Travels With Picasso

Today we left Chambray for central France. Thursday night our hostess, Sophie, knocked on our door waving a huge skeleton key and announcing that this was the key to the church next door. She had called the President of the church restoration committee and obtained permission for us to visit l’eglise Saint Martin de Chambray. This church has kept us company with its bells all week. It is very picturesque.

Inside I found an active church and ongoing restoration. Vandals continue to break windows and scrawl graffiti on the doors, but inside the work progresses. Like most other French churches, this one suffered greatly during the revolution in the 19^th century. Churches and their windows, icons, statues, etc. were destroyed and the buildings given to “the people.” Later these churches were returned to the church. L’eglise Saint Martin shares a priest with five other churches in neighboring villages. Therefore, services are held here only once a month or so. Sophie showed me the various new statues, stations of the cross, and restored paintings. She explained that the bells are controlled electronically by satellite! The pews are arranged in closed boxes, with a place for the family name next to each box. Families can pay for such a private pew. Public pews line the outer walls of the sanctuary. Of course this is all a bit hazy because Sophie was explaining it in French!

We then entered the bell tower. First she showed me the lower room where the rope bell pulls used to come down through holes in the ceiling for someone to pull. Then we went around the outside to a small bridge over the moat-like ditch that surrounds the church and into the mid-level room. This is where the stairs began to climb to the tower. The first two flights of stairs are now replaced by aluminum ladders. The rotted wood stringers still cling to the walls. The first ladder leads to a wood platform clinging tenaciously to the wall. The second ladder rises from there to another wood platform that is the base for the wooden ladders above. It is a precarious setup and we did not attempt it. Thus you can see my photos from below. Sophie returned Friday evening and offered Jean the same tour.

Thursday night our house was thrashed by a great storm. Lightening flashed like strobe lights and the thunder rolled continuously for over an hour. There were no bolts and no single thunder claps, just a continuous light show and loud roar. It most reminded me of a Wisconsin tornado. Sophie’s house next to ours is in a low spot and she had 2-3 inches of water inside. She spent 3 hours mopping up during the night.

Friday we spent painting and packing. Today we hit the road toward the Dordogne Valley. Tonight we are in a charming hotel in Chanoneaux, La Roseraie, recommended by none other than Rick Steves.

Our Renault Diesel is getting over 35 mpg and running well. I misnamed it in my original post about car rental. It is a Renault Megane. Why can’t we have efficient diesels like this in the US? Anyway, our next post will be from points further south.

Au revoir!

Paul

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Thursday we drove to Avers sur Oise, the final resting place of Vincent Van Gogh. He spent his final months here, living in a small room at the inn and painting in the area. These are among his most famous paintings. The village is largely dedicated to his memory and work, but there are other artistic sights as well. Daubigny and his son painted here before Van Gogh.  There is a small, but very nice, Mussee  de Daubigny above the Tourist Information Center.

We walked the lanes Van Gogh walked in search of scenes that inspired him. Starting at the inn, we strolled up a small lane, climbed a hill through narrow streets to Daubigny’s atelier. Then we crossed the hill on the top of the town to Notre Dame d’Avers sur Oise. This church has been painted by many, but Van Gogh’s paintings of it are terrific examples of the height of his talent. Leaving the church, we climbed a hill toward the cemetery about a half mile away. It sits in the middle of grain fields overlooking the valley of the Oise, much as it did in Van Gogh’s day.

This active cemetery is covered with flowers. As we have seen elsewhere the French honor their families with living and cut flowers that are tended by family members. Vincent Van Gogh has a simple monument against the back wall of the cemetery. His younger brother, Theo, died one year later and is buried next to him. Theo was Vincent’s dealer, best friend, muse, and patron. That he died of syphyllus less than a year after Vincent committed suicide makes us wonder if knowledge of his brother’s weakening state deepened Van Gogh’s depression that led to suicide. We will never know. Although Theo lived in Paris, they are now buried together. Did Theo request this? That, also, we do not know.

Returning on our walk along the lanes we found a monument honoring Daubigny. It stands on the roundabout just below the church. Then we walked the lanes back to the Daubigny Museum. There we found a special exhibit of the Zadine, the sculptor who created the Van Gogh statue in town. He also has made it his life’s work to create other interpretations of Van Gogh and the two brothers. His bronzes of Vincent and Theo together show two men intertwined and grasping each other. They are very moving. The museum also houses an exquisite collection of oils, watercolors, drawings, and etchings from the 19^th century. Most of them are of Daubigny and his son, Carl, but there are other artists represented as well. This little museum is something artists should visit.

Our day ended with a leisurely drive via our British GPS guide down the Oise to the Seine. We followed a road along the top of the bluffs, then circle back along a road on the riverside. From the top the views were dramatic as the river twists its way through forests, fields, and villages. On the lower road one finds more intimate views. One of the more interesting discoveries there were the famous cave homes. These troglodyte houses appear in many places in France, wherever the rock is soft enough to easily excavate, but hard enough to endure. Most of the caves we saw are now businesses rather than houses. They are simply a wooden door mounted on the side of a cliff. Behind the doors there are rooms quarried into the rock, lit by electricity. We even found a Troglodyte Church! Although it isn’t a cave itself it is dedicated to these modern cave dwellers.

It was a grand day.

Paul

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Etretat Photos

As promised, here are some of my photos from Etretat. There are so many beautiful images I almost chose these at random. What the impressionists said was true, the light changes every few minutes and you must capture it immediately. Photos of the same subject changed dramatically with the shadows of the sun moving and the passing clouds. It is a magical place despite the hordes of tourists.

Enjoy,

Paul

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How could I have forgotten our day in Montmartre and visit to the Salvador Dali Museum? We road the metro halfway up the hill that is Montmartre, the tallest peak in Paris at about 500 feet. The hill is noticeable from throughout Paris due to Basilica Sacre Coeur de Montmartre that towers at the top of the hill with it’s white facade and dome. This church is both a political and religious statement, built by conservatives in the early 20th century in penance for 19th century social and political excesses.

We have never entered among the throngs of tourists who flock to this landmark. Instead our favorite spot is a smaller, more traditional church next door, l’eglise Saint Pierre du Montmartre. This old and easily missed church has beautiful stained glass depicting the life of Christ, some ancient oil paintings (in the dark), and a quiet meditative atmosphere. You won’t find hordes of tourists in here, but you will find solitude and beauty.

Next we visited the Dali Museum. The exhibits were much different than we saw in 2003. Many of the features of this museum were created at the direction of the artist. Dali was an amazing man. He met and conversed with popes, presidents, movie stars, artists, and common people. All of these contributed ideas to his busy mind. He spent a good deal of time with Sigmund Freud. One of the exhibits was a collection of paintings he did trying to bring science and religion together…now there’s an ambitious project. However, my favorite were his interpretations of well known literature. I’ve include a snapshot of his Romeo and Juliet wall. Much more than a simple artist, Dali was a philosopher, a comic, an actor, a musician, and a poet. This museum is a must see in Paris.

Montmartre includes Place du Tertre where  artists congregate to paint for tourists and pickpockets slip in to lighten tourists’ loads. It’s a madhouse of cafes, artists with their easels and paints, mimes, musicians, etc. We love it! A few of the artists were quite good. Most were doing sketches of people on the spot to make money. However, some of the better artists were working on oil paintings while selling finished pieces.

All in all, Montmartre is a required stop when visiting Paris. How could I have forgotten it in my previous post?

Je suis desole!

Paul

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