Impressions of Bougival

Bougival is a small town about 10 miles west of Paris, nestled along the Seine River. It’s where many Impressionist painters lived and worked, including Claude Monet, Alfred Sisley, Berthe Morisot, and Auguste Renoir. They painted  country scenes along the Seine, and along some paths of the Seine, you can see several  historical placards, known as the "Impressionists Walk," at locations from which the Impressionist painters painted  scenes of Bougival. It’s also where our friends, Marc and Virginie live...in a new house in the International Bauhaus style, with ultra modern appliances and features, which includes a game room (with pool table and an American pinball machine from the 1950s), a media/movie room, and a sound-proof music room for their talented musician son, Alex. The weekend Market has everything you can imagine, and Marc’s wine cellar is a wine lover’s paradise (who else has a 1921 Sauterne in their cellar?). Let’s see a few of the places we visited and things we did during the weekend visit.

During our Sunday stroll along the Seine, we ran across a Pétanque court and played a few games. Both teams were victors. 

The two Virginias 

Au bord de la Seine


Mansion of the Louis XIV property manager. Sphinxes added later

At the Early Gothic church at Croissy-sur-Seine 

Shopping at the market. Cepes are in season 

Church at Croissy-sur-Seine 

Fruit Defendu...along the Seine...where we had lunch

We’re in France, where food and wine is more than an afterthought...bordering on obsession. Who is to argue with that? Especially when you have a Corton Charlemagne with your exquisitely grilled salmon? Or perhaps the Chiroubles Beaujolais with your Dos de canette (Duck)? And après dinner, a game of pool and some pinball action?

An excellent dinner with our generous hosts, Marc & Virginie

Marc serving a special Burgundy wine

One of the finest white Burgundy wines, Corton Charlemagne

Pool...in the game room


Aperto. Spritz to sharpen our pool game

It will be difficult to leave this beautiful home, hosts, and village. But we have Paris in our sights where we have plans to visit more friends and to see the Berthe Morisot exhibit at the Gare d’Orsay Museum and the new Louis Vuitton Museum. I hope we also have time to visit the Orangerie to see Monet’s waterlilies...always one of my favorite places to visit in Paris.

Matera, One of the Oldest Continuously Occupied Cities in the World

Matera has a timeless quality about it...it’s literally and figuratively as old as the hills. From Neolithic settlements until the present, this area has lasted for the past 10,000 years. It’s pretty hard to beat the durability of rock, in this case, the tufo of Matera, as a building material. And as they tell you here, it is a kind of negative construction; the houses (caves) are dug out of the rock. We have the good fortune to be staying in a sasso (literally meaning stone) cave dwelling in the Caveoso area of Matera. It’s very cool, even during these hot late August/early September days. It’s light years away from the original sasso (Sassi is the plural); we have modern plumbing and electricity. This is our sasso dwelling:

And this is a sasso dwelling from about 1950 that housed a family of nine...plus an animal or two.

2is

Matera is built on the sides and top of a few ravines/canyons, so it can be difficult to go from one part of the town to another. Everything is made of stone, the houses, the roads, the sidewalks...everything.  Early settlers transitioned from hunter/gatherers to an agriculture economy, and as other settlements in Lucano (Puglia and Basilicata), were later Greek, Norman, Saracen, Roman, etc. areas, and became Christianized, as can be seen by the “rupestri” cave churches cut into the stone. Some of these early churches still have some fresco paintings, and were used for church services until around 1278 or so. 

Here are a few examples of “rupestri” cave churches

Matera has an incredible network of underground water channels and cisterns called the Palombaro Lungo. It’s a huge water reserve fed by springs and rainwater...an engineering feat...centuries old that gave Matera the special World Heritage Site status. This gigantic cistern, carved from rock is about 50 feet deep, and was often filled to the top. 

Matera is the kind of city where you wander around the narrow streets...up...up...up...and then you reach a plateau of the newer part of the city, than you wend your way down back to the sassi. It doesn’t matter if you are lost for a while, because eventually you see a landmark church or a main street to get your bearings again. A few more photos of Matera, then it’s addio Matera, on our way to Paris via Bari (with a bit of extra drama involving a strike by Alitalia, disrupting our Bari to Rome flight. 

Ciao,

David & Virginia

The Apennine Mountain range...this far south?

Yes, the Apennine mountain range does indeed go the entire length of Italy. Potenza, one of the main cities of Basilicata, at close to 1,000 meters, is the highest regional capital in Italy. But unfortunately, that doesn’t qualify it for being an interesting city to visit. There’s basically one street to visit...ab9ut 12 blocks long or so, where you will find the Cathedral, the F. Stabile Theater, a few more churches, and the National Archeological Museum. And since it is not on the usual tourist itinerary, there are few restaurants...with virtually of the, closed on Sunday (yes, one of the days we were there). But, we did enjoy what was there. 

I do have a soft spot for Romanesque churches; I find the simplicity of design and minimal adornments appealing. You’ve got your nave, your altar, simple arches, and thick stone walls. The Chiesa San Michele Arcangelo dates from 1178, and there are floor mosaics from an earlier church from the 5th century.

Chiesa San Michele Arcangelo,  Potenza

And in the Piazza San Pagano, you find the F. Stabile Teatro...built around 1860; it’s the only opera lirica Theater in Basilicata. It’s very small, but we are told that it is designed after the San Carlo Opera House in Naples.

F. Stabile Teatro...Opera Lirica, Potenza 

Ceiling of the F. Stabile Teatro

One our drive to Matera, our guide book suggested a min9r detour to a hilltop town, Tricarico. And what you find there is a Norman Tower/Castello. And  the Chiesa di Santa Chiara. The church was locked, but a local parishioner had a key and let us in. There are some amazing frescos from 1611. A short stroll down from the top of the hill led us to a bar (caffé), where, with a pick-me-up caffé, we were then on our way to Matera.

11th century Norman Tower/Castello, Tricarico

Santa Chiara, Gothic, 1333

Adoration of the Magii by Pietro Antiponio Ferro, 1611,  Santa Chiara, Tricarico


A first impression of Matera, UNESCO World Heritage Site