FRANCIRIS® 2005 - Program

ORGANISED VISITS - Friday, May 20th, to Thursday, May 26th.

Friday, May 20th - Auvers sur Oise.

9.30 a.m. : Departure for Auvers sur Oise.

11 a.m. free visit of the park of the château and exhibitions organised during the Iris Festival.

12 noon: Lunch in the château restaurant.

1.30 p.m.: Visit the château and the show representing the time of the impressionists.

3.30 p.m.; Absinth Museum - The myth of absinth and its close link with the whole 19th century, particularly in artistic circles.

Cost: 70 € per person.

Saturday, May 21st - Jouy en Josas.

10 a.m.: Visit the TECOMAH iris garden, created in the context of a study project.

11 a.m.: Guided visit of the park.

12.30 p.m.: Lunch at the large Jouy en Josas château (CRC).

2.30 p.m.: Exhibition of paintings, sculptures, stained glass and toile de Jouy fabrics at the CRC.

4.30 p.m.: Visit the Toile de Jouy Museum.

Cost: 60€ per person or 45€ without transport.

Sunday, May 22nd - Free day

Monday, May 23rd - Versailles and Paris.

10 a.m.: Meet at the gates to the château of Versailles to visit the French-style gardens created by Le Notre, admired throughout Europe: fountains recounting the story of Apollo, hidden wooded enclosures.

12 noon: lunch on the banks of the Grand Canal.

3 p.m.: Visit the Bagatelle gardens with a lecturer - Bagatelle, one of the most beautiful gardens in the world with its iris and rose gardens and water lily pond.

Cost: 65€ per person.

7.30 p.m.: Thematic dinner at TECOMAH

Cost: 55€ per person or 40€ without transport.

Tuesday, May 24th - Giverny.

9 a.m.: Departure for Giverny.

10.30 a.m.: Guided visit of the gardens of the American Art Museum, an inspiration for American impressionist painters in Monet's lifetime.

12.30 p.m.: Lunch.

2.30 p.m.: Visit the Monet Foundation (accompanied by the head gardener), the house where the leader of the impressionist school lived and the gardens, reconstituted in a manner identical with the painting straight from nature that Monet's contemporaries considered to be one of his masterpieces.

Cost: 65€ per person.

Wednesday, May 25th - Gien.

8.30 a.m.: Departure for Gien.

10.30 a.m.: Visit the Gien china works, France's leading manufacturer of quality china that differs from others through its variety, delicacy, rich shapes and colours.

12.30 p.m.: Lunch in the neighbourhood.

3 p.m.: Visit the irises at the Cayeux nursery with Richard Cayeux, great grandson of Ferdinand Cayeux, who created the first of the Cayeux family's irises. 700,000 irises are now under cultivation, with 1,000 varieties, of which 500 are commercially available.

Cost: 70€ per person.

Thursday, May 26th - Saint Jean de Beauregard and Vincennes.

9.30 a.m.: Departure for Saint Jean de Beauregard.

10.30 a.m.: Visit the vegetable garden and the château. The extraordinary two-hectare vegetable garden contains rare and forgotten vegetables and collections of hardy flowering plants. The château dates back to the seventeenth century and has a superb dovecot.

12.30 p.m.: Lunch in the neighbourhood.

3 p.m.: Departure for the Paris flower park in the Bois de Vincennes, to the east of Paris. This unique park was created in 1969 as the site for the Third International Flower Show. From year to year, further collections of plants are added, either in the extensive tree-shaded flower beds or in broad daylight.

Cost: 65€ per person.

Friday, May 27th - Free day.

Announcement of competition results.