Travel another way

Last year, we decided to make videos to show what our tours really are about. Whether about our painting trips or our cultural trips, we hope they convey our philosophy of travel.

Thank you to all of our guests who have participated in giving testimonials. We were not able to insert all of them in the video but we really appreciate your enthusiasm and time.

Here are 2 videos (1. our general tours / 2. our painting tours in Belgium)

Video 1

Video 2

We also offer painting tours in France and in Switzerland. For more information about all our destinations, check www.frenchescapade.com

I love my job because it offers a great variety of tasks: my favorite one being leading the tours, of course, because I enjoy interacting with my guests, sharing their joy and showing them wonderful new places.

However, most of my tours happening between May and October, many people often wonder what I do then. No, I do not sit and relax for 6 months ! It is in fact when I have to do the toughest part of my job: marketing, selling and organizing.

However, having started my company 6 years ago, it becomes easier and easier: I have solid contacts and partners, and “word-of-mouth” makes wonders ! Right now, my cooking tour is really successful and Belgium is getting more interest than the past years . Belgium 2010 is  a cultural tour with an optional  writing workshop. My new tour in Tuscany  is getting filled. As for Provence and the painting workshops, they remain the greatest hits !

For more information and availabilities about all our tours in 2010, check  www.frenchescapade.com

Picture info. 1. Visit of a ranch in Camargue / Provence 2. Picture by Jan Hagan

Our painting tour in Belgium  has ended. Everyone had a wonderful time. The weather has been wonderful, sunny but not too hot. The painting sites were delightful. We had our “last supper” together at the hotel.

Below are some of our guests’ drawing and paintings (they are work in process):

Our hotel near Bruges, by Bonnie C.

A house on the herring market in Damme by Sylvia G.

Curtain at the  hotel near Bruges, by Teresa G.

Windmill in Damme by Margaret A.

Statue at the hotel near Bruges, by Catherine D.

House in Bruges by Sandy Delehanty, our teacher on the tour.

Sheep statues at our hotel near Bruges, by Linda C.

If you want to join us on our next plein air painting trips in France or Belgium, please check www.frenchescapade.com

Today, everyone spent time painting at the house in the morning. The sun was out, everyone was so relax. Linda and Margaret chose to paint in the sun room because this is their favorite spot on the premises.

Sylvia preferred the pool while Bill, her husband, was editing his pictures.

In the afternoon, off we went to the North Sea, direction Ostend. We couldn’t have a nicer day to hang out by the beach.

Ostend is in the Flemish part of the country. It used to be a very elegant resort at the end of the 19th century. The king at that time, Leopold II, built a lot of rich houses and made Ostend the  queen resort of the North Sea. Unfortunately the 2 wars left their marks and now few buildings from that time remain. They are now surrounded by 20th buildings.

I decided to look stylish by wearing Catherines’s hat.

Check our site for the next tour to Belgium.

I am running a plein air painting tour in Belgium with one art teacher, Sandy Delehanty, and 7 students: Bonnie, Catherine, Teresa, Linda, Margaret, Bill and Sylvia.

Today, I have decided to post the travel notes from the art teacher:

“My students and I are on a Watercolor Workshop planned and guided by French Escapade, a company that specializes in small group tours for people who want to really immerse themselves in the culture of the country they are visiting. Scroll down to my previous post to see the lovely country hotel where we are staying and you will get the idea that this is not your typical “if this is Tuesday it must be Belgium tour”.

There is so much to see in Brugges Belguim that we decided to spend our first day exploring, photographing and soaking up the ambience in this beautiful city, “The Venice of the North”.

The only Michaelangelo statue outside of Italy is here in Brugge. It was commissioned by Sienna, but the people from Brugge paid a higher price, so it came to live Brugge.

Margaret with her lace fan she purchased from a young lace maker who showed us how she creates lace from 72 bobbins. The craft is passed down through the generations, but today’s lace shops sell mostly machine made lace to keep the price reasonable for purchase. The young lady had some small doilies for sale that took her 8 hours to make, but because they were small she had to price them at only 8 euros.

Bonnie and Catherine after our boat tour, it is very sunny today.

A painting everywhere I look. Scenes like this drew us to Belgium for our Watercolor Workshop. Our guide Jackie is from Belgium so we are getting the inside scoop on life in Belgium ” (from Sandy’s blog at http://havepaintswilltravel.blogspot.com/).

Today we visited Damme.

Damme is one of the most charming villages in Belgium. Located
in the Flanders, between the beaches and Bruges this village
enchanted everyone in the group: windmill, canals, barges, gothic church and
plaza.

We will also visited a windmill in activity since 1878. The miller (second to the L) showed us how they still make flour with a the 19th century machinery.

Everyone spent the afternoon painting and in the evening, we got our critique from artist / teacher Sandy Delehanty.

Bonnie was the fastest painter and managed to finish her large painting of  Damme windmill.

Everyone was quite happy with what they had accomplished.

Tomorrow, off to Brugges!!!!!!

Check our itinerary on our site at www.frenchescapade.com

The full group has arrived. It was not an easy thing. Sandy missed her plane and arrived a day later. Her suitcase stayed behind in Dallas.

Linda had to take the train to Bruges because of a mix up in the time. But finally everyone arrived.

Bonnie and Catherine arrived at the hotel last night after I picked them up at their hotel in Brussels so they already had a full day today. Bonnie didn’t waste anytime and has already finished her first painting, inside the wonderful sunroom we have at the hotel.

Everyone had time to relax and explore the lovely hotel. Sandy was amazed by the size of the flowers. They were huge!!!!

After everyone settled in, we had our first drink together. The dog of the house was sleeping very deeply on the sofa taking two spots for herself. Teresa moved her a bit to find a little spot to sit. She moved Cayenne’s head (the dog) and put it on her lap. Cayenne didn’t even wake up. Teresa felt quite happy to have a puppy for herself. It made her feel at home.

We had our first dinner together and it was a real delight. After the first dish (beef carpaccio), some people thought it was the end of the meal. What a surprise when we got fish with mashed potatoes and spinach,  and of course, dessert: ice cream with strawberries.

If you want to be part of our tours to Belgium, check our site here.

Our first day in the Belgian Flanders was another sunny day that we spent leisurely on the beach in Ostende. Some enjoyed sunbathing, some rode bikes on the boardwalk and others simply indulged in eating waffles and drinking beer.

                                                                                          Jac and Bernice on the Beach

We spent today visiting Bruges. After a walking tour of the old medieval town, we took a boat ride on the canals (there are 5 kms of canals in town with 80 bridges) to enjoy views that cannot be seen from the street.

Barabra was the bravest of all of us and decided to climb up the 366 steps of the Belfry tower to discover the town from above: she said there were some beautiful views from up there.

                                                                                                          Seen in Bruges

Mary tasted one of the most famous beer sin Bruges: the Kwak beer,  served in a round-bottomed glass hanging on a wooden stand.

Dinner will be in Damme tonight, and we will spend tomorrow in Brussels, that we will reach by train.

For information about our tours, check www.frenchescapade.com

Based in Namur for 3 days, we gave  our four guests (Mary, Holly, Bernice and Barbara) a tour of Wallonia out of the beaten paths.

                                                                       In the visitor house of the American cemetery

On day 1. even though we visited the well-known museum of the battle of the Bulge in Bastogne, we spent the afternoon at the home of Germaine  (a survivor of WWII) who was 11 in 1944, and spent 6 weeks in a stable when the German army took over her farm. She talked about her experience of the war and treated us with Belgian cakes and coffee. We later paid a tribute to the American liberators by visiting the American cemetery in Neupré.

                                 Translating Germaine ’s stories about WWII

On our second day, we attended a speculoos workshop at the Chateau de Harzé; our pastry chef was  tough about the shapes of our cookies but we all passed the class :) ! In the afternoon, we went to Hermalle for its Cramignon festival where couples dressed in prom oufits, dance in the street, drinking beer and fighting musicals feuds between loud  bands. But first, we had a decadent pastry feat at Annick and Fernand’s, 2 locals who had invited us in their home. They even offered each of our guests , a basket full of Belgian treats.

                                                           Cramignon girls in Hermalle

                                                             Speculoo workshop: the pastry chef and Bernice.

As for today, Monsieur and Madame Bouvier demonstrated the art of making chocolate pralines, in their family workshop near Dinant.

For more information about our tours, visit our website at www.frenchescapade.com

We headed to Ostend today, the queen of Belgian sea resorts. It started as a windy cloudy day but turned out to be warm sunny day.

The wide boardwalk was very colorful, sided by a multitude of restaurants and stands, advertising delicious wafles and the most typical Belgian dish: mussels and fries. However, ice-creams and candies were more attractive for some of us!

Some sketches were done, and tomorrow will be a painting day, for our second visit of Bruges.

BBQ dinner by the pool tonight! Yes!

                                                                                     Who didn’t get ice cream?

                                                                                         Seen on the beach

                                                                                       Sheltered from the wind!

                                                                                           Ostend Beach, by the North Sea

                                                                                                  Sketching session on the beach

Our favorite tour of Bruges starts at the beguinage, the medieval quarter for women who wished to live alone without having to be locked in a convent. We then walked the tiny winding streets bordered by lace or chocolate stores.

We watched a lace-making demonstration on our way, before reaching the canal area and finally the Markt plazza.

Not much painting today; only a few people sketched in the afternoon. The beauty of Bruges is overwhelming to pick the perfect place to paint in one day. We will go back there 2 more days  at the end of the week.

                                                        Lace demonstration

                                                                                      Lunch time … and Belgian beer tasting!

                                                                                                        Follow the guide !

Our first group visiting Belgium has arrived … under the sun !

We are very glad to host our third painting workshop with Californian artist Sonja Hamilton. Seven American watercolorists are attending, sketching and painting  quaint scenic vignettes of the Belgian Flanders.

On our first day, we toured the charming village of Damme, near Bruges. We had a delightful picnic by a windmill along a canal, before Sonja Hamilton gave a demo and assigned each participant to pick a spot to sketch and paint.

In the evening, everyone learnt from the critique session that was followed by dinner in “Il Sonriso della Nonna” restaurant in Damme.

                                       Picnic before sketching session

                                Demo by the windmill

                           Jackie explaining some historical  details about Damme by the canal

                                                                                            Some more views of Damme

                                                                                              Some more sketching pictures

For the past 2 years I have been escorting visitors in Belgium, on painting workshops and cultural tours.

It has been a special treat for me, a native from  Belgium, to introduce Americans and French people to the culture, the history and the traditions of my country. Designing the tour was  an enlightning experience for myself, as I learnt a lot of things about my own roots, my fellow-citizens and most of all, about the essence of what makes Belgium so special.

                                          Pictures:  fine dining or sharing pastries at the home of a local

We started in April 2008 with a “Guinea pig” tour with French people (friends and family, as we always do when we have new tours). France is a neighbour and cousin of Belgium, but it was still very exotic for them when it came to speaking Belgian-French or eating “French” fries which are not French. We then had a cultural tour for Americans in August 2008. They loved learning about history (from medieval castles to WWII battle fields), tasting the incredible Belgian beers and chocolate, and meeting locals ( baking with a local baker or sharing memories at WWII survivor’s home).

                                                               Pictures: local festivals

Indeed, our tour of Belgium offers a great deal of diverse attractions. On our cultural tour, you have the opportunity to discover both Wallonia and Flanders, as well as Brussels. First of all, our goal is to introduce you to authentic  local activities that you could not do on other tours:

• attending a local street festival in a small Wallonia town
• baking speculoos (cinamon cookies) with a local baker
• chocolate tasting in a small family-owned chocolate factory
• having tea at the home of a WWII survivor

We also want to show  Belgium through history, architecture and gastronomy; here are samples of our daily trips:

• Bastogne and the Battle of the Bulge Memorial
• the medieval city of Bruges with its canals and romantic atmosphere
• the beaches and harbour of Ostend by the North Sea
• Brussels: the  Grand Place, Manneken Pis and its world famous museums

We are offering 3 tours this summer / fall 2009: 2 painting trips and 1 cultural trip. Only 4 spots remain available out of 18 overall. Our stays are 8 days, for 8 guests only, fully escorted by bilingual guide from your arrival at Brussels airport to your departure at Brussels airport. Comfortable van and quaint guesthouse.

We hope to see you in Belgium ! For our next availabilities and discount, check www.frenchescapade.com

Belgium is split in different linguistic areas, the biggest ones being the Dutch-speaking Flanders and the South-speaking Wallonia. More than a language divide, it is also a cultural, religious, and political one. When I travel in the Flanders, I sometimes feel like in a foreign country, more in the Netherlands than in “my” Belgium. Yet I love that about Belgium: we are as different as can be, and yet we know how to stick together when necessary.

So what is our commom ground ?

• Mussels and French fries that we eat with mayo !
• our  love for Beer and chocolate, plus tons of wonderful desserts like waffles !
• our even share of rain all year long!
• our lit highways that can be seen from space!

What are the specialties of each area?

In the Flanders

• The means of transportations: bikes, bikes and more bikes !!!! Plus barges on canals.
• The flatness of the lanscape
• Windmills sticking out in most villages

In Wallonia:

• Deep forests on rolling hills
• Our love for parties and local festivals
• Hidden castles and historical battlefields (the battle of the Bulge, Waterloo …)

50% on August trip to Belgium! Check www.frenchescapade.com for details.

I finally got my suitcase, 4 days after my arrival. Now I am about to pack again for a week in Belgium.

My first week here was spent adjusting to the French pace and the jetlag,watching a lot of tennis games from Roland Garros . That’ s the name the French use for the French Open. You would think Roland Garros was consequently a famous tennis player, No! He was a plane pilot.

Pictures from the market

Adjusting to the French pace means: preparing huge bowls of  “cafe au lait” for Valerie at breakfast time, opening the heavy wooden shutters in the morning and see the market vendors just in front of you under the 13th century covered market in La Cote Saint Andre and driving 30 minutes to find a parking spot in the narrow streets of this medieval town.

Today we will drive up to Belgium, for 3 days in Damme ( a cute village near Bruges) to celebrate Val’ s birthday, and I will spend the rest of the week scooping out the best places to paint for our august painting tours , as well as visiting family and friends in Wallonia.

A bientot!

If you want to travel to France or Belgium  with us, visit http://www.frenchescapade.com/