and change the width and height to 800 pixels. Also, change the bit of code that says s400 to s800. Then click "Save." That should do it.
For rectangular images, the numbers are 800 and 532, and s800."I followed these instructions and the results were very good however this only worked when I was using the Minima Stretch template.
With a three column template the mosaic was too large and was cut off on the right hand side. To make it larger for a three column layout change the first two numbers to 600 and the last to 800.
I use Photoscape mostly for creating my mosaics I like the large choice of layouts that it offers, you can also adjust the size at the same time which makes life easier!
When I blogged recently about our long weekend in Paris I received so many wistful comments, from blogger friends who had visited Paris and would love to return, and from others who still had a trip to the City of Lights on their wishlist.
If you didn't see those posts first time around then click here & here to read all about the wonderful time we had.
Here is a little peek into one of the Marais' best kept secrets, "Le Loir dans la theiere", a cosy and charming tea room in the rue des Rosiers.
If you ever find yourself in the Marais I highly recommend this quirky place with it's eclectic furnishings and decor.

I have never in my life seen a lemon tart with a Meringue as high as this! Historic! It was delicious and too much, even for two of us to finish.
Time to segue into My giveaway.
To celebrate two years of blogging, all the wonderful friends that I have made and all the interesting things I have learned along the way, I have gathered together some gifts that may bring Paris a little closer for one of you.

To start your day off beautifully, a large porcelain cup and saucer, transfer printed with black and white scenes of Paris perfect for any petit dejeuner.
A slim volume entitled "Verrines" - 30 recettes faciles", crammed with wonderful appetizer recipes and illustrated with great photographs, it is sure to awaken the "Julia" in you.

From my visit to the Orangerie in the Tuileries Gardens a Book of Postcards of Monet's Garden at Giverny by Elizabeth Murray and finally a small notebook, featuring Renoir's painting of "Gabrielle et Jean" on the cover.
If there's space in the Colissimo box I may well be able to squeeze in a few more little souvenirs, who knows?
To enter the drawing for this cadeau français just leave a comment on this post only before the drawing takes place on my blog's 2nd anniversary: 24th April.
Bonne chance tout le monde

Claude Monet's garden at Giverny in September.

How quickly Wednesdays seem to come around nowadays, one appointment I always like to keep is with Suzanne @ Southern Daydreamer and her Outdoor Wednesday gathering. Do go over and visit with Suzanne and enjoy the other outdoor glories she has gathered today.

I recently wrote "A final farewell to my summer garden"mentioning a couple of influences from the French Impressionist Claude Monet’s garden at Giverny
Today I'd like to take you on a September tour of that beautiful garden which I so love to visit.
It never seems to matter what time of year I am there, the grounds are always a delight and another tour of the house is de rigeur.

Bequeathed to France's Académie des Beaux-Arts by the artist's son Michel in 1966, Claude Monet's property at Giverny has since undergone major restoration.


With its pink render on the outside, the house where the leader of the Impressionist school lived from 1883 until 1926 has now regained the colourful interior and intimate charm of those bygone days.

Several of its rooms are now devoted to the artist's precious collection of Japanese prints, hung in accordance with the instructions of the Master of Giverny.

Just a few steps from the house the restored Water lily Studio, is now home to the Monet Foundation shop.

Also restored to their original state, the gardens now offer the visitor that "painting made from Nature itself" that Monet's contemporaries regarded as one of his masterpieces.

The house and studios look out on to the geometrically designed Clos Normand, whose stunning flowerbeds are surrounded by arbours of climbing plants.
From spring through to autumn the Clos is the setting for the changing palette of a painter-gardener who was "simply mad about flowers".

Further down, a man-made, willow-shaded branch of the river Epte feeds the Water Garden with its celebrated Japanese Bridge and its wisteria, azaleas and pond.
Once again this spot has become that meeting of sky and water out of which emerged the pictorial world of the water lilies.


I hope that you have enjoyed your virtual tour with me today and perhaps one day, if you plan a visit to France and visit Normandy, we can go there together, once again.

à bien tôt
Maggie