Travel another way

This was our last day in Charmey, and we enjoyed every minute of it.

Like every day, we had a picnic lunch and used the bags our teacher Sonja Hamilton made for us. She spent time before the trip researching what we were going to see on the trip and painted those scenes on picnic bags that she gave us on our first day. That was so sweet of her. Here are pictures of each bag she made:

She even made one for Valerie who was not on the trip with us this time.

She designed a new logo for Jackie’s company, French Escapade with all the countries in Europe she organizes trips to: Belgium, France, Switzerland and Italy.

We returned to Gruyeres (the castle) and painted outdoors. I actually finished a small painting in a couple hours…a record for me.

We had time to explore the village and castle, enjoy the views from a mountaintop, and shop…all at a relaxed pace.

Later we took a funicular to the top of Moleson, the highest mountain in Gruyeres, with an amazing view.

After photographing in every direction, we had a fondue dinner in the restaurant there.  Yum!  It was a grand finale for a wonderful tour.

And this was the end of a fabulous trip in Switzerland with French Escapade.

In the afternoon we went to a chocolate factory.  What a great experience in several ways.

The place is very well organized for visitors.  The tour began with a cinema, or so we thought.  It was all computerized.  English speakers were grouped together for the intro and history of the development of chocolate.  We walked into what turned out to be an elevator that took us down into the first of several rooms with a mini Disneyland-like presentation in each one.

Rooms were decorated, animated, interesting, informative, and fun  There was an ever-present smell of chocolate.  Everytime the speaking ended in a room, a door opened to another room.  That was followed by a room full of cocoa beans, hazel nuts, almonds, etc, with information about all the ingredients, the benefits of chocolate for our health, etc. The smell…..Hmmm, cocoa everywhere.

Cailler is one of the few manufacturers worldwide to use slightly condensed milk instead of milk powder. It is a special process of vaporizing the milk into the cocoa that gives Cailler chocolate its unrivalled  taste and texture.

The milk in milk chocolate is from local cows, and the sugar is also from Switzerland.  Other rooms showed the old and new machinery and process of mixing, forming, and packaging  of individual pieces of chocolate.

Then there was a tasting room where no one paid attention to how many samples you tried…with no wrappers to slow you down.

Oh boy!  I decided to risk a migraine headache, and sampled with reckless abandon.

So far so good, though I most definitely pigged out and enjoyed every bite.

We all skipped dessert after dinner tonight.

You too, taste this delicious chocolate by joining our tour to Switzerland.

We started the day with the usual more than ample breakfast buffet at our hotel.  Most of us ignored the blocks of cheese, and sampled everything else.  We have cheese from yesterday’s excursion for our lunches.  I had my usual (for here) bowl of uncooked oatmeal with applesauce, other fruit, and hot or cold water mixed in.  We also have
hard or soft boiled eggs, bread, pastries, and more.  The pie is different everyday and really to die for. Today was my first time to indulge in meringues with double cream (whipped). Yum!!!!

Then Jackie drove us to Vevey, by Geneva lake.

Vevey and Montreux are known as the Swiss Riviera, not to be confused with the French Riviera on the other side of Lake Geneva.  Today we explored Vevey.    As we strolled along the lakeside path, we looked across the water and saw a few communities nestled between the shoreline and the French Alps, one of them being the famous Evian town (where the Evian water bottles come from).

There were a couple surprises on our side of the lake.

First, there was an enormous fork sticking straight up out of the water, not far offshore.   It was strategically placed across from a large building specializing in nutrition.

The other surprise was a statue of Charlie Chaplin, who lived in Vevey the last 25 years of his life.

Because of the breathtaking scenery here at the Swiss riviera (lake, mountains, vineyards), many famous people chose Vevey and Montreux for their secondary or sometimes primary residence, like Phil Collins, Barbara Hendrix, Queen singer Freddie Mercury, Igor Stravinksy, Charlie Chaplin, and more.

A UNESCO World Heritage Site, the Lavaux vineyards illustrate a thousand years of labour. To make the most of the long hours of sunshine, man reduced the slopes by forming terraces in order to produce a highly appreciated wine: Chasselas. Lavaux consists of terraces on steep slopes all the way down to Lake Geneva, covering an area of 830 hectares between Lausanne and Montreux. The site enjoys a Mediterranean climate, warm temperatures and the reflection of the light from the lake.

Today was market day….quite a large outdoor market with produce and other food, clothing, jewelry, and more.  We were happy to have pleasant weather all morning to be able to explore comfortably.

Having a wonderful time in a beautiful place with fun people!

Post from Betty, a guest on our tour to Switzerland.

Check the full itinerary of our tour to Switzerland here.

Today we learned that while Gruyere is a cheese, Gruyeres (with a “s”) is a town or village.

Gruyere cheese

Town of Gruyeres

We started the day watching one man make about 65 pounds of cheese in the old traditional way using cauldrons over an open wood fire.

Oups, that is not him but Lina. Here he is:

He makes about 10 tons of cheese per year, using milk from 50 cows.  There are only four people involved…caring for and milking the cows and one cheese maker.  The milk is heated, cut through as curds form, heated more (to about 125 degrees) while stirring; then curds are scooped up out of the whey, packed into cheesecloth lined

molds, and pressed.  There’s more.  The now solid cheese is floated in a salt water bath off and on for a week or two, shelved and turned several times, coated with something to seal it, then aged for a year.

After the fascinating demo, we sampled four cheeses.  Yum!

By the time we left the cheese factory, the morning rain had stopped, and we were able to sketch and/or paint outside.

Most of us sketched the Gruyeres castle.

But I simplified and began a painting of a church instead.  It was challenging enough to get the perspective right on that without attempting multiple towers and rooftops on the distant castle.

In the evening we drove to the base of the mountain we had seen from a distance, and walked up a steep path to the top and into the castle gate.  There is a whole village in there with cobblestone streets, hotels, restaurants, shops, a church, a museum, and a park with a playground.   The castle was built in the 12th century for the defense of a city, and had a protective wall all the way around.  We had a

delicious dinner there at a typical chalet.

Some of us ate one of the typical meals, where you heat your meat yourself. Just delicious.

Random facts…  The minimum wage in Switzerland is about $20/hour. The top tax bracket is about 15%.  Gas is about $7/gallon.

A new tour, a new group, a new country, We are now in Switzerland. The West part of the country, the French speaking part, close to Geneva lake, in the heart of Gruyeres.

From Left to Right: Lina, Jim, the watercolorist art teacher on the tour Sonja Hamilton, Linda, Helen and Betty.

Here is the post from Betty, one of our guests on our painting trip in French Switzerland. The pictures are mine but the text is hers.

Betty

From Betty:

This is an absolutely beautiful place.  I took 301 photos today.  Everything here is sensational.  Had a huge breakfast, and smuggled leftovers into our pockets for lunch.  We wanted to picnic, rather than spend time in a cafe for lunch.

Our village of Charmey

The weather here changes radically in the course of each day (or hour).  We walked a short distance from our hotel, sketched, took pictures, and watched Sonja paint window boxes full of flowers…a very common thing here.

The window we painted

Painting of the window by Sonja Hamilton

It was hot in the sun, but a lovely site.

Then we took a gondola to the top of a mountain, where we were surrounded by breathtaking views of jagged mountaintops, hills covered with wild flowers, a distant lake, Charmey stretched out in the valley, and more.

Even the dandelions were beautiful.

This is where The Sound of Music could have been filmed.  Stunning!  After major picture taking, studying unusual flowers, and just gazing at the view, we found a picnic table and sat down for lunch.

We were soon scurrying for cover as a light rain began.  Looking at the darkening clouds above, we decided to go to a chocolate factory, rather than pursue outdoor activities.  However, the sky began clearing, so we proceeded to a nearby town or village.  We stopped at a beautiful viewing place and took more photos.  Our attention soon shifted to six cows fairly close to us…nice looking cows.

About cows…this area focuses on cows and dairy so much that there are curtains, tablecloths, murals, every kind of cow ornamentation imaginable everywhere.

Cheese making is serious business here, and cheeses are slightly different when made at different altitudes.  The
best or most traditional cheeses are made at higher altitudes, so in June some farmers take their cows up into the mountains, stay there with them until the end of September, and make cheese.  The sound of distant cowbells is a common and pleasing sound here.

After visiting with the cows awhile, we started down toward town in the van.  That is when torrential rain suddenly hit.  Maybe we would see the chocolate factory today after all.  However, just as we reached a cascading waterfall, the rain stopped.

We took more pics and started sketching again.  Fortunately, we had trees to shade us from the sun.  Later we visited a church with a small cemetery.  Each grave had a unique wood carved marker that showed the trade or major
activity of the deceased.

We had a couple hours of free time before dinner.  Lina and I decorated our bathroom with a clothesline full of laundry.  Then we set out to investigate a local swimming pool (for me) and a nearby mineral bath spa (for Lina).  We are both excited about the results. The pool is closed tomorrow, but I will be able to swim Tuesday!

Off to sleep now…another big day tomorrow!

I am back in France on my first 2010 tour. A painting tour in the foothills of the Alps with art teacher Niki Reynolds.

What a fun group it is! small (5 women) for a lot of fun and laughter. The tour is not only about oil painting even if it is the primary reason for them to join the tour but it is about enjoying each other’s company, French food, French culture and having a good time.

The weather hasn’t been the best it can be. That is the least I can say. It is quite chilly, about 13 degree Celsius (55F), which is usually the weather for March.

That doesn’t stop our guests from painting: if it is too cold outside for some of them, they are painting inside.

Most are beginner painters (Nancy, Anne and Judy) while Joan is an experienced outdoor painter. By the time the beginners finish to set up their easel and paint, Joan has almost finished one painting. Oh well, they found that rather amusing. Me too!!!

Niki is a great teacher. You can check her art on her site at http://nikiparas.com/

She is spending a lot of time helping the newbies. That is the beauty of being in a small group. You get plenty of personal help from the teacher.

On thhe first day, we had a professional chef preparing dinner for us. Not just any chef, but Jean Claude Poulet has been the chef for the Louis Vuiton family. What a treat.

Jean Claude prepared  superb food for us. I didn’t take pictures of everything and I should have.  Below is a picture of him preparing the asparagus as hors d’oeuvres, then a picture of him with the bananas with cinnamon for dessert, a close-up of the banana and finally a picture of our group.

If you want to join one of our painting tours in 2011, make sure to check www.frenchescapade.com

Stay tuned for more tomorrow.

Jackie

Best,

I just wanted to share with you some details of my recent stay in Switzerland: half for pleasure and half scouting for places to soon offer a new tour in Switzerland.

As usual, my main concern was to find authentic places and people, interesting places to visit and a fun ambiance for our future groups.

Moreover, one of the goals of French Escapade is to introduce our guests to the culture of the visited country, and mostly to meet locals. So I visited farms and was glad to meet wonderful hospitable people we will be able to meet.

It didn’t take too long to decide that the Gruyere area was still a beautiful preserved countryside, with stupendous chalets, peaceful herds of cows enchanting our ears with the music from their bells, cheese and chocolate makers all around, and friendly people.

So here is a special preview of the possible visits for this new tour for you (work still in progress!):

• Gruyere cheese fabric
• walk to mountain chalet (when season permits) for artisan cheese making
• medieval village
• pastry workshop
• lunch in a private home to discover Swiss specialty food and drinks
• paper-cutting artwork demonstration
• 18th / 19th chalet villages
• Balthus chalet
• Swiss Riviera and Geneva Lake
• Montreux market
• salt mine
• terraced vineyards
• Medieval castle
• Scenic train ride
• cable car ride to peaks
• Nestle chocolate factory

In 2010, we will probably start with a painting tour in this area (just a few cultural visits and great painting opportunities) with teacher Sonja Hamilton.

If you are interested or want to check all our 2010 destinations, visit us at www.frenchescapade.com

Cindy, you have no idea how right you are. We had to visit a supermarket today so that Hope & Pam, as well as Rosa and also Sarah could buy some extra luggage to carry home all their shopping!!!

We started the day by drinking wine!!!! Well, visit of Chateau Neuf du Pape village and of course visit of a cellar before the tasting of three Chateu Neuf du Pape wine, The very famous Cote du Rhone.

Linda, Sarah and Sue are very serious abut the swirling, an important step in the tasting.

A bottle in the US is at least $80 when it is only 30 euros here (about $45). Everyone bought as much as they could which is three bottles per person. Hope and Pam maxed out.

After all this wine, we needed some food. Sarah was wondering how she will finish her “little” salad.

After lunch a little dessert was needed. Why not some chocolate tasting? We met with Stephane, the chocolate maker at Castellain in Chateau Neuf du Pape for a little demonstration on how to make chocolate. We kept asking him questions and therefore got many more samples that we were supposed to.

Not sure the group will appreciate this picture on the Internet but I couldn’t resist.

Join us next year on this great trip to Provence. Sign up before Oct 30th and get $150 off.

Click here to see the details of the trip.

What are the specialties? Here are some of the specialties our group bought during their excursion in Provence :

Lavender of course: Fine Lavender is from Provence while the Lavandin can be found anywhere in the world. Everyone in the group bought  and bought and bought some lavender products, from soap to essential oils to hand lotion or shower gel. I think the 2 big winners (I mean buyers) were Linda and Hope.

But Lavender is not all. Today in “Les Baux de Provence” everyone rushed into the cookie store. The first reason was maybe to warm up since it was so windy out there but then everyone felt for the cookies. The nougat is of course the specialty of Montelimar in Provence. Prepared in Montelimar since the 17th century, the nougat combines artfully honey, sugar, egg white, vanilla, almond and pistachio nut in a recipe kept secret…. Its velvety frosting is due to the azymous bread in which the dough cooks.

“Calissons” is the specialty from Aix en Provence. Calissons are white diamond-shaped sweetmeats, made from ground almonds and candied fruits. it is a white cookie with an almond paste inside. Calissons were first prepared in Aix en Provence during the 15th century, and its name is said to come from the expression : Di Calin Soun, which means in the dialect : “they are a stroke”…

Not sure what Lynne and Pam bought but they seem very happy about it:

But there is more than food. What about the “Santons of Provence” From the 19th century, the Santonniers of Provence (santons manufacturers) started to introduce the village people of Provence in the nativity scene: the Water Carrier, the Lavender Lady, the Shepperd, the Cheese Maker but also the Bush Ranger or the Gossiper ! All of them are now part of the traditional Provençal crèche.

Rosa was very interested by the tiny ones but did she have time to buy them? She wasted her time at the restaurant for lunch and missed the “Santon Museum” in les Baux de Provence.

Tomorrow, we are going to Chateau Neuf du Pape for wine tasting and chocolate tasting, so there will be more shopping. Stay tuned!!!

Visit our complete itinerary at www.frenchescapade.com

New tour, new group. We have spent only 2 days in Provence and so much shopping already.

Yesterday we visited Andre, an olive oil maker at the Clos des Jeannons in Gordes, in the Luberon, Provence. But how is olive oil made?

In Provence, harvesting normally takes place around November.

Using traditional methods, this will be done by hitting the olive branches with long sticks, thereby forcing the ripe fruit to tumble onto nets spread on the ground beneath the tree.

After harvesting, olives must be taken to the mill for processing as quickly as possible -  within 3 days to get the AOC (Apellation d’Origine Contrôlée, which is a label of quality from France). Leaves and twigs are removed, the fruit washed, then the olives – pits included – are ground into a paste … using huge millstones.

Yes, the pit is included because it contains a anti-oxydant that will preserve the oil. No preservatives are added to the oil.

A first centrifuge at 4000 rpm will separate the solid (skin, pit) from the liquid (water an oil) and a 7,500rpm centrifuge will then separate the water from the oil.

The best quality oil is made from the “first cold press”. In other words, it must be derived from the first pressing of the olives. And cold pressed olive oil means the olive paste must be kept under 27C (80F)  for, if too much heat is used, the oil chemistry will change.

Our group (from the left: Linda, Lynn, Rosa, Pam, Hope, Sarah, the olive producer Andre, Sheila and Susan…and all our bags full of olive oil !!!!!)

If you are interested in joining one of our tours, check www.frenchescapade.com

Six American ladies managed to hide a big surprise to Sharon on her birthday. She had been told she was going to travel for a week, but she had no idea what her destination would be until she finally got to San Francisco airport, from where she flew to Marseille. But it was not her final destination: Barbara, her girlfriend, took her on a train ride to Avignon, where 5 friends of theirs were expected them.

                                               Carol and Sharon in Chateau-Neuf-du-Pape

 Allison was also there and joined the jolly group along ! Everybody had a great time, visiting the area (hilltop villages, ranches, markets …) and enjoyed the Bastide in Luberon.

                                                                  Sharon, the birthday girl !

  Allison, chocolate-tasting in Oppede                   Ready to board the van for another fun day!

                                                The whole group on the ranch in Camargue

For more information about our tours in France, Belgium and more, check www.frenchescapade.com

Women from Canada and from the USA have joined me this week to tour Provence. Provence is known for its breath-taking sceneries, its historical hilltop villages and its art. We saw all that, but its natural beauty was at the heart of this week’ s delights.

Camargue is always a highlight, with the visit of Thibaud Ranch, where Olivier and his friends always put on a show just for us.

Roussillon with its ocher walk is a kind of fairy land, with magical colors.

In Les Baux, houses are nested in cliffs around the medieval castle, or down below the village walls.

In Saint Remy de Provence, Van Gogh also discovered the beauty of nature and depicted it on many of his paintings. We visited the hospital where he stayed and painted a few months before his death.

We took pictures of all of that, and we will again tomorrow, when we will admire the Pont du Gard, one of the most impressive roman ruins in Provence.

To find out more about our coming trips, visit www.frenchescapade.com

The Chateau-Neuf du Pape is the most famous Cotes-du-Rhone wine.

So what is the grape used in this wine? Is it merlot? Cabernet?…Not at all. That was a trick question because 13 different types of grapes are used in Chateau-Neuf du Pape wine. The king of the grapes is the Grenache, used for both white and red wines. Up to 8  types of grapes are used to make the red wine and five for the wine.

There is no rose wine in Chateau Neuf du Pape.

For the red wine: Grenache, Syrah and Mourvedre are the most common. Each wine maker in this village will have his secret blend: they can add more types of grapes as long as they belong to the list of grapes recognized by the AOC (Applelation d’Origine Controlee which is a label of quality) for the Chateau Neuf du Pape wine. That is why you can taste wines in every cellar in this village (there are more than 320!!!!) and not taste twice the same.

They all have in common to be have a velvety quality, could be spicy, with flavors of prunes, have a high in alcohol percentage and to have aged for a long time (2 years).

We went to “maison Bouachon” for our tasting in Chateau Neuf du Pape. Florent, the  sommelier, was very friendly and knowledgeable. He shared with us the 3 techniques of tasting wine:  swirling, sniffing. tasting.

Another great day on our French Escapade tour. For more details about  our itinerary, click here.

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 we visited the capital of Belgium:  Brussels.

We took the train from Bruges to Brussels. At the train station, some of us had a hard time reading the signs without their glasses so Linda gave us a tip: Close one eye and look through your fingers with the other. It sounds odd but it works. Everyone tried it!!!!!

We started the day with a visit of the Palace of the King. This is not where our King, Albert II, and the queen, Paola, live but where he works. Since the king is on vacation, the palace is open to the public.

The Palace is of course very luxurious but maybe not always at our taste. We had a hard time with the ceiling of the mirror room decorated with 1 million 500 thousands beetles from Thailand!! Yes, real beetles (dead of course!!!). It makes it all blue and green. Even the chandelier was all covered with those bugs. It was maybe in fashion under the reign of  King Leopold II (the second King of Belgium at the end of the 19th century) but it was for sure not ours. Wish we could have taken pictures…

While we were walking in Brussels, Bonnie stayed at our accommodation near Bruges and painted all day. Here are some of her paintings:

During that time, we were still wandering around and of course eating some Belgian waffles. Actually there is not such a thing as A Belgian waffle in Belgium. There are two types of waffles: the Liege waffle or the Brussel Waffle. The Liege waffle is harder and has more sugar than the Brussel waffle. The shape is also a bit different (oval for Liege, rectangular for Brussels).

Here is the Brussel waffle (with powder sugar and whipped cream ):

And here is the Liege waffle:

You can of course have them plain or with whipped cream, chocolate, strawberries, etc…

The day ended with a great dinner at our hotel, served by Monique who is a real delight. To characterize Monique, I will just say: “Ask and you shall receive.”

Teresa was cold one day and Monique prepared her a hot bath with candles for the ambiance. Sandy can’t eat sugar, so Monique would bring her an alternative dessert. Teresa wanted to take a pic of her chocolate pralines and Monique brought her a plate and arrange them for the picture to make sure it looked nice. It wouldn’t be the same without her. That is a big reason that made me choose her accommodation.

The evening ended with some of us dancing in the dining room (Teresa and Catherine on the picture)!!!!!

Tomorrow, I will post some of the paintings made by the group. Make sure to check again.

Join us next year on this fabulous trip: check our site at www.frenchescapade.com