Grand Papa Antiquites

Today, a hundred years after Claude Monet, you will discover the unchanged landscape : Vetheuil, located on the Seine river bank, below white cliffs,. its ancient church still standing after seven centuries. The village streets and trails will conduct you to the hilltop or to the river banks. From Nordmen invasions to the Hundred years war against the english crown, Vetheuil took its place in history, sometimes English, sometimes French. Bertrand du Guesclin conquired the castle in april 1364. The church is dedicated to the Nativity, the oldest part, the choir, has been built before the Hundred years war, by the english king Henry the second. The building has been onduring centuries to end in the XVI th century (1560). Inside you will find numerous registred pieces of art : statues, frames and wall paintings including le one celebrating the Charity brotherhood created by the pope in 1583. Many pilgrims came to pray "our lady of Grace". This wonderfull building, classified in 1845, is an exemple of the transition between Roman art and Ogival style wich seduced Claude Monet. We can admire it in many of his paintings. The old graveyard around the church has been moved in the mid nineteeth century. You can visit Camille Doncieux's grave, she was Monet's wife and passed away aged 32 ans, on septembre 5th 1879, in Vetheuil. One can understand that this charming and wonderfull place attracted so many painters and well known people. The most famous was Claude Monet who settled in Vetheuil in 1878 and created here many paintings one can discover inmuseums all over the world. His house is located on the road to "la Roche-Guyon" at the village gate. Just over this house, another one sheltered for years Joan Mitchell, American, and Jean-Paul Riopelle, Canadian ; both very well known painters. Nowadays many artists live in Vetheuil, Frenchs as A.Bruneaux et S.Carrré, English as M.Towsey or Japanese as S.Hasegawa. Wandering in the old streets you may dicover the wondrfull house where the novel writers Paul et Victor Margueritte, the plane manufacturer Gabriel Voisin and the musician César Franck lived. Vetheuil is still a place to live and, when you stop in the village, you may discover all the people who live here. translated from a text by : D.Herpin-Poulenat