Kauffman Commentary

La Roche is a village of about 600 people. The Château de La Roche-Guyon is literally the biggest landmark in the small town. The first section of the Château was built in the 12th century and then two other wings were added in the 18th century. Limestone was carved out to make cliffs in the back side of the Château.  This gave them a place that was a constant temperature and allowed for storing plants and animals during the winter. During the medieval era, the French aristocrats ate birds, not just any bird, but herons, peacocks or swans. They would cut the skin from the bird, cook the inside meat and then put it back inside the skin to display on the table. No plates during this time, only bread as a plate and a wooden spoon and knife for utensils.

Later in the 17th century, forks were around, but the royalty thought they were not for them. It was not a part of their catholic ways and so they didn’t use them, they did use plates but still only knives and their three fingers, that represented the holy trinity. During the 18th century glassware was more common and silverware also became common for the wealthy. 

The château was used by German troops to store munitions during WWII and Field Marshall Rommel stayed there during the war and the Normandy battle.

Today we stopped at two villages. The second was Vernon and Monet’s gardens in Giverny (straight across the river).  Monet moved here in 1823 and stayed until he died in 1926. Mainly his family and a few close friends stayed with him. He was a very private man.

He created his own landscapes to be used in his paintings. Later in his life he became wealthy and so he employed 7 gardeners and 2 cooks. He began to lose his sight in his later years, so he had successful cataract surgery, surely a new procedure in that day and age.