A tale of two French villages: First, Gerberoy

The past few weeks, we have enjoyed a visit from three of my friends from Minnesota, which means I have not had a lot of time to blog. They are all back home now and I would like to share some pictures of two lovely towns that we were able to visit: Gerberoy and Giverney. Both very similar, yet a few differences too.

First: Gerberoy

My Friday Tour Group had their end-of-the-season trip to Gerberoy, a tiny village about two hours away, by bus, north of Paris on the Normandy border. When I found out there was room for me and my three guests, I jumped at the chance to show them a different side of France, instead of "just" Paris.

This medieval,walled village, the smallest city in France, slept for centuries after wars, plagues, and fires weakened it, yet it still has quaint cobblestone streets, half-timbered houses, and an old church built in 922 A.D. In 1902, an artist named Henri Le Sidaner, friend of Monet and Rodin, discovered the quaint cobblestone streets and half-timbered houses.....and lived there and painted. He also encouraged the village people to adorn their homes with roses, and he worked hard to restore the ruins from the chateau into a beautiful garden. Now it is ranked as one of the 100 most beautiful villages in France.

We had an informative tour by a French man who is trying to preserve the town and let out the word that this is the home of the post- impressionist painter Le Sidaner, who lived from 1862 to 1939. I'm afraid most of us had never heard about him, but after visiting his studio and hearing about how his paintings have been increasing in value, we all could recognize how he is similar to Monet. His paintings of simple gardens and capturing "impressions" were beautiful. In fact, a few of his paintings are in the Musee d'Orsay. Some originals are now being sold for nearly a million dollars. We were able to see his studio, house, and courtyard, which often appeared in his paintings.

We wandered the winding streets (once walked on by William the Conqueror, they say) and enjoyed gazing at the storybook-like homes covered with flowers....





We had a scrumptuous salmon lunch ("best salmon I have ever eaten," my friend Katherine said) at a little inn. The town was getting ready for a flood of visitors the next two days, when they open celebrate their annual "Fetes de Roses". We were glad we had the village nearly to ourselves. It seemed almost empty, but we guessed that many of the old homes are now visited on "holidays" by Europeans wanting a little peace and quiet. No telephone wires, no traffic lights, no billboards. What a great place to get away!

Here is a slideshow of more pictures....

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