European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - May 19, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse N 0 r m a n d y. By the stars and stripes history has painted Normandy in thick bold strokes. William the conquerer alongside Joan of arc the invasion of the norsemen same tones As the a Day debarkation. V a a a and there Are powerful contrasts Here too. Deserted scenes next to trendy upper class resorts like Deauville. The hulking ports of be Havre and Cherbourg. Contrast with the sleepy piers at pollen Bessin or. Bar Fleur. A. A a a. Quot a. Little wonder then that Monet and Gauguin Manet and the other impressionist painters flocked to the Region. Their Trail begins atthe Eastern Edge of Normandy an hour out of Paris on the autoroute at Civ cry Home of Monet from 1883 until his death in 1926. It was Here that the aging and nearly Blind Painter struggled to capture the vibrant images of the japanese Bridge on his property and the water lilies on the Pond below. Many of the paintings Large Square canvases that reflect the boiling frustration of his weakening vision hang in Paris but Tiverny offers the Bridge and Flowers As Monet himself saw /. The impressions can be your own. The Wisteria covered Span still Bridges water from the Pete River that the Painter diverted to feed his Lily Pond. It is possible to stand on the Bridge a its painted an a astonishing Bright Blue a and watch the slow shifting Light and color filled Shadow that so fascinated Monet a and his fellow impressionists. ,. A Monet died in the House in 1926 his grave is in the local cemetery and for the next 50 years the Tiverny property became an overgrown ruin. A $2,5 million three year reclamation project returned the House and or surrounding grounds to the condition of Monet s lifetime. The two Story stucco farmhouse is now a Bright Pink with Green shutters. The rooms inside Are a palette of yellows Lavender and blues. His Copper pots still hang in the tiled Kitchena. Closer to the coast is the City of Rouen which Victor Hugo called Quot the City of a Hundred his. Mathematics was not far wrong there Are at least 20 churches worthy of study the most unavoidable being the flamboyant Cathedral that represents four centuries of construction and As such is a standing summary of gothic architecture. A ,. The Cathedral s spiny Touncie Burre was built with. Donations of wealthy catholics who paid for the 740 tons. Of Iron and brass in Exchange for the privilege of eating butter and Cream during Lent. Another attraction at the Cathedral p casket containing the heart of Charles v. But most tourists who correio Rouen do so to see where the English burned Joan of arc. Nearby is a statue of the Saint done in a 2 i by real Del Sarte also close by is the Church of arc a Iate-1970s design which replaced an earlier Church to St. Vincent. That destroyed in the last world War. The new said to be shaped like the upturned keel of a ship a a tribute to the seafaring normans than 300 acres of Rouen about half the City w As destroyed by Allied bombers during world War ii but the half timbered Norman houses in the Rue Marta Vilie somehow remained standing. The slate roofed buildings All predate 1520, when the City prohibited further construction in that style. Old Book collections cafes and antique shops now fill Many of the building s Street Levels. Another pleasant pathway with beamed Homes is the pedestrian Only Rue Eft Gros Horlboge or Street of the 14 stripes Magazine May 19, 1994artistic Normand impressionists drawn to capture stunning landscape on Canvas Claude Mondt painting Quot the artist s Garden at y4theuil&Quot above. Monet s Garden Sand Green shuttered Pink House in Tiverny Are open to the Public left. No a amps Kathy Platt
