Accessibility links Skip to main content Keyboard shortcuts for audio player Open Navigation Menu --> Newsletters NPR Shop Get NPR+ Close Navigation Menu Home News Expand/collapse submenu for News National World Politics Business Health Science Climate Race Culture Expand/collapse submenu for Culture Books Movies Television Pop Culture Food Art & Design Performing Arts Life Kit Gaming Music Expand/collapse submenu for Music Tiny Desk New Music Friday All Songs Considered Music Features Live Sessions Podcasts & Shows Expand/collapse submenu for Podcasts & Shows Daily Morning Edition Weekend Edition Saturday Weekend Edition Sunday All Things Considered Up First Here & Now NPR Politics Podcast Featured Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me! Fresh Air Wild Card with Rachel Martin It's Been a Minute Embedded Get NPR+ More Podcasts & Shows Search Newsletters NPR Shop Get NPR+ Tiny Desk New Music Friday All Songs Considered Music Features Live Sessions About NPR Diversity Support Careers Press Ethics Normandy beach town has hardly changed since Monet painted it The Normandy beach town of Trouville-sur-Mer is a two-hour train ride from Paris, but feels a world away, with English Channel breezes and the sound of seagulls screeching through the cobbled streets. Special Series Far-Flung Postcards Greetings from Trouville-sur-Mer, a beach town little changed since Monet painted it August 19, 202610:19 AM ET By
Eleanor Beardsley
Eleanor Beardsley/NPR The Normandy beach town of Trouville-sur-Mer is just a two-hour train ride from the center of Paris, but it feels a world away.
Gone are the heat and traffic of the city, replaced by English Channel breezes and the sound of seagulls screeching through the cobbled streets.
The beaches along this expanse of coastline known as the Norman Riviera are wide, with big tides, and many Parisians come up just for the day — as I did — relaxing in chaise lounge chairs under colorful beach umbrellas that line the boardwalk.
The Impressionists captured Trouville's sandy beaches and shifting skies just as fashionable holiday makers began taking to the waters here in the 19th century in what was known as "sea bathing."
Looking at one of Claude Monet's Trouville-sur-Mer beach scenes of turreted houses and fashionable boardwalk strollers, it feels like nothing has changed since then ... except perhaps the strollers' attire.
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