Don't be a tourist. Be our guest!

Two days ago I mentioned the surprise I had for the group. It was a dinner and light show on the lake. Here are some pictures of the incredible event:

Here is the picture of the boat during the day. We went on the boat at night.

Here is a picture of Lupe and Laurie at dinner on the boat:

Below are Carol and Cathy on the deck watching the show (well, laughing first!!!):

The cliffs of the wild coast of the Bourget Lake were lit up by the boat to give an amazing  show. Everything in music….Just sensational!

Today, we went to see a chocolate maker in La Cote St Andre in the Isere department of France. Pierre Jouvenal created the first chocolate museum in France, in 1996.

He explained everything about the history of chocolate, the biology of the cocoa tree, the difference between bad and good chocolate made of 100% cocoa butter.

Kaye and Susan bought candies made out of white chocolate and strawberry, the new specialty from the chocolate maker. Susan bought so much chocolate that Pierre asked her if she was going to open a store in the US!!!

Here is our group with Pierre:

But where is Lupe? She is not here? She was still inside the shop and Pierre has already locked the door of the museum, ready to go home. Luckily, Laurie, her roommate on the trip, noticed that Lupe was missing. I guess, it could be worse than being locked in a chocolate store….

Find out about our culture tours to France, Spain, Switzerland and Belgium on www.frenchescapade.com

Yesterday, the surprise was a boat ride  with dinner on the Bourget lake. It was also Lupe’s birthday. There was someone else celebrating his birthday, the pilot’s father.

Her came to congratulate Lupe, took a picture of both of them and asked Lupe for her email so he could send her the picture. Nice way to get someone’s contact info. Just kidding!!!  The guy was really friendly and said he loved America.

Today, we went to Chanaz. It is the cuter village in Savoie (in my opinion).

There is a canal going through the village, going from the Rhone river to the Bourget lake, the biggest natural lake in France:

The village is from the medieval time but they have now built very cute wooden houses on the water. You can rent them for holidays. I think I might, they were too cute and in my favorite village…

Before visiting the 19th century mill where walnut oil is made, we stopped in a little cute pottery. The new design of the pottery maker was inspired by the drwings of her 10 years old daughter. She called her new collection “sales gosses”, meaning “mischievous kids”. Kaye felt in love with the design and couldn’t resist her shopping temptation:

The other Kaye and her daughter Sandra felt for for mugs with a different design. It is not made in China but made in Chanaz !

If it was not pottery, it was tea with wonderful exotic flavors, or candies or, of course, the walnut oil that we bought (it is hidden in the orange plastic bags that everyone is carrying):

This morning, we were in Annecy, the little Venice of the Alps: more water and more canals:

Here is the entire group. From L to R: Sandra, Lupe, Kaye, Susan, Carol, Laurie, Kaye, Christine, Judy (you can only se her hair…),  Megan and Cathy.

It was market day so we got a chance to taste all the specialties from Savoie: cheese, salami, honey, …

The weather was very nice. Another wonderful day.

If you too want to share a wonderful experience with French Escapade, check our tours at www.frenchescapade.com

Yesterday, a new group has arrived. This time a bit bigger: 11 people. I know it is still a small group but usually I take 8 so it is bigger.

We are staying in the charming town of Aix les Bains, by the Bourget lake. A real feeling of vacation.

Today, we went to Haute-Savoie in the town of Thones to visit a cheese factory. They make raclette, abondance, tomme de savoie and reblochon cheese. The cow in Haute Savoie are mostly the Abondance type. How do you recognize an Abondance cow? She wears sunglasses. Really, she has a brown stain around her eyes:

We had a chance to see the cheese being made then went to the cellar to see how long and how the cheeses age:

We saw a movie about the making of the reblochon and the unique story of how this cheese got its name that means “double milking”  and then …did the tasting of course, everything served with Savoie white wine:

In the afternoon, we went to the biggest ski resort in the world: Chamonix.

Did I take pictures of Mont Blanc? of the glacier? of the “Aiguille du midi”? Well, not exaclty. I took a picture of Mont Blanc but not the mountain but a pastry. Here it is, next to some other ones that are worth being in the picture as well:

Tonight, I have a surprise for the group so I can’t tell you what it will be!!!!!

To join us on our tours to the French Alps, Belgium Provence, Swizterland or Spain, check our site at www.frenchescapade.com

Today we spent the day in Cavaillon, the “melon” town.

After going to the market and finding out how to recognize fresh veggies, ripe pears and sweet melons, we went back to jJ Prevot’s restaurant and starting to cook.

The chef, Jean-Jacques Prevot, is the melon specialist. He is famous for all his recipe with melon.

We mad a melon flower with a losbster sauce for starter (served with ham):

What will be your reason to decide to live in Provence? The sunshine 300 days a year? The lavender? The olives? The nougat? The potteries? The art? or ….?

Well, Sherri M., one of our guests on the cooking tour for women in Provence has another reason for living here:

Sherri M. says:

“No cooking expedition to France would be complete without an exploration of that most precious of “mushrooms”
known as the diamond of the kitchen- the truffle. While many amateur cooks visiting France would be content to purchase truffle pieces or truffle oilat Fauchon or Hediard, we were fortunate to go on a truffle hunt in Gordes with Robert Florent, a third generation truffle hunter, and his son.

Our hunt took us in search of summer or white truffles, but Mssr. Florent educated us about winter or black truffles as well. We learned about truffles from the region, from Perigord, and the less desirable truffles from China. We now know how truffle oil is made, what truffle products to avoid at the grocery, and how to store and use fresh truffles.

This is not Sherri but Diane holding the truffle found by Robert’s dog.

(Sherri continues..): For me, it was love at first sight, or should I say at first bite. The unique flavor of summer truffles, which we tried thanks to the hospitality of Mssr. Florent who welcomed us into his home and served us savory truffle canapes, and winter truffles which I’ve been privileged to taste in the past, had made me dreaming about relocating to Provence and marrying the charming and entertaining Mssr. Florent :)!”

Here is a picture of Sherri cooking while dreaming of the truffle man!!!!!!

We are now in Saint Remy de Provence and a new group has arrived for….cooking in Provence.

Everyone has received an apron to be ready for the cooking sessions:

Today we went to an educative farm where we cooked a ratatouille, a typical Provencal dish. But first, we needed to go and pick up the veggies in the garden: eggplants, zucchinis, tomatoes, purple basil, pepers and more. Some were not small although everything is organic.

The farm has many different species of each veggies. For example, the tomatoes: you can see on the picture below some of the tomatoes we used for our salad: green tomatoes, black tomatoes, pineapple tomatoes, moroccan tomatoes, roma tomatoes and some whom I forgot the names:

Everyone took part of the cooking, even Stephanie who doesn’t eat tomatoes and Sherri who doesn’t care about cooking but only about eating:

September is also the time for the harvest of the grapes. That is what we did. We used the grapes along with figues and apples to make a fruit clafuti.

As for me, besides doing the translation, I picked up little tiny flowers…

Check the complete itinerary of our cooking tour in Provence.

Although it is a painting workshop, our guests have more to do in Provence: shopping on the  market and eating of course. Ah the wonderful French food!

Norwegian salad with all different seafood:

Here is rice with gambas flambes:

Donna is enjoying her Irish coffee:

Here is a chocolate cake with “creme anglaise”, prepared by Martine, our hostess at our hotel in Venasque:

Bust besides eating, there is shopping: We went to Isle sur la Sorgue to the provencal market. I was told in the morning that they wanted to only spend 30 min shopping and then painting of course. I gave everyone up to 1h15 and everyone came back at the last minute, even Victoria, the teacher, who is usually “obsessed about painting”.

And here is some of the shopping of the day:

Brenda bought a bright shirt/dress/all usage piece:

Linda bought a flowery shirt:

Susan bought some flashy sunglasses, perfect match with her outfit:

You too want to be in Provence? Make sure to check our site to find out more about our painting but also cooking or cultural tours to Provence but also Belgium Switzerland and Spain.

Yesterday, like I mentioned in my previous post, we spent the afternoon in Maubec, a very quiet village in the Luberon. When I say quiet, I really mean it. There was only one car that drove by during the 2 hours we were there. Yes, Victoria only allows people to paint the same painting for 2 hours. After that, the light has changed she said and it is a completely different painting.

Some people chose to paint the church in the background with vineyards in the foreground. Below is Victoria’s painting of the church and vineyards in Maubec.

Some people decided to paint th grapes. Harvest time is coming up, at the end of September, so the grapes are just wonderful. Jan painted the grapes because buidling is not her thing she said.

Brenda painted the grapes beautifully and finished before everyone else. The two hours window for a painting is not a problem for her, she is done way before that. She is quite fast…

Today we went to St Remy de Provence where Van Gogh painted most of his famous paintings like the irises, starry starry night, etc…Everyone was so inspired to paint where he painted and especially the same olive trees like Donna, below.

Susan M was able to paint because she found her glasses that she had forgotten in Gordes. Good for her.!

Karen made a killer today!!! She decided to put her hat on the ground, put a few euros in it and pointed to it when people wanted to take her picture by saying” Merci beaucoup”. One American woman asked her if she would accept American dollar and she gave her 50cents. If Karen is not going to become very rich, at least, she will not be bothered by too many tourists, which was her intention.

Susan H could have made more than Karen because one woman told her that her painting was beautiful and wanted to buy it. Susan was so overwhelmed, she didn’t know what to say and didn’t sell it. Oh well, next time maybe.

The new group of artists has arrived. It is an oil painting workshop taught by Victoria Brooks.

Yesterday, the day started with a demo from Victoria.

Then everyone started to paint a vignette from the terrace. Our hotel is so cute and charming, there is plenty to paint.

Today, we went to Gordes. If you have been reading my blog you know how beautiful that hilltop village is.

From L to R: Brenda, Linda, Susan H, Jan, Donna, Karen, Victoria and Susan M.

In the morning, the group painted from outside the village looking up to the village on the hill. Some people got intimidated by the complexity of the buildings and they decided to paint the landscape or a little shed by the side of the road. I didn’t take many pics because I was busy shopping for the picnic and then looking for Susan’s glasses (which we found!!!).

In the afternoon, we went to the cute village of Maubec but that will be for my post tomorrow.

Stay tuned for more adventures of our oil painters in Provence. See the complete itinerary of the painting workshop to Provence.

I think it is time for you to see what our guests did during this week. Each artist was asked to show one of their paintings they like the best and here they are:

View from the terrace of our hotel in Venasque by Ann:

Ochre cliffs in the village of Roussillon by Carole:

House in the village of Venasque by Bobbie:

Doorway from a house in Venasque by Pat:

Pottery shop in Roussillon by Loris:

Fabric pattern, displayed in Roussillon, by Pollie:

Courtyard from our hotel in Venasque, by the teacher JoAnne:

Last night, we celebrated Pollie and Carole’s birthday with a tropezienne (cake with vanilla custard) and some champagne. It was also Jerome’s, our chef, birthday:

Our lovely group after loading all the luggages in the van:

Since we can’t see Bobbie much in the picture (yes she is there, you can see her eyes under Carole’ fushia arm, I have taken another one. From L to R: Judy (our general), her mother Lois, Ann, Carole, Pat, Pollie (whose birthday was that day), Bobbie and JoAnne.

I drove everyone to the train station this morning. A page is turned and a new one will start. Tomorrow I will go and pick up an oil painting group. Stay tuned for more painting adventures in Provence with French Escapade.

Like I promised in my previous blog, I want to show you that our guests did paint in addition to shopping, eating, drinking and having fun!!!!!

Here is Bobbie in the garden of the Van Gogh museum in St Remy de Provence:

Here is Carole drawing from the terrace (from our hotel) overlooking the Mont Ventoux:

Below is Ann, very concentrated in the old monastery that is now part of the Van Gogh museum in St Remy:

Pat was also sitting in the same courtyard:

JoAnne, the teacher is doing a critique of everyone’s work in the living room of the hotel:

Lois, our senior but I am not allowed to tell you her age, has been very busy too:

Her daughter, Judy, is not painter but came along for the fun. She is a knitter:

Oops, did I forget anyone? Oh yeah, Pollie. You can find her on the phone….

or feeding the cats…

or shopping on the market…

ok, I was just teasing her. She has been painting a bit too, see below the arts of our artists:

Everyone did a wonderful job, some more abstract, some more colorful but all very meaningful. Good job!

Join us next year on a painting tour to Provence. Check here.

Part 2 of the testimonials from our guests on the Provence painting workshop:

“We had an awesome “surprise” today. After spending part of the day painting ( and knitting ) at the hospital in St. Remy, Jackie took our group to carrieres-lumieres (quarry of lights) to see a wonderful presentation of Van Gogh and Gauguin paintings. They are illuminated on the walls of a former limestone quarry. Tres magnifique! “

“The art of Van Gogh and Gauguin displayed in the “carrieres-lumieres (quarry of lights)” was very inspirational, especially with the music of Brahms and Pavarotti. I was so moved, I almost start crying.”

“It was amazing.You felt like you were in the painting, you were part of the art, it was all around you, even on the floor”.

‘When I first got in, I was disoriented because of the the images on the floor moving under my feet. Then I got used to it and it was fabulous. It affected all your senses: your vision, your motion, your hearing,… I had never seen anything like that”.

Below is a picture of the quarry without the show so you have an idea of the size of the walls.

Besides having fun, people have been painting as well. Yes, really!!! Tomorrow, I will post some pics of people “at work”….

More info about our tours to France, Spain, Belgium and Switzerland at www.frenchescapade.com

Today I asked people of the group to give their impressions of the trip. Here is a summary of what they said:

“What I liked in Gordes was to be able to find a quiet private and shady spot to sketch large shapes across from where I was sitting. It was very relaxing.”

“The view from the cliff in Gordes was spectacular and nobody fell off.”

“The abbey of Senanque was most inspiring and so quiet. I saw very interesting people like 3 nuns from India on a retreat. Their white habits stood out so much from the surrounding background.”

The carrieres-lumieres (quarry of lights) and the abbey have some similarities: it gave the same feeling of quietness and inspiration They were both cathedrals in different ways.”

“I painted a fruit market today and I was doing great until a truck came and parked between me and the market. He said he will only stay 5 min but he stayed 20 min so I never finished my painting. Nevertheless, I loved painting there and many people peeked over my shoulder to see what I was doing. Everyone was very friendly.”

‘It has been such a wonderful experience! The colors and the light here in Provence blow my mind.”

“This group is fantastic and I am glad I came on the trip and I am glad Bobbie and Carol came and I am glad Joanne is teaching, she is such an inspirational joy.”

“Everyone is doing wonderful work and it is hard to do when you are on the go. I am amazed on how everyone is doing her maximum.”

“I am taking tons of pictures to get a feeling of the place and be able to paint big paintings when I go home.”

“Today I bought a very powerful painting, made by a patient of the asylum where Van Gogh stayed. I am very excited about this painting. I just don’t know how I will get it home!”

“Since I have been here, I have felt more aware of the French culture and the friendliness of French people. I was moved when I heard a mother singing to her child  yesterday in the park. Some Americans think French people do not like us. It is so untrue. They are so friendly to us.”

“In this tiny village of Venasque where we are staying, we feel part of a family. Martine and Jerome, our hosts, are great. They make me feel at home, a guest in their home. Their meals are gourmet delicious. I am so happy to be here!”.

“Our daily picnics prepared by Jackie are fabulous. Jackie is such a wonderful driver, she is so calm and precious, she knows so much history, she is so cute and delightful as a guide, a real pleasure.”

Today we went to the biggest market tin Provence, the market of Isle sur la Sorgue.Isle sur la Sorgue is the little Venice of Provence, with canals all around the town.

The market is very colorful with tablecloth, poteries, shoes, clothes, jewelry, food, lavender products, etc…

Everyone bought little souvenirs…except Ann adn Pollie!!! They bought a big bag and of course many souvenirs that they hid inside.

I had asked people to only bring one medium suitcase per person because the space in my van is limited. Ann and Pollie didn’t follow my advice and came with the biggest and heaviest suitcases. Now, they bought an extra one!!! I think I will make them carry it on their lap on the way back to the train station……

The weather was very nice, in the high 80ties. We had another picnic in a small and quiet village of Oppede le Vieux, a real gem in Provence. I brought a folding table, a tablecloth that I bought in the market and everything else needed for a real French picnic.

JoAnne gave a quick lesson about perspective.

Then, Ann, Judy and I climbed to the top of the hill to see the 12th century church. Ann asked me to take a picture of her climbing as a proof for her daughter who always tells her to go out there and walk….Maybe her daughter is reading this blog?

Judy, who by the way has been called the general on this trip, sat on the stone that was used in the middle ages for animal sacrifices. That was just before she swallowed a fly while talking about how some people died at the Grand Canyon. This is true. Just like the song: “the old lady swallowed a fly”…oops, I didn’t mean that the general is a old lady!!!

Back home, everyone disappeared in her room for a shower or a nap while I wrote the blog. Tonight, we ate at home so we didn’t have to go out. Jerome and Martine, our hosts, are excellent chefs. They used to run a restaurant.

More tomorrow…

Jackie, the owner of www.frenchescapade.com

My season has started, this time with a watercolor workshop taught by JoAnne Anderson.

6 women from South Carolina, one woman from Michigan and one from California. Seven painters and one knitter!!!

Today was the first full day. After a typical French breakfast with croissant, baguette, jam, cafe…..(muesli requested by some but that is really not French!!!!), JoAnne gave some tips to the group about painting.

Then I toured them in the village, the very quiet village of Venasque, listed one of the most beautiful villages of France.

I went with Judy, the non painter, to the next village to shop for our picnic. After a very healthy picnic, everyone went off painting.

I was asked to pick them up at the cemetery. I drove there and nobody was there. I went back to the hotel but nobody was there either. JoAnne came with me to look for the rest of the group who was supposed to be painting by the cemetery. Nobody was there. JoAnne was sure she saw them earlier. How did they disappear? We thought we were losing our minds…maybe too much sun on our head or something. I finally saw a little entrance in the wall, I entered and right there, practically sitting on the tombs was our group. I can’t believe they were actually painting inside the cemetery and not by the cemetery looking up at our village. Judy was knitting, very quietly….in the cemetery. She said she wouldn’t do that at home. For some reasons, I believe her!

Oh well, the story has an happy ending.

For dinner, we went out (about 200 yards) to the nearest restaurant. Quite a view from the terrace. Everyone followed my advice: tasting the tomato tart tatin (see pic). A real treat.

An excellent day after all and an excellent group so far.

To see our itinerary and more info about our tours to France, check www.frenchescapade.com