Travel another way

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

Provence is the perfect inspiration for many painters. If Cezanne  and Van Gogh are the first names you would associate with the South of France, Picasso was not indifferent to its charms and spent a lot of time in Provence and the French Riviera..

In the beginning, the Spanish painter would often visit friends in the area before he eventually moved  there,  where he  painted some majors works inspired by the spirit of the place.

Here are his Provence landmarks:

• In 1912, he stayed with Braque in Sorgue near Avignon and painted “L’Arlésienne”
• In Vence , he would often meet Matisse
• In Saint Tropez,  he drew the “Odalisque” sketch
• In 1919, he stayed in Saint Raphaël for a while.
• In 1923 and 1924, Cap d’Antibes and Juan les Pins were his summer destinations, where he painted “Paul as Arlequin”
• In 1939, he spent some time at Man Ray’s home in Antibes and painted ” Antibes port at night”
• In 1946, he stayed in Menerbes , the village made famous by Peter Mayle’s books.
• In 1948, in Vallauris, he discovered the art of ceramics 
• In 1955, he moved to Cannes. There, he worked on his series “les Ménines” and also did  “Peace and War “ 
• In Les Baux de Provence, he acted in a Cocteau movie.
• In 1960, he finally moved  to Mougins, his last residence, near Aix en Provence, where he could see Cezanne’s dear Mont Saint Victoire. He died therenin 1973.
• He is burried in the park at his Vauvenargues Castle, in Mougins.

After the extremely successful “Picasso and the masters” exhibit  this fall in Paris,  mentioned on this blog on November 25, 2008, Provence will celebrate Picasso in 2009.

Here are the major events:

• May 25 – September 27: Picasso – Cezanne exhibit at Musée Granet in Aix en Provence
• May 27 – September 25: temporary opening of Vauvenargues Castle (reservations required)
• March 28 – June 28: Picasso 1945-1949 exhibit, 200 pieces from the Happy Years, at the Picasso Museum of Antibes .
• Starting February 29: the Cathedral of images in les Baux de Provence will project Picasso’s  works in the amazing quarry used as an exhibition room. Always a superb experience!

Both our regular tours and painting trips in Provence include Les Baux de Provence, Menerbes, Avignon, the Cathedral of Images and Sorgues.

Our painting teachers in Provence; For 2009: Jann Pollard; in 2010 Victoria Brooks

Poster for the new show at the Cathedral of Images, Les Baux de Provence.

Painters and art lovers                can discover                   Provence                    through           art, gastronomy     and painting workshops               organized by          French Escapade.

“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!

Tonight we had a crepe dinner. Valerie, our chef, made salty crepes but also sweet crepes for dessert. Two of our guests wanted to learn how to make crepes so Shelley and Josepehine watched Valerie and then started making their own crepes. Josepehine laughed so hard making her crepes that everyone else came from the dining room to see what we were doing in the kitchen. 

From Josepehine Takamoto and Shelley MacIntosh: “What fun we had together making crepes!  Josepehine was brave enough to flip the crepes in the air — just like Valerie!  Shelley and Josephine are ready to open a creperie in the US.  Bon Appetit!”

Crepe made by Valerie

Josephine laughing while making crepes

“A most gracious hostess, Chantal Pinaud, granted us a beautiful vista and invited us to paint in her gardens. Although it drizzled and was a bit chilly most of the day, we could not be torn away from our first painting opportunity. Even as the paint refused to dry and little rain droplets did their own special effects on our paintings, we found ourselves entrenched in our positions, determined to finish and conquer our creative obstacles”. Linda Carroll

Here is a picture o f Linda in Chantal’s garden

Here is Linda’s painting of Chantal’s house.

After our painting session, we were invited by Louis Fournier, Chantal’s neighbor. He invited us in his house and served us walnut wine, a local specialty made by his 88 years old mother. Louis wrote a book about the Virieu village. Everyone decided to buy his book. He was kind enough to dedicate every book ( see picture). This was an unique experience and Shelley is sure that this day will be the most memorable and meaningful experience of her trip. From L to R: Jackie, Kathy, Chantal (our hostess in yellow), Shelley, Louis dedicating his books, Linda, Josephine and Sandy.

Since Bonnie was not with us (she stayed home to paint from the house), here is a picture of her when she was still in Chantal’s garden painting her irises.

Our new group has arrived safely yesterday. Sandy Delehanty, the waterocolorist from Sacramento-California (see her site at www.sandydelehanty.com) is here with her group of 6 students, all with different skill levels.

For the first dinner, our chef Valerie, see more about her on our web site at www.frenchescapade.com, has prepared a buffet. The cheese board always comes after dinner in France. On the picture below, you can see Valerie teaching everyone how to cut the cheese. Oups, sorry, I should say how to slice the cheese. Our guests always laugh at us when we tell them we are going to teach them how to cut the cheese, so we now try to say “slice the cheese”.

Shelley is taking note about everything Valerie is saying about food like wine pairing, the origin of each cheese and the demonstration of the slicing. Tomorrow night, Shelley will be the one slicing the cheese for everyone.

Today was dedicated to the discovery of magical Lyon, a World Heritage city known as the Capital of Gourmet Cuisine. The Fourviere Basilica, with its breathtaking view of the city, was our first stop.

We then visited the superb Roman Theater built in 43 AD, and then walked down through the medieval part of the city to the Renaissance quarter, the second biggest renaissance quarter in the world, listed World Heritage by UNESCO.

Lyon was the silk capital in the 19th century. They were thousand of silk workers, called the “canuts”, in Lyon. Today, they are only 9 silk weavers left working in 3 different workshops. We visited one of them. la “Soierie St Georges”.

Do you know that velvet is a technique and not a material? The silk weaver gave us a demonstration on how to make velvet on a 18th century loom.

You can find wonderful silk scarves and some velvet.

Too many choices!!!!!

Patty and Joyce, the 2 shoppers from the group were in heaven and found the scarves they wanted.

Today we went to the Vercors, a pre-Alps range, that is part of a regional park. We painted suspended medieval houses, that are hanging over the Bourne river, in the village of Pont-en-Royans. That is a breathtaking scenery. How often can you get a chance to paint that?

Some of us painted all day while some others spent the morning visiting a cave, called the Choranche caves.

This cave is very spectacular and the beauty comes from  a special type of stalactite called “soda straws”. Their originality is that they are hollow and made of pure calcite when  regular stalactites are full. Some are 10 feet long and 15000 years old.

Today the day started with Tai-chi. Sandy decided to do a few minutes of tai-chi and Susan decided to join her. Five minutes later five of them were doing tai-chi in the living room. A great way to start the day.

In the morning we went to Chamonix to see Mont Blanc, the highest peak in Europe (close to 15,000 feet). We took the train to go up to 6000 feet to go and see the “Sea of ice” glacier that comes down from Mont Blanc. Since the gondola going down to the glacier was closed, some of us hiked down the trail. Here is a picture of Joyce by the glacier.

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It was an incredible clear day so we were able to see the top of each mountains, even Mont Blanc (which is not always a sure thing). Everyone loved that day with a 360 degree panorama view of the mountains. From L to R: Jackie, Victoria, Joyce, Susan, Patty, Sandy and Bev.

Today, we went to the Virieu castle, medieval/renaissance castle started in the 11th century and owned by the Virieu family. A member of the family, Stephanie de Virieu, dedicated her life to her art which was amazing in the 19th century. She didn’t get married and instead, spent her time painting, sketching and doing sculptures. In her eighties, she became blind but kept on doing art.

This castle and Stephanie are therefore a great inspiration for our painters. They started to set everything up in the garden under a bright sun.

Bev is probably cracking up a joke, as always:

Susan is always the first one ready: she’s started when everyone else is still setting up.

Jackie is looking for a canvas.

The final work is terrific (painting by Victoria Brooks, the teacher):

After so much hard work, everyone was happy to sit down and savored the fabulous food prepared by Valerie . Tonight the dessert was: chocolate-covered pears.

Stay tuned for tomorrow’s highlights.

Jac

Today we went to the flowery village of Chanaz in Savoie. This village is very tiny but so unique. A little canal goes through the village. It connects the Rhone river to the Bourget lake, the biggest natural lake in France. Nothing is more peaceful than painting in the woods, with the birds singing around you, looking at the village and seeing boats go by.

Everyone found a spot they liked along the river and they painted while Victoria was helping everyone. When everyone was exhausted, they all sat on the grass watching Victoria’s demo. She painted an old boat as you can see in the picture below.

Victoria’s demo.

Students watching the demo

Susan  painting

Bev  painting

Jackie painting

Victoria helping Joyce with Sandy in the background.

We also attended a walnut oil making presentation in a 19th century  mill listed historical monument. The stone mill, the oven and the press were all 140 year old and still functioning. This is the last walnut oil mill functioning full time in France. Tasted it was amazing: so pure. Needless to say that everyone bought some oil, even people who do not cook!!!.

Jac

This is the fourth day of our journey. Jac and Valerie are excellent tour guides. They are able to share fascinating historical information that we wouldn’t otherwise hear.

We spent part of today in Lyon walking through the old part of the city. C’est magnifique! Yesterday was spent in the beautiful village of Chanaz. We are seeing France in a unique way. It’s a wonderful combination of sightseeing and painting opportunities. 

Each day Valerie creatively prepares meals tailored to each town we visit. C’est delicieux! And always the wine and cheese of each region.

Joyce and Patty.

We started the day shopping on the market. Everyone had an assignment written in French of course, with what they had to buy for the picnic. Everyone managed, some took more time than others…. We then went to the chocolate maker. Do you know how to make white chocolate? Do you know if chocolate has cocoa butter or vegetal oil in it? Well, we learned all that and tasted it. It was so yummy!!!!!

Bev wanted the picture below to be posted: it is our dessert plate for dinner with all the delicacies from the chocolate maker. Hmmm, I guess she wants you to drool.

We were so lucky with our painting site. Victoria saw a great house with wisteria she wanted to paint. I asked permission to the owner and she was thrilled to have us paint her house and her garden. Her house was painted by the famous artist Giacomino in 1945. She showed us the painting. Amazing!! She invited us back and offered us to have picnic in her garden next time.

Below are paintings from today’s session: one is by Bev Lindsay, the second one  by Jackie Carroll, the third one by Patty Phillips and the fourth one by Susan Landi.

Until tomorrow. Jackie G