It was exactly 150 years ago that a group of painters on the fringes of the French art scene put together an exhibition of their work in a photography studio in Paris. It was the beginning of perhaps the most famous art movement of all time: Impressionism.
But although the breakthrough took place in Paris, the style and philosophy of these artists took shape on the beaches and seaside resorts of Normandy, where Claude Monet had grown up twenty years earlier. Here, Eugène Boudin, a local painter from Honfleur, encouraged the young artist to set up his easel outside and start painting spontaneously. The images of sky, cliffs, sea and beach that he conjured with rapid brushwork and vibrant colors have become some of the most memorable and popular images in Western art.
However, it wasn’t just the clear skies and the changing moods of the sea and light that drew Monet and so many other great 19th-century French painters to these shores. It was the glamor of the seaside resorts. Here the fashion for sea bathing, imported from resorts such as Brighton and Weymouth, the most beautiful beaches and fishing villages of the Normandy coast, radically changed.
Grand hotels opened to accommodate tourists and new rail links from Paris meant that the bourgeoisie could reach the coast in a few hours and count themselves among the crowds on what became known as the ‘summer boulevard of Paris’.
While so many of their British counterparts have fallen into decline, most of the 19th-century seaside resorts around the Seine estuary have continued to flourish (only Le Havre, which suffered greatly during the Second World War, has lost its essential charm). The coastline as a whole remains as attractive as the day Monet first set up his easel. Here are the highlights.
Honfleur
Honfleur’s picturesque backdrop, which overlooks the Seine estuary, is the Vieux Bassin, the old port formerly enclosed by defensive walls. Now it is a picturesque place to moor a yacht or enjoy moules marinères on the quay. Behind it lie back streets lined with centuries-old wooden houses and, on the market square, a highly unusual church, built in the 15th century after the English occupiers were expelled.
The local craftsmen were shipbuilders and had no stone, so they built the roof of wood in the shape of two inverted ship hulls. Monet and other impressionists often painted here while staying at the Ferme St Siméon. Eugène Boudin was born here and this summer the local museum named after him is celebrating the bicentenary of his birth in 1824 with a special exhibition of his works, along with other of his contemporaries including Courbet and Monet (musees-honfleur .fr ).
Trouville
Trouville was one of the trendiest 19th century seaside resorts on the Normandy coast until it was slowly overshadowed by the development of neighboring Deauville in the 1860s. It still exudes a prosperous atmosphere, even though the grand hotels have been converted into apartments. One of these was the Hotel des Roches Noires, famously depicted by Monet in 1870 with its flags stretched taut by the sea breeze. Many of Boudin’s scenes of vacationers gathering on the sand are painted here.
Le Havre
One painting by Monet in particular, Impression, Rising sun, would prove particularly important in the history of the movement. He made his hasty sketch of a brilliant orange sun burning through the mists of the busy harbor from the window of his hotel room in Le Havre in 1872, and gave it the title on a whim when it was hung in the exhibition. A critic reviewing the show seized on the word “impression” and it stuck.
You can still find the location, on what is now the Quai de Southampton, but the original buildings were destroyed during the liberation of France. Nowadays, many tourists who come to Le Havre are fans of modernist architecture. Auguste Perret’s neat grids of apartment blocks are models of their kind, and the cathedral’s soaring spire is undoubtedly one of the largest buildings ever built in concrete.
Art lovers will be drawn to another modernist building: the Musée d’Art Moderne André Malraux, which, after the Musée d’Orsay, houses one of the best collections of Impressionist art in France. Most of the paintings were donated by the family of a local collector and include works by Boudin, Monet, Renoir, Pissarro, Sisley, Degas, Courbet and Corot. It celebrates the Impressionist anniversary this summer with an exhibition on photography in Normandy from 1840-1890 (muma-lehavre.fr).
Etretat
One of the smallest but most picturesque seaside resorts on the Normandy coast, Étretat beach is surrounded by two large limestone cliffs, each forming a spectacular rock arch. The famous Arch of Manneport, on the west side of the bay, was a favorite subject of Monet, who returned here again and again to try to capture the contrasting effects of light and weather on the sea-swept cliffs (the beach of nearby Fécamp also fascinated him). Courbet and Boudin also painted here, Pissarro, Manet and Renoir worked nearby and Maupassant, Offenbach and Zola all kept villas on the slopes behind the bay.
Dieppe and Pourville
Dieppe was the first town in Normandy to be developed as a seaside resort, but was rather too windy for comfort and quickly fell out of favor in the 1830s. It remains one of the most beautiful harbors on this stretch of coast and is a great place to enjoy a plateau de fruits de mer, while the Château Museum has paintings by the likes of Renoir and Pissarro, who both came to paint here. Monet also visited, although he preferred the rugged cliffs and quieter atmosphere of nearby Pourville-sur-Mer, where he bought a house, and Varengeville-sur-Mer.
Rouen
One of Monet’s most famous series of paintings, created between 1892 and 1895, depicts the western facade of Rouen Cathedral in different weather conditions and at different times of the day. If you can’t quite find the right corner during your visit, it’s because he has installed himself in the changing rooms on the first floor of a women’s clothing store (sufficiently shielded) in the building opposite.
One of the 30 cathedral paintings is in the Musée des Beaux-Arts, which has an impressive collection of Old Masters and Impressionists. This summer’s special exhibition features David Hockney’s images of the Normandy countryside (mbarouen.fr).
Giverny
Monet did not consider his paintings to be his greatest work of art, but the garden he created in his country house in Giverny. He spent some 35 years planting and replanting, felling trees and diverting the river to form his lily pond, which in turn became the inspiration for his water lily paintings.
The only works left here are reproductions, but the house and garden are a must-see for Monet fans (fondation-monet.com).
Essentials
DFDS (dfds.co.uk) operates daily car ferry services between Newhaven and Dieppe. Standard return from £87 each way (one car with two passengers).
Nick Trend was a guest at the Ferme St Siméon (relaischateaux.com), which overlooks the Seine estuary near Honfleur. It has deep ties to the Impressionists: Boudin often stopped to drink, eat and paint, and Monet was a regular visitor (he stayed in what is now Room 22). This summer the hotel installed reproductions of more than 50 paintings by famous artists who stayed or painted in the gardens here. Double rooms from €250 per night, including breakfast.