Today we finally made it to Moret sur Loing. We thought we’d get there the last couple days, but got sidetracked in Saint-Mammès. We were interested in Moret-sur-Loing for a couple reasons: the Impressionist painter Alfred Sisley lived here for quite a few years (he died here), and it’s the largest town around, with almost 5,000 inhabitants.
It didn’t take long to see why Sisley painted here; the Loing River flows right through the time and it is just beautiful. The town has really made use of the river, with lots of views onto it and walks and a bridge into town. It seems to me that a painter here would have no problem finding things to paint. I read that Sisley painted some 500 pictures in this area; he could easily done 500 more. Some photos of the riverfront:
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There are a number of places posted where Sisley painted a picture, so that a visitor can see the painting and look at the view today. That is a pretty amazing thing to do:
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Sisley painted this about 100 yards to the left, but you can still see the tower and church. As I mentioned a couple days ago, Laurie and I have long been fans of Alfred Sisley, so living near where he lived and being able to see the places he painted is a treat for us.
Some miscellaneous pictures from Moret:
 Laurie and the Loing River |
 Mostly, I love the willow tree. |
 I could live here… |
 We weren’t the only ones enjoying the river. |
Another bit of Moret history: when Napolean returned from his first exile on Elba, he spent a night in Moret on his march to Paris. I did not, though, see any “Napolean slept here” signs.
Love your posts, John. The villages are incredible, and how wonderful to trace your favorite art works back to their source! We are so sad about the flooding in Europe, so much of what we saw is now under high water.
This year the Seine and rivers around here are swollen from the wettest month of May on record. Yet, in Moret sur Loing today, we saw the marks of past-years floods – several were 12-14 ft above the level of the Loing river today!