HOUSTON ART TRIBE PAINTING IN NORMANDY

Fly to Paris - Or fly a few days early to spend some time in Paris. Please inquire for international flights.

Tour starts at the Chateau D'urou. Transfers from the Paris airport are available (not included). Train is available from Paris Montparnasse Train Station to Argentan.

Your first evening is for you to settle and relax. The owner will give you an extended tour of the property that includes the horsefarm.

This evening, join us for a welcome cocktail followed by dinner.

Meals D

A lovely full day awaits you. You will first drive to the town of Lisieux where you will see the beautiful Basilica built in honor of St Theresa before meeting Chef Le Guillois who will show you one of the best local food market of the area. You will then head to his restaurant for a cooking class followed by a delicious luncheon. 

After lunch we will stop in Chateau de Boutemont, a place of peace and surrounded by beautiful French gardens where you will be able to sketch with Susan. Return to Chateau d'Urou for a light dinner.

Meals B,L,D

Enjoy a stop in the town of  Falaise where you will visit the Castle of William the Conqueror. Come and experience history at first hand. Discover the castle in virtual reality with the aid of a touchscreen tablet.
Falaise Castle is a solid stone fortress dating from around 1000. Built by the first Dukes of Normandy, it was enlarged after the conquest of England in 1066. In the12th century, William’s descendants built two square, typically anglo-norman, keeps using the foundations of the original castle.
These buildings show the Dukes of Normandy at the height of their powers. They are most sophisticated of the Royal Dukes’ palace/keeps and best preserved of their fortresses in France.

Discover the small village of Beuvron en Auge, one of the loveliest villages in the area where you will have a star Michelin restaurant lunch. After lunch you will drive through charming back roads and will make a stop at a local Calvados and cider distillery for an interesting visit and a tasting of their products., We will then return to Chateau D'Urou for Dinner.

Meals B,L,D

Today you will drive to the beautiful town of Honfleur where you will have a short guided visit with a local guide and have some free time to roam around the museum of painter Eugene Boudin, and the old Basin. Lunch will be at leisure. On our way back we will stop at the Ferme Saint Simeon, a 5 star Norman Farm hotel for an afternoon luxurious tea time in their art filled salon. Once a refuge for impressionist painters, La Ferme Saint-Siméon is celebrated for its bucolic surroundings and beautiful Seine estuary light. Monet and Courbet would come here and work on their colours, and Baudelaire would flee the melancholy of Paris in search of inspiration. return to Chateau d'Urou for a light dinner.

Meals B,Tea, D

Today you will depart early from the Chateau D'Urou and will go to famous sights along the beaches of Normandie that include the German Battery of Longues sur Mer, Bayeux with free time for lunch, Omaha Beach, The American Cemetery and Arromanches where an artificial port was built for the landing.  Dinner will be served upon your return at the Chateau D'Urou.

Meals B,D

This Morning you will enjoy a beautiful drive to the village of Camembert where we will visit the  local museum and taste the famous cheese.

Then  head to the Haras du Pin, the oldest National Stud Farm of France founded by Louis XIV. You will visit the stables and learn about its history and its different breed of horses. Returen to the Chateau d'Urou for a traditional casual Norman lunch.

Meals B,L,D

This afternoon, join your local guide for a walking tour of Argentan and  visit the Fernand Leger Museum, a French painter, sculptor, and filmmaker who created a personal form of cubism which he gradually modified into a more figurative, populist style.

Go back to the Chateau d'Urou early, open some wine or cider, and lets have a feast of local specialities.

Meals B,L,D

Depart the Chateau in the early morning for Paris Airport or Paris Airport Hotel. Please contact us for details and arrangements.