- Oct 18, 2021
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- Camping since 1954, MoHo 2022
Okay, it’s not as impressive as Giverney, but it won’t have the coachloads of tourists getting in the way, and it’ll cost zilch!
Looking for a location for another swimming spot on our slow meander back up towards Dieppe, we headed to the confluence of the Creuse/Petite Creuse rivers and the village of Fresselines, and what a find it was!
The small and immaculately kept Camping Municipal is located in the heart of the village, with the bakery and butcher on the doorstep, the bar/restaurant just around the corner, and will set you back €15 for the night.
Opposite the entrance, and visible over the washing line , is the Espace Monet Rollinat, which immediately piqued our interest while we waited for it to open the following day.
Turns out that the valley of the Cruese and villages of Fresselines, Crozant and others, are considered to be the ‘True Cradle of Impressionism’, having been visited by Monet, Detroy, Guillaumin, Maillaud and other early pioneers of the movement. A bust of Monet is located on the square, opposite the bar.
The ‘Mother of All Thunderstorms’ overnight ruled out any river swimming the following morning - unless we wanted to end up being swept down to the coast - so a visit to Espace Monet Rollinat was in order, and what a treat it was. The gallery itself was interesting, informative and provided leaflets to guide us around the local ‘Monet’ walks (more later). In addition there was a superb interactive gallery next door which, in addition to a big screen scrolling through major Impressionist works which could be interrogated via a smaller screen in front of us, featured a Virtual Reality section. This was absolutely mind blowing as it featured Manet’s ‘A Bar at the Folies-Begere’:
I have absolutely no idea how they achieved it but it allowed you to be present when the painting was being created, both in the bar and in the artist’s studio, plus it reversed the view quite realistically to show the view out from the barmaid’s perspective - and all in 360 degree viewing!!!!
So then on with the walking shoes and guidance in hand we headed off to follow the ‘Dans Les Pas De Monet’ for 3km down into the valley of the Creuse. It’s totally way marked with reproductions of Monet’s paintings that were created at each stopping point, albeit with somewhat altered perspectives due to current vegetation. Here’s the confluence of the Creuse(s) today with one of Monet’s series painted from a vantage point above where I was standing.
And after completing the walk we tucked into a couple of delightful (and signed!) pastries from the bakery!
Looking for a location for another swimming spot on our slow meander back up towards Dieppe, we headed to the confluence of the Creuse/Petite Creuse rivers and the village of Fresselines, and what a find it was!
The small and immaculately kept Camping Municipal is located in the heart of the village, with the bakery and butcher on the doorstep, the bar/restaurant just around the corner, and will set you back €15 for the night.
Opposite the entrance, and visible over the washing line , is the Espace Monet Rollinat, which immediately piqued our interest while we waited for it to open the following day.
Turns out that the valley of the Cruese and villages of Fresselines, Crozant and others, are considered to be the ‘True Cradle of Impressionism’, having been visited by Monet, Detroy, Guillaumin, Maillaud and other early pioneers of the movement. A bust of Monet is located on the square, opposite the bar.
The ‘Mother of All Thunderstorms’ overnight ruled out any river swimming the following morning - unless we wanted to end up being swept down to the coast - so a visit to Espace Monet Rollinat was in order, and what a treat it was. The gallery itself was interesting, informative and provided leaflets to guide us around the local ‘Monet’ walks (more later). In addition there was a superb interactive gallery next door which, in addition to a big screen scrolling through major Impressionist works which could be interrogated via a smaller screen in front of us, featured a Virtual Reality section. This was absolutely mind blowing as it featured Manet’s ‘A Bar at the Folies-Begere’:
I have absolutely no idea how they achieved it but it allowed you to be present when the painting was being created, both in the bar and in the artist’s studio, plus it reversed the view quite realistically to show the view out from the barmaid’s perspective - and all in 360 degree viewing!!!!
So then on with the walking shoes and guidance in hand we headed off to follow the ‘Dans Les Pas De Monet’ for 3km down into the valley of the Creuse. It’s totally way marked with reproductions of Monet’s paintings that were created at each stopping point, albeit with somewhat altered perspectives due to current vegetation. Here’s the confluence of the Creuse(s) today with one of Monet’s series painted from a vantage point above where I was standing.
And after completing the walk we tucked into a couple of delightful (and signed!) pastries from the bakery!
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