• Giverny town map from Tourist office
    Day Trip,  Giverny,  Let's Explore

    Day Trip to Giverny via Vernon

    A day trip to Giverny is easy. The SNCF train from Gare Saint-Lazare takes you to Vernon/Giverny in 45 minutes. Rent a bike across from the train station and take your time pedaling to Giverny. The biggest piece of advice: buy your tickets in advance to Monet's house. Follow the online ticket links at Foundation Claude Monet. Twenty minutes before departure in the direction of Rouen Rive Droite, the departing platform (voie) is posted. While you wait, enjoy the updated three-level shopping mall at Gare Saint-Lazare. If you want to "powder your nose" the "2theloo" spot is open from 6 am to midnight and is constantly being wiped down and…

  • Poster with stations closed during RER C summer renovation in Paris until August 27, 2016
    Life in Paris & France,  Transportation,  Welcome to Colleen's Paris

    RER C Renovating – Reroute Your Journey

    Between Gare d’Austerlitz and Javel, RER C resumes normal activity August 27. You will only see a diagram of the stations affected at the bottom of the stairs to the platform. Plan on buses or other metro lines to circumvent this summer riddle. Posters are plastered all over the metros and RER about RER A with only a mention that something is going on with RER C. Even at Gare d’Austerlitz the information is limited. With digging, I was able to find maintenance information about the other RER works scheduled. Use Google Translate to read the page. I was heading to the Eiffel Tower (Tour Eiffel) area, for example. I…

  • 2 posters for Qui a Peur des femmes photographes and Splendeurs et Misères
    Museum exhibitions,  Museums,  Photography-Art

    A Century of Working Women-3 Paris Exhibits

    Constrained by social norms or cultural tradition, women working outside the home in the mid to late 1800s walked a fine line when wanting to earn a living. Three Paris exhibitions follow the working life of women for almost a century from 1839 to 1945. All three are exploring subjects assembled for the first time. "Qui a peur des femmes photographes" (until January 24, 2016) is the first gender-based exhibition in France and "Splendeurs et Misères, Images de la prostitution 1850-1910" (until January 17, 2016) "Splendeurs..." is the first time a museum is dedicating an entire exhibition to prostitution. Within this article you will find a synopsis of the three…

  • Claude Monet - Gare Saint Lazare Crédits photo © RMN (Musée d’Orsay) Hervé Lewandowski
    Museum exhibitions

    Paris Exhibitions of the Past

    The Paris Mayor’s office has a list of Paris museums and their links to check for current exhibitions. You can also check for current exhibitions at the city/municipal museums. The Paris Tourist Office provides a list of museums. And l’Officiel des spectacles provides museum information in their weekly magazine and online (Use Google Translate.) The following two exhibits are at the same Hotel de Ville – one entrance fronts rue de Rivoli and the other is around the corner on the street, Lobau. The Impressionists at the Hotel de Ville Until July 23, 2011. “During its renovation work, the Musée d’Orsay is loaning out several dozen canvases and drawings. Most…

  • Caillebotte exhibition at Jacquemart-Andre, Paris, until July 11, 2011
    Museum exhibitions

    Caillebotte Brothers exhibit at Jacquemart-André Museum

    The Caillebotte brothers have returned to Paris at the Jacquemart-André Museum. Until July 11, 2011 the paintings of Gustave and the photography of Martial will take the visitor into their artistic and intimate universe. They direct the viewer on a journey into a world of the bourgeoisie with their family and country home as the models. They  share the intimacy of their personal life in the garden, life inside the home, and boating along the wide and narrow rivers. The two brothers also share a look into a Paris in transition. While Gustave’s view from balconies overlook trees, roundabouts, and strollers along the boulevards. His brother, Martial, shows us horses…