Art and Architecture

The art and architecture of Normandy is beautiful and immense. Many towns have famous cathedrals and castles which we have read about in our history books or seen in paintings. The Place de la Cathedral in Rouen is where Monet pa the Cathedral reflecting the mood at different times in the day. Rouen, in spite of the heavy damage from WWII, still has its medieval quarter, with a street named after the ancient clock, Gros Horloge. The houses with their wooden facades are Gothic and very Norman. Rouen is also the site where Joan of Arc was burned at the stake.

Waterlillies at Giverny
Claude Monet's residence and garden are in the lovely little town of Giverny. There is a small museum dedicated to Impressionist work.


Harbor at Honfleur
The picturesque town of Honfleur, with fishing boats, and narrow houses with sides lined in gray slate has somse nice old homes within easy walking distance of one another. The Honfleur-born painter Eugene Boudin brought Monet, Renoir, Sis ley, Pissa ro, and others here where their experiments with light eventually gave the world Impressionism.

Mont Saint Michel
Mont Saint Michel is an architectural gem built by Benedictcine monks from the 11th to the 16th centuries. It is an amazing structure, appearing to tower out of the bay at high tide. At low tide one can walk across the bay. Tourists walk up the str eet to the medieval Eglise St-Pierre, and continue up the stairs to the abbey. It has a large Gothic choir, and the roof is not supported by vaults but by a timber ceiling in a typical Norman Romanesque manner. From one of the 16th century chancels, the re is a stair leading up to a gallery 394 feet above the sea, from which one can see across the sands and tidal flats to the mainland. You may descend into a 13th century refectory, where you can see the seven foot thick stone walls in the cloisters.

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