There was one additional School of Art on our cruise that we should mention: Towel Sculpture. This type of art has been around for a number of years, though not for as long as the Impressionism of Monet, Van Gogh and Cezanne. It’s especially popular on cruise ships, where it has been refined to a high art form. The sculptors who practice it create a menagerie of whimsical animals, exhibited on passengers’ beds each day in their …
ABOARD THE AMALEGRO – Our “Art Illumination” cruise ends tomorrow morning, and those of us whose egos survived the painting classes intact have produced three “masterpieces” . . . at least that’s what Sebastian Lowry, the cruise director, calls them. He’s a very kind man. We call them “primitive art,” giving ourselves the benefit of the doubt. Truthfully, however, most of them are “bad art” and should not see the light of day off this ship. They …
ABOARD THE AMALEGRO –L’escargots and frogs’ legs in cream sauce for lunch? Could a menu on this ship get any fancier? Well, perhaps. Last night we had dinner at the Chef’s Table, the smaller and more exclusive of the AMALegro’s two dining rooms, with floor-to-ceiling windows and beautiful views out the stern of the boat, where Chef George Sakadanov works his magic behind a glass wall for us to watch. The Chef’s Table is limited to 24 …
ABOARD THE AMALEGRO-When my husband and I were biking in Dresden five years ago we saw riverboats passing by on the Elbe River. “Thank goodness we’re not on one of those,” we thought, “we’d much rather be biking.” When we were biking from Vienna to Prague two years ago, we saw riverboats passing by on the Danube River. “Thank goodness we’re not on one of those,” we thought, “we’d much rather be biking.” Yesterday, while floating down …
ABOARD THE AMALEGRO, On the Seine — The dentist from Atlanta picked up his brush, filled it with a large dollop of red acrylic, and began to paint for the first time in his life. Dr. Jerry Richman had never painted before, but he and his wife love art and collect it for both their home and his dental office. He had signed onto this AMALegro riverboat cruise because he wanted to see the famous gardens in …
ABOARD THE AMALEGRO, Normandy – Monet painted them 500 times. We’re going to paint them only once and today we saw them with our own eyes: Claude Monet’s famous water lilies. On the second day of our “Art Illumination” cruise we traveled to Giverny, site of the extraordinary gardens that Monet, one of France’s most illustrious painters, created around his home. That home and those gardens – both of which fell into sad disrepair in the years …
ABOARD THE AMALEGRO, Paris – – They call this an “Art Illumination” cruise — and as soon as we walked up the gangplank of this majestic riverboat we could see why: copies of famous Impressionist art are hung on the walls of every corridor. When the trip is over in seven days, the 79 passengers will have channeled their inner art talent in an attempt to replicate the masterpieces of Monet, Van Gogh, Renoir and the other …
The last time we were in Paris, we painted the town; now it’s time to paint the city. And the country. And surrounding cities. So on August 13 we’re hopping on the AmaWaterways 400-foot “AmaLegro” docked right in Paris for its special “Art Illumination” cruise up the Seine River and into Normandy. We’ll head to Monet’s home and gardens in Giverny; stop in Honfleur, a town painted by many famous artists; stroll through historic Rouen; visit Saint-Pierre …
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