CELEBRATING RENOIR-ISH MOMENTS ON THE RIVER SEINE : ON LOCATION.

Byline: Katherine Calos Richmond Times-Dispatch 

Think of it as a Renoir moment.

An artist, enchanted by the light playing on the waters of the Seine, makes room for a sketch pad at a restaurant where Renoir created one of his most famous works.

Behind him stretches a red and white striped awning, just as it did in Renoir's ``Luncheon of the Boating Party.'' Below him curls the river that became a favorite theme for impressionist artists in the mid-1800s.

By the time lunch is over, the artist has sketched a table on the balcony and the bridge beyond it. All it needs is people at the table, but perhaps he'll add the final touches at his studio, just as Renoir did with the ensemble in his masterwork.

Like me, Lord Northbourne had come to the Maison Fournaise because of its associations with Pierre Auguste Renoir - except Northbourne's ties were more personal. Northbourne was sketching during lunch with his father-in-law, Henri Claudel, who'd been instrumental in restoring the property.

Claudel is a retired diplomat, former deputy mayor of the Parisian suburb of Chatou and president of the group that restored the Restaurant Fournaise and adjoining museum, which together make up the Maison Fournaise. The English son-in-law sketches for pleasure and has displayed some of his work in London.

Their Saturday luncheon offered the visiting lord and lady a chance to taste the results of Claudel's project, which opened a few years ago.

My own visit was inspired by the just-closed exhibition, ``Impressionists on the Seine,'' in Washington, D.C., which celebrated the 75th anniversary of The Phillips Collection, where Renoir's ``Luncheon of the Boating Party'' has a permanent home.

For the anniversary exhibition, the Renoir masterpiece was surrounded by Seine impressions from Claude Monet, Alfred Sisley, Gustave Caillebotte, Edouard Manet, Berthe Morisot and Camille Pissarro, as well as Renoir.

``When considered as a group, these paintings form the greatest collective portrait of a river in the history of art,'' wrote art consultant Richard R. Brettell in the exhibition catalog. ``No other river - not the Thames, the Tiber, the Danube, or the Rhine - can lay claim to such numerous or potent representations painted within so concentrated a period. In many ways the impressionists' views of the Seine have transformed the French national river into an international waterway.''

The idyllic paintings instilled a longing to see the river itself. Bear in mind that a century has passed, but it's still possible to feel a connection, especially at the Restaurant Fournaise. After lunch there, a boat trip on the Seine in Paris and a side trip to Monet's home at Giverny, I felt a deeper understanding of the river and the artists.

A Renoir-inspired lunch was my first endeavor after I landed in France. By a remarkable bit of happenstance, the next table was occupied by the Northbournes and the Claudels.

In 1974, the Maison Fournaise had been abandoned, Claudel told me over dessert. Eight layers of wallpaper covered the satirical paintings that now enliven its walls. The balconies were unsafe.

Now diners can sit once more beneath the awning and the plane tree that shade the balcony. Floor-to-ceiling windows allow unfettered views from inside, though it's not exactly the same as when Renoir was here. River traffic now has more barges than small boats. In the past 10 years, modern buildings have filled the riverbank.

When Renoir and friends arrived, the countryside had recently opened to day visitors from Paris by means of France's first railroad line. The bridge over the Seine to Chatou was the second railroad bridge in France.

Parisians came in increasing numbers to spend Sundays by the river. Boating and rowing became fashionable, and boat carpenter Alphonse Fournaise recognized an opportunity.

About 1860, he opened the Maison Fournaise as a cafe, dance hall and boat rental center on the banks of the Seine. Similar places, called guinguettes, spread out on the Seine between Argenteuil and Bougival at the time of the impressionists, but the Maison Fournaise is the only one lfet.

Renoir found Chatou an inexpensive alternative to Paris and made more than 30 paintings there between 1868 and 1884.

``You could find me any time at Fournaise's,'' he wrote. ``There, I was fortunate enough to find as many splendid creatures as I could possibly desire to paint.''

In 1880, he advised a friend, ``I can't leave Chatou now, because my painting isn't finished yet. It would be kind of you to come down here and have lunch with me. You wouldn't regret the trip, I assure you. There's no lovelier site in all Paris surroundings.''

``It was a very gay place,'' Claudel said. ``This was a center for boating. People were swimming in the river, rowing and sailing. ... The girls were very pretty. Some were models for the painters.''

Renoir was young, only 27 years old, when he first came to Chatou, and often was broke. Sometimes he offered a painting to pay his expenses. His painting of a man with a pipe, for instance, depicts Fournaise, who accepted it somewhat reluctantly. ``All right. I will use it to hide a humidity spot on the wall,'' Claudel translated.

None of Renoir's paintings remain on the island, but a reproduction of ``Luncheon of the Boating Party'' is a focal point of the small museum.

The museum can arrange English tours in advance, but otherwise the French text may leave the language-impaired with questions unanswered.

The Maison Fournaise is becoming better known, but it still offers a sense of discovery. You can't say that about Monet's home at Giverny or boat trips through the heart of Paris. They're both extremely popular, and each offers ample rewards.

The boat trips are a simple affair, yet they illustrate how the Seine's seductive appeal has continued into the present. A multilingual commentary points out bridges and buildings along a route that extends generally from the Eiffel Tower to Notre Dame.

To recapture the Renoir and Monet era around the River Seine, you can visit La Maison Fournaise on the Ile des Impressionnistes, 78400 Chatou. It's open from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday. Admission costs about $5. To get there, take the R.E.R. train, line A, from the Place Charles de Gaulle-Etoile station in Paris to the Rueil-Malmaison station. Walk across the highway bridge to the island and museum, which is in view from the bridge. The restaurant's three-course menu du jour costs about $30. A la carte service also is available.

Giverny: The picturesque village is about an hour from Paris, across the Seine from Vernon. Unless you have a car, the easiest way to reach it is on a bus tour. ParisVision charges about $67 for a half-day visit out of Paris or about $120 for a full-day tour that includes lunch and Auvers-sur-Oise. Monet's home is open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily, except Monday, from April 1 to Oct. 31.

Seine boats: Paris cruises are offered by several companies, among them Bateaux-Mouches on the Right Bank at Pont de l'Alma. Hours in season are 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. Winter departures are at 11 a.m. and 2:30, 4 and 9 p.m. The cost is approximately $6 for a ride of one hour, 15 minutes. Reservations are required for lunch and dinner cruises, which cost $60 to $100.

CAPTION(S):

Photo, Box

Box: On Location (See text)

Photo: Pleasure boats on the River Seine in France have been replaced by river barges at La Maison Fournaise, where Renoir painted his famed ``Luncheon of the Boating Party.''

Richmond-Times Dispatch