Art exhibit

I'm pleased to report that a photograph of mine (above) is being featured in a WICE members' art gallery here in Paris. WICE is an anglophone organization which offers cultural and educational programs to members of the international and expat community in Paris. Tonight is the vernissage.

This is actually my second art exhibit (she says modestly ;-) You can read about the first one here.

Bourgueil

My son Philippe is in France for a few weeks and I was lucky enough to spend last weekend with him. We met in Tours where Philippe had spent a year as an exchange professor.

We then traveled to Bourgueil, a wine region in the Loire Valley. Philippe is on a research mission studying "natural" and biodynamic wine making practices. His research includes visits to vineyards, interviews with wine makers, and wine tasting fairs. On Saturday afternoon we visited The Domaine de la Chevalerie - a family owned vineyard for the last 400 years.

Wine is stored in a former stone quarry

The list of wines we tasted. Nineteen of them!

The wine tasting room

Wine tasting in France - a family affair

It's still raining in Paris

Oops. I forgot my umbrella!

Summer seems very far away.

We took a walk in the rain near Notre Dame yesterday. The gargoyles were busy, and tourists huddled under umbrellas awaiting their turns to visit.

Chagall: Between war and peace

If you visit Paris this spring, try to see the Chagall exposition at the Musée du Luxembourg.

Marc Chagall had a long and prolific career, living to be almost 100 years old. We see constantly recurring symbols in his work: images of his natal town of Vitebsk in what is now Belarus, images of his wife Bella, Biblical characters, vivid representations of his dreams, and political statements on the horrors of war and religious persecution. He has been called the "quintessential Jewish artist of the 20th century." His drawing is sometimes considered naive - his compositions full of people and animals floating in mid-air, but he is an undeniable master of color.

Each time I see an exposition of his work I find myself humming music from the Fiddler on the Roof which was inspired by his paintings.

You can take a virtual visit of the exposition here:

Au dessus de Vitebsk - 1922

La danse - 1950-1952

Impressionists in Normandy

This year's Normandy Impressionist Festival is not to be missed. We began our exploration of the event with a visit to the Jacquemart-André Museum in Paris for an exhibit featuring Eugène Boudin. We then spent a weekend in Normandy with friends and took advantage of the proximity to visit some regional expositions.

First stop: the Musée de Beaux Arts de Caen for an exposition entitled "Summer at Water's Edge." We then drove along the coast, past the resort towns of Deauville and Trouville where visitors no longer dress like this:

Next stop: Le Havre to visit the exposition "Pissarro dans les ports." As you might expect, the port of Le Havre, heavily bombed during WWII, no longer looks like this:

After visiting the Pissarro exposition, we drove north along the coast to the town of Etretat, immortalized by many impressionist painters.

Etretat in the rain

Check out the size of the people below the cliffs!

The view from the top is stunning.

We had dinner in a lovely restaurant overlooking the town.

The next day, we stopped by the ruined Benedictine Abbey in Jumièges on our way to Rouen.

Jumièges Abbey

Last stop: the Musée des Beaux Arts in Rouen featuring an exposition entitled "Dazzling Reflections - 100 Impressionist Masterpieces." You have until the end of September to follow in the footsteps of the Impressionist painters throughout Normandy.

Rainy Paris

Will it ever stop raining?? And today, Paris had record low temperatures.
 Nobody occupying the wet chairs in the Tuileries gardens.

  It's a good thing I have a new umbrella.

Paris trees in bloom

Spring is late this year, but the flowering trees of Paris are finally showing their springtime colors.

Horse chestnut (marronier) flowers

Paulownia flowers

 That's a paulownia tree on the left and a horse chestnut (marronier) tree on the right.