“… Snow, and more snow, there is at least 4 inches, and it is freezing, it is starting to get us down and Monet is full of sighs because Félix Breuil [Monet's Head Gardener], say that ‘everything is lost.’ In any event, lots of frozen roses and poor tulips and hyacinths which were just coming up are all definitely damaged. Well, it’s a disaster …” Alice Monet, 4 March 1909*

101 years ago, almost to the day, the weather here in Normandy was terrible, if Alice’s letter to Germaine Salerou is anything to go by. Our winter that has just passed has been long and hard – even the seasoned locals agree. And if it was not for the green shoots I am now seeing in my garden, I would be full of sighs too. The forecast for today was welcome news indeed. So in need of a day out I thought I would spend today going along the Normandy coastline visiting some of the main Monet and impressionist related sites – a perfect day out for the guests who are lovers of impressionism while staying at Basse Copette. And of course there are lots of other wonderful things to see and do along the way as well. [Read more →]

“Dieppe is a wonderful place for a painter who likes life, movement and colour.” Camille Pissarro, 1902

In the 1820s Dieppe became one of France’s premier swimming resorts. In the following decades the town became very popular with artists, particularly painters, and for the impressionists Dieppe was a gift, as the above quote from Pissarro shows. The painters were attracted by the light, the wind, the sea and the air. And the town itself presented painters with varied sources of inspiration, great views of the sea from striking white cliffs, as well as the bustling activities of a busy seaside port. [Read more →]