Day 1: Paris – Rueil malmaison

Pick-up in Paris and transfer to your 4 stars Hotel located a few steps from the island of the Impressionists near Paris, the Novotel Rueil Malmaison (or similar). Drop off luggage.

Day at leisure to rest or discover Paris. The hotel is located just 350M from RER A station, providing a quick connection to Paris city center ( 15min from the arc de Triomphe and Champs Elysées)

Lunch and dinner at leisure. Overnight

Day 2 : Rueil malmaison – Chatou

09:00 Guided walking tour dedicated to the discovery of Chatou and the island of the Impressionists.

Sisley, Monet, Renoir, Degas, and Manet have all set up their easels there. These great Impressionist painters of the late nineteenth century all made the island of Chatou, or Impressionist Island, one of their favorite sources of inspiration. Renoir painted about thirty paintings there, including the famous « Luncheon of the Boaters ». Discover this timeless place with many assets!

Visit to the Fournaise Museum

The Musée Fournaise raises awareness of the history and the Impressionist movement. And since September 2019, it has even brought the great Pierre Auguste Renoir back to life through a brand new show trail all in holograms, special effects and immersive experiences. To begin with, a special welcome from Alphonse Fournaise, owner of the artists’ favourite establishment. Then comes THE meeting with the great Renoir, via an actor more resembling than ever, and his confidences about his life, his aspirations, his artistic project and his works. And even a moving testimony from Alphonsine Fournaise, friend and muse of the painter. To finish games, and a dive into 1880!

Lunch at leisure

Enjoy a guided walk on the shaded paths of one of the Impressionist routes while admiring the reproductions of paintings and the superb colors on the Seine. The island of the Impressionists has managed to preserve its special atmosphere that so appealed to artists.  In the company of your guide, you will also discover the points of interest along your route, such as the park of La Vallière, attributed to Le Nôtre, the wash house of Carrières-sur-Seine, the bridge of Bougival, the chapel of Saint Léonard…

Option: « Impressionist » boat trip on the Seine (July / August only): contact us

Dinner at leisure. Overnight

Day 3 : Giverny – Rouen

Breakfast. Transfer to Giverny, this village with timeless charm, where light is like nowhere else, according to the master of Impressionism, Claude Monet..

Discovery of the Claude Monet-Giverny Foundation

Welcome to the world of Claude Monet, painter and gardener. For more than forty years, until his death in 1926, Giverny was his home, his place of creation, and his work. A world of meanings, colours and memories, the house where the artist lived with his family houses his living room-studio and his exceptional collection of Japanese prints. The gardens are composed of the Clos Normand and its flower beds and the Water Garden, planted with oriental plants and weeping willows, with its Japanese bridge painted green and its water lilies.

Lunch in an « impressionist » restaurant in Giverny

Transfer to Rouen.

Accommodation in a 4* hotel in the city centre of Rouen.

Dinner on your own and evening at leisure to enjoy the illuminations of Rouen Cathedral, illuminated every evening at nightfall (from July to September). Overnight.

Day 4 : Rouen

Breakfast. Guided walking tour of the historic center of Rouen dominated by the magnificent and imposing cathedral.

Fascinated by the cathedral, Monet painted it at all hours of the day. Admire the imposing façade, then discover the studio where Monet painted it, on the first floor of the Tourist Office, opposite the cathedral. Stroll through the streets of Rouen to meet large street art frescoes. An artistic trail dedicated to street art created during the Normandy Impressionist festival reveals to passers-by all the beauty of a creative haunt of outdoor artists.

Lunch of Norman specialties in Rouen.

In the afternoon, guided tour of the Museum of Fine Arts which has one of the most important Impressionist collections in France. Discover Monet’s major works such as Rouen Cathedral; from Pissarro with Pont Boieldieu to Rouen, setting sun, foggy weather; or even works by Caillebotte and Sisley. To experience these life-size prints, reading tables allow you to discover a reproduction of the paintings « in situ » on different sites.

Dinner on your own and evening at leisure in Rouen. Overnight.

Day 5 : Le Havre – Deauville – « La Seine » 

Breakfast. Road to Le Havre. With Le Havre and Honfleur as its major sites, the Seine estuary restores, in an almost intact way, a host of fleeting impressions experienced and sublimated by the Impressionists. Experience, 146 years after Monet, a morning on the quays of Le Havre and discover the effervescence of the port of Le Havre that marked Pissarro and inspired him to paint more than twenty paintings.

From Le Havre, cross the estuary by the Pont de Normandie and return to Honfleur for a well-deserved lunch break.

Lunch on your own in Honfleur.

Discover the subtle changes in the sky and light in Honfleur. Many painters have become infatuated with Honfleur.

Guided tour « In the footsteps of painters ». Discover this port with the appearance of a living painting, with its narrow streets adorned with half-timbered houses or dressed in slates that have hardly suffered the ravages of time since the Impressionists.

Continue towards Deauville and Trouville to immerse yourself in a late nineteenth-century atmosphere by walking on the boards, in the spotlight in Monet’s painting « The Beach in Trouville ». Fall under the spell of this place for walks and its magnificent villas prized by the high society of the time.

Return to Rouen at the end of the day. Farwell dinner and overnight.

Day 6 : Auvers sur Oise – Paris – Aix-les-Bains

Breakfast. Drive to Auvers-sur-Oise, a real open-air museum. Walk in the footsteps of Van Gogh and soak up the atmosphere of this village. Discover the most beautiful sites that inspired the painter: the church of Notre Dame de l’Assomption, the wheat fields… He produced more than 80 works in 70 days.

Transfer to Paris Gare de Lyon, in order to embark on High speed train to reach Aix-les-Bains and IBCPC Festival.