14.4.09

"Impressions" from a meeting with bloggers


I had again the pleasure to meet some bloggers! Paris received a visit (for the eighth time?) by Bob and his wife, here to celebrate a marriage anniversary. Cergie came up with the good suggestion that we should meet at "La Maison Fournaise", a little bit outside Paris, for lunch. Olivier joined us, as well as Cergie's husband. This used to be a place where the impressionists went.

"La Maison Fournaise" is situated on the banks of the Seine River on the Chatou Island (Ile de Chatou). It opened as a restaurant by Mr. Fournaise in 1857. People met here until the beginning of the 20th century for eating, drinking, dancing, rowing on the Seine... The place was much visited by especially the impressionist painters (Monet, Manet, Sisley, Morisot, Pissarro, Degas, Caillebotte...), perhaps particularly by Renoir, who was a frequent visitor during years ("You can find me any time at Fournaise's"....).

You can here see a painting by Renoir from the restaurant terrace - where you can also see us sitting around a table -,"Le déjeuner des canotiers" ("The luncheon of the boating party"), painted in 1881 and today at the Phillips Memorial Gallery, Washington DC. Mr. Fournaise is standing on the left, his daughter Alphonsine (often a model to the painters) is leaning against the terrace railing. (The mother was probably in the kitchen.)

Guy de Maupassant was another regular guest. He refers to the place in several of his novels (under a different name) and also left a poem on a wall.

After having been closed a few decades, "La Maison Fournaise" was again opened after renovation in 1990.

We were lucky to have a wonderful spring weather and spent some very nice hours together! It's nice to meet bloggers!

58 comments:

Cezar and Léia said...

What a wonderful place!
I need to confess I'm envious here!

So glad to know you had a perfect time with friends!

All pictures are fantastic and I would like to say thank you for sharing such a kind moment in this nice post!
God bless you
Léia

Anonymous said...

It must be nice to meet friends from the blogging world. And you get to see them in action with their cameras and equipment.

Blind Fly Theater said...

Once again... Such a pleasant post. You seem to be the go-to host, regularly meeting with the fine bloggers who visit. Maybe one day I will visit this beautiful city and meet you myself. I have been a dedicated fan of French Impressionism since I saw a major Monet retrospective in Chicago, and so this post has a special meaning for me. Thank you for being a dedicated blogger.

claude said...

Bel endroit pour une rencontre de bloggers. Cela me rappelle qq chose. J'espère que les oreiles ne t'ont pas sifflé car j'ai parlé de toi chez Olivier, mais en bien, tu Penses ! A bientôt Peter !

James said...

Sounds like a wonderful time. Outstanding post.

claude said...

Encore moi. Le tableau de Renoir "le Déjeuner des Canotiers"
est une pure merveille ; ça, c'est de l'art !

Virginia said...

Oh Peter,
What great photos of you all. I knew Bob right off because of all of his wonderful camera 'stuff'. And Olivier!!! At last I see him. What a great blogger reunion for you all. NOW..... we have to do this all over again in June , oui? I can hardly wait!!!

Merci les photographies!!
V

Thérèse said...

On vous suit à la trace sur les blogs!
Belle équipe et peut-être que l'un d'entre vous saura transformer une des photos prises en tableau...

Jessica said...

I love when you post photos that compare present day to paintings. And I particularly love Luncheon of the Boating Party. I could sit in that gallery all day long and look at that painting (I live very close to D.C.). Looks like a lovely place for a meal.

richard said...

Ha! "Luncheon of the Blogging Party" Plus ca change. Now I need to do a tour of your companions.

lyliane six said...

C'est une belle réunion de supers photographes modernes, dans un endroit que j'adore, près de "mon Rueil", je vais y retourner bientôt, car en ce moment les jardins sont superbement fleuris.L'été se déroule la fête des canotiers avec les participants en costumes d'époque.

alice said...

Quel bel endroit pour une jolie brochette de photographes! Et le soleil était avec vous.

Olivier said...

c'est marrant, cela me rappelle quelque chose ;o)) très sympathique cette rencontre et puis le repas était délicieux...a une autre fois

Cergie said...

Ni Carolyn ni Patrick n'avait d'appareil photo. Je tiens à préciser que je n'en ai pas pris tellement.
Il me semble que c'est moi qui en ai pris le moins...
Comme d'habitude il a fait beau en Ile de France. J'ai été ravie de mettre mes pas dans ceux de Maupassant et d'autres en votre compagnie. De voir les lieux du déjeuner des canotiers que j'ai eu la chance d'admirer en vrai lors de l'expo consacrée à la collection Phillips au musée du Luxembourg.
Chatou était le poumon de Paris ; la Maison Fournaise témoigne d'une époque.
Have a good day, Peter !

Vamsee Modugula said...

Sounds like a wonderful restaurant. What did you eat? Love the pictures of spring flowers.

Reading your blog wants me to visit Paris again. I am trying to convince my husband to spend our 10th year anniversary there!! If we do, I will ask for your help in planning the trip.

hpy said...

I never went to the Chatou Island even though I lived inChatou for about a year. We didn't go there from work neither. But of course, teh erstaurant was closed at that time.
Cergie told me you were to meet, but she didn't talk about the place.
I'm sure you had a good time together. Lucky you!

Adam said...

Glad you all had a nice time and perfect weather!

Catherine said...

Retrouver les charmes de cette vie douce dans le milieu artistique fin de siècle. Charmant ! Le titre en particulier.

Shionge said...

Yes indeed, tell me about it..it is wonderful to meet blogger friend :D

nathalie in avignon said...

Lucky you! Here's a group of people I really would have enjoyed meeting!

Congratulations to Cergie for the choice of the location!

delphinium said...

mais c'est qui tous ces gens qui se prennent en photo? :-)

Jilly said...

Love that first shot. What a gorgeous place to meet up. Super shots of everyone and once again, congratulations Bob and Carolyn on your 35rd wedding anniversary.

Ruth said...

How sweet to meet up with bloggers at such a location as that. The flowers make a natural painting. so glad you enjoyed yourselves.

Maybe one day I can join you too.

Karen said...

What a happy group! The place you choose to meet is lovely with all the flowers blooming and your photos, as usual, are wonderful.
There must be hundreds of photos from all of those cameras.. I want to see them.

Eddy said...

Quoi de plus impressionnant l'impression d'un impressionniste ?
Belle journée que celle-ci, ton post d'aujourd'hui est très sympatique.
A bientôt (à Paris ?)

SusuPetal said...

Oh, you've had fun! And that April in Paris -it's just too beautiful!
When compared with the Finnish April: yesterday it was 3 degrees!

Not snowing, at least...

Coltrane_lives said...

What a splendid way to spend a day. Love the photos and history. Merci.

Maxime said...

Le cadre est magnifique , mais à quoi donc ressemble la carte ?

Cuckoo said...

Oh that was a lovely choice of place ! It must be fun to meet blogger friends. So, how do you find them different from your perception ?

Carole said...

Oui c'est vrai tout ça, on voudrait en savoir plus sur cette 'fournaise', le menu par exemple car le cadre à l'air enchanteur.
A bientôt Peter !

PeterParis said...

Léia:
One day we will meet also, together with Cezar I hope!

Abe:
You don't often see a blogger without a camera! :-)

SparkleMirror:
Thanks... and looking forward to your arrival in Paris!

PeterParis said...

Claude:
... oui ça siffle un peu! :-)

James:
Thanks!

Claude (encore):
... eh oui! :-)

PeterParis said...

Virginia:
Yes, I hope we can meet between some of us! :-)

Thérèse:
Certain(e)s sont peut-être capables!

Jessica:
A lovely place for a meal ... and for painting!

PeterParis said...

Richard:
Yes, please make the tour! !-)

Lyliane:
Je ne savais pas pour les canotiers! On ira?

Alice:
Oui, une chance avec le temps! :-)

PeterParis said...

Olivier:
Oui, à bientôt, à Evry, à Paris...: :-)

Cergie:
Ce n'est pas le nombre de photos qui compte! :-)

Vamsee:
The menu is quite nice! ... a limited choice, but good!
Yes, when you come, don't hesitate to contact me!

Marie-Noyale said...

Un bel endroit pour se retrouver entre photographes.. de si jolies couleurs..la nature est bien en avance chez vous!
et je suis d'acoord avec toi c'est tres sympathique de se retrouver entre bloggers

PeterParis said...

hpy:
Time the for a return visit to Chatou! :-)

Adam:
Thanks! Yes,, it was nice and we were lucky!

Catherine:
Impressionnée par le titre! :-)

PeterParis said...

Shionge:
I saw that you also had a visit! :-)

Nathalie:
Avignon is a bit far away... but we will meet elsewhere! :-)

Delphinium:
Il s'agit d'une sorte de manie entre bloggeurs! :-)

PeterParis said...

Jilly:
More blogger meetings would be nice! :-)

Ruth:
I sincerely hope you will !! :-)

Karen:
You can already start by making the tour of the other bloggers present! :-)

PeterParis said...

Eddy:
Yes, I would really look forward to meeting you (and your partner) ! :-)

SusuPetal:
I appreciate your problem! :-)

Coltrane:
Yes... and thanks! :-)

PeterParis said...

Maxime:
La carte n'est pas mal! On peut faire un tour la prochaine fois que tu es dans les parrages?

Cuckoo:
In general, the impression you may have is confirmed! (Let's see about you, one day!) :-)

Carole:
Le menu change d'un jour à l'autre, mais les choix sont bons! :-) Oui, à bientôt j'espère!

PeterParis said...

Marie-Noyale:
En effet!! :-)

Unknown said...

Easy to understand why impressionists loved to go to this spot! :-)
I find the bloggers meeting quite cool indeed. That's great!

Jill said...

How very special for you all to meet. And in such a beautiful place. Congratulations Bob and Carolyn! Such beautiful photos Peter. Cergie may have started something....

PeterParis said...

JM:
No blogger meeting planned? :-)

Jill:
Actually, there have already been a number of blogger meetings. I guess I must now have met some 15 or 20 colleauges! Nice!!

april said...

Great. That must be a wonderful place on the river and as a meeting point for bloggers. Funny, they always have their cameras ready ;-)

Cheryl said...

Wow! gorgeous...I wish I was there painting...

Marie Reed said...

Will you be going to the Paris Daily Photo Picnic Peter?

PeterParis said...

April:
We had some photo sessions of course, but we still had the time to enjoy the lunch! :-)

Cheryl:
So, now you know where to go! :-)

Marie Reed:
Not invited! I'm not a "daily". :-(

krystyna said...

This is a magical post. How nice to see bloggers in a real world.
Paris is a magical place as you are, Peter.

Thanks for sharing.

catherien said...

c'est rigolo de voir la même info traitée de façon différente.... chacun ses photos sa vision du moment : en tous cas vous avez l'air de vous entendre comme larrons en foire.... et de faire une compète de zooms...

PeterParis said...

Krystyna:
Thank YOU Krystyna! :-)

Catherien:
En effet... pourtant, je suis moins equipé en zooms que les autres! :-)

Rob said...

Always a pleasure to meet fellow photo-bloggers!

PeterParis said...

Dusty Lens:
Definitely! :-)

Cuckoo said...

Ha Ha Ha.... I don't know about you but many say I am very different from their perceptions. :-)

PeterParis said...

Cuckoo:
There are always some "risks" involved, but I'm ready to take them! :-)

Chuckeroon said...

.....and you dined "with" Guy de Maupassant. I am slightly envious.

Clearly a rewarding day out, Peter.

Anonymous said...

mm.. attractive thoughts :))