The Impressionists (Road Scholar Trip #1)

Giverny

First Installment of 4. 

In June my sister Frances and I went on a two-week trip to France with Road Scholar (formally Elder Hostel). The name of the tour was The Impressionists - A Retrospective - visiting places where the Impressionists (and Post-Impressionists) lived and worked.  There were 24 in the group, including a 92-year-old female architect from San Antonio (retired just five years ago) who studied architecture under Mies van der Rohe and later worked with him in Chicago. One of the men in the group, who teaches in N.Y., helped get the Pentagon Papers printed by Beacon Press in Boston

Geraldine Leclercq was our guide throughout the entire trip. She's British, but has lived in Paris since her 20s when she was a fashion model.  We also had five local guides in various places.

We visited Giverny, Rouen, Honfleur, and Etreat in Normandy, Aix en Provence, Nimes, Auvers-sur-Oise, Arles, Saint Remy-de-Provence, Cannes and Nice on the Cote d'Azur.

We saw Roman ruins in many places in France. We were surprised to see so many people smoking, especially young people. It was nice to see schoolchildren on field trips in several museums. They were either copying paintings or creating their own. A large group of children was on our boat cruise on the Seine.   For two weeks adults and children greeted me with, "Bonjour, Madame!" 😊

It was a wonderful and interesting trip! Weather was good, except for a couple of rainy days in Paris - and the food was delicious! 

Carol Farmer 2012