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Who says life is easy? Who says that being on vacation is a piece of cake? Today, the painters on the oil painting workshop to Provence have been confronted to a big challenge: painting the hilltop village of Gordes.

Here is Lynn Gertenbach’s painting in progress (Lynn is the teacher on this trip).

For the students, it was more of a struggle.

Bobbi and Betsy found a shady part but to get there they had to be a bit of a climber.

Holly was even more adventurous. After climbing, she went down a wall to be in the middle of a field with flowers. All the tourists coming to Gordes took pictures of her. She is going to be in pictures all over the world.

From Left to Right, Josephine’s easel (sorry Josephine, you are hidden behind Ghislaine), Ghislaine, Lynn (standing up), Lori and Patrish. They didn’t feel like climbing to paint. Besides, they like to paint a street going down towards Gordes to make it even more dramatic so they chose another spot by the side of a non busy road.

Oh, I do have a picture of Josephine. I can stand behind Josephine and she doesn’t hear me because she listens to her iPod.

Lori is advertising for me because she is wearing the “French Escapade” visor I gave each of them. You can tell by her smile that even though it was not easy to paint all those medieval houses, it was still fun.

But the trip is not all about painting. We went to an olive oil factory and the owner, Andre, gave us a tour of the factory explaining how he makes olive oil.

Then, the best part, was the tasting:  plain olive oil, basil olive oil, truffle olive oil and rosemary olive oil. Even though everyone’s suitcase was already heavy when they arrive, everyone bought the oil. How can you resist such a great first cold press, extra virgin fresh olive oil?

So far, it has been a wonderful trip. The group is great, very funny and everyone is getting along.

Great weather, great food, handsome people, what else can you dream of?

On the first day of our oil painting workshop, we stayed at the house or in our village of Venasque.

Here is Patrish painting from the courtyard.

Lori is doing a sketch before starting her painting.

Josephine chose to paint a little street in the village. She got help from the teacher, Lynn. Lynn is actually painting on Josephine’s painting to add some shadows to it.

Holly and Betsy, all equipped with their aprons, are painting an arch way, the unique entrance to the village back in the medieval time.

Bobbie is not painting, but prefers to chat. Ok, don’t listen to me (or should I say don’t believe what I write) because Bobbie did paint but here we were ready to go out for dinner.

But where is the last student? Ghislaine?? Actually Ghislaine took a nap while everyone was painting so I don’t have a pic because I didn’t dare to go to her bedroom just to take a picture!!! Anyhow, she is allowed to sleep while everyone paints because she is the fast painter in the group and usually does 2 paintings while the others do one.

Tomorrow, we are going to an amazing place: Gordes. Here is a picture of it (and me but that is less important, although….) so it will make you want to read more tomorrow to see what everyone painted there.

Stay tuned.

Lynn Gertenbach, an oil painter from South California, has arrived with her students for a week long in Provence.

Luckily, the weather is wonderful, even quite hot. Until last week, it had been chilly in France, even here in Provence, which is very unusual. But now the sun is here and the sky is blue.

We are staying a week long at the same location, la maison aux volets bleus, in Venasque, a charming village in the Luberon.

Here is the group at dinner:

From L to R: Ghislaine, Holly, Betsy, Bobbie, Lynn, Patrish, Josephine and Lori.

After dinner, we had a great surprise. The little tiny village had a special festivity planned: a latin night. There was a DJ playing not only salsa, rumba and merengue but also some disco, hip pop, etc…

Eight of us went to check it out (while Patrish decided to stay at the hotel and read). The minute we got there, Holly and her mother Betsy went on the dance floor and never left it.

Holly and Betsy danced all night long…

Well, the dance floor was gravels since we were on an outside parking lot. Lori, Josephine, Ghislaine, Bobbie, Lynn and I joined them. Luckily, the DJ taught us the moves for all the latin dances so it became sort of a line dance. There were 4-year-old kids dancing the night away as well as older people. Some were really excellent some were just trying out but the most important is that everyone had a blast.

We called it a night around 11PM. Nice start for our week.

To follow the full itinerary of our painting week in Provence, check our site www.frenchescapade.com.

We are now in Barcelona on day 6 of our painting workshop.

Today, we didn’t expect to met the giants. Not the sport team from San Francisco but the giants from Barcelona, the ones made out of wood and clothing.They are part of the Catalonian tradition. They use them on special occasions. They walk and dance in the streets. So Dee and I had the chance to see them perform on plaza Reial.

In the evening, I had a surprise for the group. We were invited at Julius’ house for dinner. We were served an incredible dinner with Catalan and Spanish specialties. It was a real feast.

Julius presented us the fresh fish and sea food he will use for the dishes.

We had a private dinner with 8 different tapas, 2 main dishes and dessert. The least we can say is that we were stuffed but in heaven…

Dee is presenting the Cocal de escalivada, the Catalan version of our pizza.

Karen decided to dress up to go to this very nice place, a clandestine gallery in the Barri Gotic.

One of the main dish was the Catalan Fideua with sea food and aioli. It is the “noodle” version of the paella.

We could barely walk back to the hotel after eating all that food but it was an unforgettable experience.

Join us on one of our tours to either France, Spain or Belgium at www.frenchescapade.com

As the temperature drops a bit, so does the number of students following Keiko. Here are a few more pictures of the people who are still painting. Some got tired and went off to do something else while 4 participants made it through.

From L to R: Diane, Sandy, Dee, Keiko and Valeria:

Shine or rain, Keiko paints her way through:

On the sandy beach, the number goes down even more. We are now down to 3 participants.

There is more than painting on this tour. A little culture too. We went to Figueres to see the Dali museum. It is actually the biggest surrealistic museum in the world. Very impressive and very crazy too.

Tomorrow, we are off to Barcelona. We are leaving this quiet paradise for more a much busier but beautiful place.

Hasta Luego.

All our trips, in Spain but also France, Belgium and Switzerland are listed on our site at www.frenchescapade.com

Yesterday we went to the medieval village of Pals, considered one of the most beautiful villages on the Costa Brava.

On the way, we saw fields of red poppies. The group made me drive through little narrow streets in the country side in order to get closer to the poppies. Well, that was not very successful. That didn’t stop them, they walked on the high traffic road to arrive in the poppy field. While taking the picture below, Sandra said that it could be a picture advertising for a discounted trip!!!! (walking by cars, in an non friendly environment rather than on a scenic road!).

The good news is that we finally made it to the poppy field.

In Pals, some of us got distracted from painting by the shopping of scarf and jewelry….I will not give any names!!!

Finally, we are in Pals.

Keiko did a demo in the main square of the village:

Judy, aka the general and also my photographer, played a trick in this picture with her mother. I would never dare to take that picture …

Picture of Judy and her mom on their terrace, back at the hotel. It is hard to leave that view even to go on day trips!

Stay tuned for more adventure as the trip continues. The full program of the trip can be found on the site www.frenchescapade.com

Today is day 3 of our painting tour.

Here are some of the paintings Keiko Tanabe did during these 3 days on the trip with French Escapade. Some of them were the demos. All have been done in one hour or less. Amazing isn’t it?

Demo in the medieval village of Pals:

View of the country side, from the medieval village of Pals:

Beach in Calella de Palafrugell (view from our hotel!):

Sunrise in Calella de Palafrugell (Keiko has time to do at least one painting before breakfast):

Boats in Calella de Palafrugell:

Mr Velcro’s house in Calella de Palafrugell: This painting is already SOLD!

Mid day in Calella de Palafrugell:

Streets in Calella de Palafrugell:

Cafes in Calella de Palafrugell:

To see more paintings by Keiko Tanabe, click here.

To see more details of the painting workshop to Spain, click here.

Our second day on the Costa Brava started with a beautiful sunrise. Here is the picture taken from the terrace of the hotel (I didn’t even have to photoshop the picture, the colors are just real!).

Let me introduce the group of artists on the trip:

From L to R (bottom row): De and Diane (Top row): Judy, her mother Lois, Karen,Keiko, Sandra and Valeria.

Today we went to the botanical garden of Cap Roig. It was designed by a couple, a Russian and his wife from England, in 1929. They built a castle and imported over 1000 plants from all over the world. The place is now a botanical garden open to the public. In July, they have concerts with artists worldwide. This July, Elton John is coming. Tickets are already sold out by the way.

Here is one of the paintings from Sandra Stohschein. She is the fast painter in the group. Four paintings yesterday and one painting this morning before breakfast!!!! This one is a painting of the castle in the botanical garden, painting number 6 already! Click here to check her web site.

The garden is so beautiful: cactus, flowers, trees and view on the Mediterranean!!!

Below is a whole in a blue door with the dramatic cliffs behind. It is not a painting or a picture. It is the real view you get from the garden!!

Keiko gave a demo about value and colors, with the castle being the subject.

Some people paid very good attention:

Some, even more serious, took pictures of it so they won’t forget:

While some others were more interested in having ice cream:

Ok, I am just kidding, the ice cream was at lunch time, not during the demo!!!

This was day 2 of our watercolor plein air workshop in Spain, taught by Keiko Tanabe.

Bon dia y Benvingut en Catalunya!

I am practicing my Catalan (I know about 10 words!!!) because I am now on the Costa Brava, running my  new trip.

It is a watercolor workshop with art teacher Keiko Tanabe. We are spending five days on the Costa Brava and 2 days in Barcelona.

Our little home base village of Calella de Palafrugell is a gem. The view from the hotel is breathtaking.

But let’s start with the most important: …painting…NO, food! Breakfast!

Here is a picture of the buffet at the hotel. It is actually only one part of the buffet. I couldn’t take a picture of everything.

For dinner,  we went to the best restaurant in town. You could choose your fresh fish of the day. You know for sure you are not eating frozen fish, from last year!!!! It was delicious.

Ok, let’s get serious and let’s paint.

Keiko, the art teacher, is a not only a great watercolorist but a very fast painter. Here is one of her paintings from this morning.

Everyone’s has been busy painting, inspired by Keiko’s demo and of course, the ocean.

I have also included Judy and her painting. Judy had never painted before. She watched Keiko this morning and then decided to give it a try. What do you think?

Ok, I am just kidding. The painting is of course from Keiko!!!

Stay tuned for tomorrow. I still have to take pictures of some of the other painters on the trip.

If you want to see the complete itinerary of this painting workshop to Spain, check www.frenchescapade.com

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