Moret-sur-Loing
When we first came to France for a long-stay vacation, we lived in the small town of Montigny-sur-Loing (“Montigny on the Loing River”). As I researched places around Montigny I came across Moret-sur-Loing, about 10 miles away, and found that Alfred Sisley, one of our long-time Impressionist favorites, lived in Moret for many years, died there and is buried in the Moret-sur-Loing cemetery. He painted many pictures while he lived in Moret, and other Impressionists came to visit and paint with him; this town is well-known in the world of Impressionism. I knew Moret merited a visit; I did not foresee that it would become a favorite place of ours.
The Loing River flows through Moret and creates an idyllic riverside area. Moret was founded because of the river; a number of water mills were built here, for tanning and grain-milling. Several of those mills remain, and several have been replaced by more modern structures; the Germans destroyed the bridge across the river and a couple of the mills as they retreated during World War II.
The town also gets a point in the “Napoleon slept here” sweepstakes. When, in 1815, Napoleon returned from his first exile in Elba, he did, indeed, spend a night here. In fact, the “Hundred Days” that is used to describe his last hurrah in France, started in Moret-sur-Loing that night, and ended, one hundred days later, at Waterloo.
Moret-sur-Loing is just about our favorite place on a nice day when we don’t have anything planned and just want to spend some time in a nice town. We love to walk along the river. Yesterday we bought sandwiches and tarts in town and sat on a bench for lunch, watching the river and the people. Nice way to spend a morning…