Travel another way

The funniest painter, Linda Walsh, broke her foot 2 days before coming on the trip. She arrived nevertheless and has been a trooper, carrying her cumbersome foot through Provence.

Lindas' broken foot

Linda, with her broken foot, has excelled at broken colour whether at Monet’s gardens at Giverny or at Van Gogh’s hospital at Mausole de Saint-Paul in St. Remy de Provence. Our mentor, Victoria Brooks, internationally renowned plein air painter from California, covets Linda’s broken colour but not her broken foot. This morning our entire painting group painted Van Gogh’s olive grove and les Alpilles from the vantage point of his original painting.  Victoria demonstrated an extraordinary composition and then provided instruction on mixing all of the colours in the scene before her. She also illustrated the benefits of painting  first the darkest darks, the lightest lights and then medium values.

Victoria demonstrating how to paint in St Remy

Victoria encouraged all of her painters to create the scene in their own style.  In the afternoon, the painters followed the footsteps of Linda’s broken foot to the far corner of the sunflower garden and painted the sunflowers lighting up the church!

Mausole St Paul in St Remy where Van Gogh was hospitalized

Linda’s foot led us to cheap wine at the local cafe in St. Didier. Following Linda’s foot, we found excellent wine, salads and pizza at La Pizzeria “Cote Cour”.

Linda and her good wine in St Didier

Smoked salmon salad

Tomorrow we follow Linda’s foot to seek out beautiful landscapes described to us by charming residents of Isle sur sur la Sorgue!

writer: Kerry, one of the guests of the painting trip with French Escapade

Today we went to Gordes, one (if not the one) of the most beautiful villages in France. Hilltop village built around a castle on a cliff. What else can be better for painters?

Pamela, Linda and of course teacher Victoria painted the hilltop village while Tina, Lynne, Kerry and Marty went shopping on the weekly market in the village.

Victoria helping Pamela for her painting in Gordes

They bought different gifts for friends and family from apron to lavender soap but also cheese, ham and baguette for our picnic.

We had a picnic at the Clos des Jeannons, at Andre’s shop. He makes wonderful olive oil including basil and truffle olive oils. He gave us a bottle of rose wine for us to drink later. What a treat.

More painting in the afternoon before going out for dinner.

Victoria, Lynne and Marty at the restaurant, toasting for their leader...

After dinner, more shopping, but different since it happened in my room: French Escapade shopping.  Some women bought wonderful T-shirts they will wear tomorrow with their French Escapade vizors.

Linda, Kerry and Tina with their new French Escapade T-shirts.

A busy day but so wonderful under the Provence sun.

New group, new faces or almost. I already knew artist Victoria Brooks since she came and taught for me in 2008 in the French Alps. She is back with a new group of art students. This time is Provence. Yep, Van Gogh, Cezanne,…they knew where the light is best for painting so does my new American group.

Today, our first day, demo by Victoria: first, how to set up the easel, then how to use  colors.

Victoria doing a demo of plein air painting

Lynne and her wonderful apron:" A bad day in the studio is better than a great day in the office,"

The view from the guesthouse we are staying at is breathtaking. Maybe overwhelming for some who chose to paint a  vignette: a flower pot, some grapes, some hanging flowers. The idea is to get used to painting outdoor.

View from our guesthouse in Venasque-Provence

The group visited an artist gallery. The artist told them to go and paint by the cemetery in Venasque. “It is very quiet there” he told them. And quiet it was !

After a marvelous picnic with duck mousse, salmon rillette, French baguette, fruits and so on, the bravest went to the cemetery to paint ..not the graves but from there, we had a wonderful view of the hilltop village of Venasque, where we are staying.

Linda using the painting knife for her oil painting

I picked Venasque on purpose. Listed one of the most beautiful villages in France but not touristy. How come? Well, no touristy shops, no cafes, no ice cream places… just wonderful medieval houses, church, fountain and medieval towers. Just what painters want.

Tomorrow will be a complete different day in Provence with French Escapade….

I am now in Provence with my first cooking group in Provence: 9 women who love food and want to learn the secrets of provencal cooking.

On our first day, we went with Finette and her master to hunt for truffles. Finette is an expert dog in finding truffles. Despite the rain, Finette found several big truffles. Since we are in May, the truffles are the white truffles or spring truffles. They don’t have the same aromas as the black truffles from the winter (and are only worth about 180 euros/kg instead of 1000 euros!!).

After the hunt, we got invited by the master into his house.  We were served rose and white wine and toast with truffles of course.

To make the toast: grill some little pieces of baguette on both sides, cut the truffle on top, add salt from Camargue and olive oil. Let them sit for a few hours so the olive oil can melt the salt.

It was delicious.

Tomorrow, we will be cooking a ratatouille in a farm, picking the herbs ourselves.

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

Designer Christian Lacroix was born in 1951 in Arles, Provence, and his fashion shows and collections were often inspired by Camargue colors, gypsies and corridas.

He opened his own fashion design business in 1987, sponsored by French luxury company Louis Vuiton Moet Hennessy. He became internationally successful right away, and later diversified his business by creating a line of perfume, linen, table ware and accessories. He even participated in designing of the interior of the Mediterranean TGV.

However , financial difficulties appeared in 2005, and today, the company was officially closed when no potential buyer showed up to make an offer to buy the famous brand name.

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.

We are having a new tour, this time we are not in Belgium anymore but in Provence, France.

What comes to mind to everyone when talking about Provence? Lavender…

So, since there is no lavender in Sept, we went to the lavender museum. They taught the group the difference between lavender and lavandin because guess what? What you see everywhere, in your garden, in the fields, is lavandin, not lavender.

The main variety of Lavender cultivated in Provence is in fact not Lavender, but a sterile hybrid plant called Lavandin.

Lavandin is very rare in the wild and results from the cross-pollinization of True French Lavender (Lavandula angustifolia) and Spike Lavender ( Lavandula latifolia ). This rarity is because both True Lavender and Spike Lavender grow in distinct territories with little overlap,  between 500 and 600 metres where both plants can grow and the opportunity for Lavandin to occur.

Not only does the Lavandin produce 4 to 6 times the essential oil of True Lavender (though not of the same high quality required for perfumery or aromatherapy), it can also growth at lower altitude (easier to cultivate everywhere) . Therefore, most farmers decided to adopt this new plant as their crop of choice. They therefore decide to clone it and reproduce it by hand.

While lavandin is a hardy plant, it is also sterile and therefore must be reproduced with cuttings rather than seeds. These plants have larger leaves, longer stems, and larger flowers that are pointed at the tip. Because the flowers are beautiful, vibrantly colored, and long-lasting, they are often used in herbal crafts and potpourris.

Here are a few pictures of our group at the Lavender museum:

Our group in front of the old lavender distillation alambics (Sally, Sheila, Susan, Aimee, Brooke, Angellea, Katura and in front,Nancy and me.  I am wearing  a lavender shirt of course!!!).

Sheila and Anjellea were the biggest shoppers!!!!

Ok, this is not a woman from our group but a mannequin with the outfit that women were wearing in the 19th century when harvesting  lavender by hand. Women would harvest 700kg of lavender a day!!!!!

That is it for now, more tomorrow: stay tuned!

If you want to be part of this adventure yourself, check the itinerary at www.frenchescapade.com

Travel notes from one of our guests on the Provence tour with French Escapade.

“Today we ventured into the marketplace in Gordes , a medieval hilltop village listed one of the  most beautiful in France. We had a terrific time hunting and gathering gourmet goodies for a picnic lunch. Our feast, with delicious food, charming company, and laughter, was one of many highlights during this idyllic day.

Our Olive mill visit was delightful and engaging…and followed by an impromptu cherry picking outing at the invitation of the farmer/Olive producer.

We ended our day with a visit to fields of lavender…actually “lavandin” as we learned from our ever-informative and always entertaining tour leader extraordinairre, Jac.

I should mention that some of us experienced an amazing dinner featuring several local specialties at our fabulous “Hotel de Charme” in Luberon: goat cheese salad, garlic guinea hen with ratatouille, a cheese board featuring 6 different cheeses and profiteroles-cream puffs with ice cream covered with hot chocolate.” Laurie

To join our women-only tour to Provence in October at 40% off, visit www.frenchescapade.com

Travel notes from one of our guests on our tour to Provence with www.frenchescapade.com

“This is my first blog entry ever. It’s a perfect fit, as it is my first ever trip to France, too. I got off the phone with my mom and my husband, and I’ve told both of them that I have fallen in love with France. I even found a dream studio loft to purchase above the Farmer’s Market that we visited yesterday in Isle sur la Sorgue.

I have laughed more in the last couple of days than I have in many years. And, for the first time in years, my shoulders are not tied to my ears; they have dropped inches from the relaxation. My tourmates are dreams, and any fears that I had about going on a trip with nine complete strangers have been completely assuaged.

We visited a winery, where the sommelier taught us all the ins and outs of wine appreciation. We enjoyed lunch at an outdoor cafe, walked through quaint and quiet streets snapping photos of places one usually sees only in dreams.

Later, we nearly drowned in a pot of chocolate as the chocolatier showed us all of the secrets of chocolate.

Driving home, we sang to Abba, car danced like Queens, and laughed some more. We’ve just finished up our evening meeting, and will be walking to “old” Maubec, where we will feast on more local food… I am seriously thinking about not going home; my heart feels at home, here. I can say (for the first time in years) that I am happy, well, and good. A bientot… “Amanda

If you want to join of our tours to Provence at 40% off, check www.frenchescapade.com