Travel another way

“What a great day in Lyon! After the Roman ruins and the silk maker who used the techniques of ancient times, we wound our way to the square in front of the church of St. Jean. The square was packed with people because a large first communion celebration and a flea market were both in progress. We squeezed through the square and went to lunch only to see a groom serenading a new bride with “Stand by Me.” After lunch in a restaurant with the apt word “glutton” in its name, we wandered back to the church. An adult choir was practicing for an upcoming concert. They sang for about forty minutes. The two soloists, a man about thirty and a boy of ten both sang with angelic voices. The whole town seemed to be celebrating. Time for a nap.”

Margaret, one of our guests on the French Escapade tour.

Below, is a picture of one of our guests on this tour, Bernie, in front of a garage door in Lyon. She said that she enjoys “this art” in Lyon.

“Beautiful rolling farm country framed by mountains, and full of the brightness of wildflowers in eye-popping primaries against vivid green fields. Five-century-old houses growing out of sheer cliffs above a winding river. Caverns filled with crystal-straw stalactites and outsized mountain-to-valley vistas. Roman roads and renaissance houses and medieval markets. Not to mention village streets that are scaled for carts and pedestrians, not twenty-first century cars. And the eight films which were supposed to be enough for this entire vacation are already almost used up … on day # 5 of 7.

And I wouldn’t have it any other way!”

Kimberley, the second from the left, one of our guests on the French Escapade tour.

“If I had to choose one place in the Rhone-Alps region of  France to go to, I’d be torn between two villages: La Cote  Saint Andre and Pont-en-Royans.  Picking out wonderful food for tonight’s dinner and chatting with the merchants? Strolling  along La Bourne? Engaging in conversation with local color in a patisserie or merely people-watching? Living  in a cute apartment that was once market storage or a house grown out of rocks and suspended over a river? Appreciating the medieval and renaissance history and architecture and walking up and down the hills and cobblestone streets of both? Of course, in daydreams you don’t have to choose so I’d spend time in both places.”

Rebecca, one of our guests on the French Escapade tour.

Picture of La Cote Saint Andre

Our new group of American has arrived at our guesthouse. We have 7 women. The good news is that the sun is back after hiding for 3 weeks. It is not hot but very pleasant.

What do tourists do in the evening on a trip to France? Once dinner is over, they go for a drink in a cafe or go to their hotel room or walk in the street assuming it is safe enough.

On our tours in our farmhouse, everyone is a guest not a tourist, so our guests put their sleepers on for dinner, sometimes their pg already and after a convivial and gourmet four course dinners, they hang out by the fireplace, listen to French music, play games or talk about food. Yesterday, the group decided to play games. Last night, everyone teamed up to play pictionnary and tonight they played scrabble.

It is like a family being on vacation together. We had music by the famous French singer, Edith Piaf, in the background. I could have made a fire but it was not cold enough. Wine was enough to warm everyone up. Was it the wine or the game that made the evening full of laughter? It didn’t matter as long as we had fun. That is what traveling to France with French Escapade is all about.

“Today, still raining! We started the day by heading to the Virieu Castle to paint but it was too cold and rainy up there so we headed for the town where our chef, Valerie, lives and had lunch at her darling home, shown here. Then we explored the town and took some photos while waiting for a school group to finish at the Berlioz Museum where Jac had hastily arranged for us to paint, out of the rain.

The museum is Berlioz’s home, with a concert hall added. There was a performance of his music going on in the hall, lovely female voices accompanied by a flute. Kathy painted in the kitchen, the fireplace and pots, Josephine tackled the marble bust of Berlioz and did a fabulous job, and the rest of us painted on the balcony under the eaves. The sun came out late in the day and we got about 45 minutes of sun and shadow for which we were all very grateful. We did not get finished with our paintings but we got close. We caught a bit of the French Open on Valerie’s TV at lunch, looks like its been raining in Paris too.” Sandy Delehanty, the art teacher on the trip. Extract from her blog at http://www.havepaintswilltravel.blogspot.com/

Here is our group eating at Valerie’s house.

Painting by Kathy Young Ross in the Berlioz museum (in the kitchen)

Portrait of Hector Berlioz by Josephine Takamato

Little window outside the balcony of the museum painted by Linda Carroll

Like always, Bonnie Crosse was not with the group!!! She was outside painting a Cafe.

Today we went to Virieu castle to paint it and we saw quite a few cars parked nearby, which is very unusual. What could be happening? And what a good surprise! They had a painting contest! About thirty painters were sitting everywhere: in the gardens, in the courtyard, in the fields,… However we decided to paint in the village instead, and to come back at the end of the day to see the paintings done and who the winner was. When we came back they had a release of pigeons in the courtyard of the castle. We got there just in time to see it.  That was amazing. We also got the chance to have a guided visit of the castle and see Louis the XIII’s bedroom, listed historical monument. The guide, originally from England, was very knowledgeable.

At the end of the visit, we were invited by the organizers for a drink with the French painters.   We tasted a brand new drink made by Bigallet, a drink factory from the Virieu village. They made this special drink for the castle: a wine with honey spices  like in the medieval time. We all liked it very much. What a perfect day it was! Painting , enjoying a medieval drink in a French castle  and meeting French painters!!

Here are a few paintings of the castle by the French painters .

The group was unanimous. They decided that Virieu was the friendliest village in France. Everywhere we sat, locals came over to talk to us. Today as we were having a picnic under the covered market, one of the inhabitants came over to bring us coffee. He brought us sugar, cups and made hot coffee for us. He then invited us into his house to see his garden. He didn’t speak English but was very sweet. I translated for the group anyway.

As you can see on the picture, the picnic was a real French picnic with a tablecloth, flowers in a vase and even candles!!!!! Our chef Valerie went again out of her way to please us and to present everything beautifully.

Later, a woman came over to speak to Linda but she couldn’t speak English. Linda tried her best French but her French sounded more like Spanish. Fortunately, the woman was from Argentina and started to speak in Spanish. She has a ceramic shop in Grenoble and Linda used to have a ceramic shop when she lived in Columbia. What a coincidence!!!! They started to chat away.

Later on, a couple with a small child came over to admire our painter’s work. They were  originally from England, so no language barrier. Their 4 year old kid started to draw in Shelley’s notebook. They told the group where they lived and that their house was open if they needed anything.

What else can you hope for?  Painting cute little houses and getting invited by the locals inside their house. What a treat!