Travel another way

Roussillon is one of the most beautiful villages of France: the houses and the soil are red, yellow, orange and all the colors in between. The reason is the ochre. Roussillon used to be the biggest ochre mine in France.

Picture 1:

Here is some of our guests looking pretty on the ochre trail in Roussillon:

Jan, Sandy, Linda, Margaret and Barbara

Pic 2: Barbara and Linda are wearing their French Escapade T-shirt. That is the new model for 2011.

Pic 3: During the day, everyone chose what inspired them the most for their painting. While most of us, climbed to the top, Linda C decided to sit in the middle of the city hall plaza to paint the world go by. She was wearing her big pink hat, that makes it easier to spot her on the picture.

Linda with her pink hat painting on the main plaza in Roussillon

Pic 4: At the end of the day, we went to one of the two restaurants in Venasque, overlooking the valley. Picture 2: Jan is making fun of me taking a video of Bonnie looking for the sunset.

Pic 5: Here is the sunset you were looking for Bonnie!

Sunset in Venasque

Tomorrow, we go to the jewel of Provence: Gordes.

We are back in Provence. A new painting trip has started. This time, the teacher is a watercolorist from California, Sandy Delehanty. Sandy has been teaching on three of our trips already and this is a fourth one, although the first in Provence.

For the last month, the weather has been gorgeous. It is not a May weather but a July weather. If the farmers are not happy about it, we sure are, especially our painters.

Margaret, who have already been on our painting tour to Belgium 2 years ago, is painting the entrance of our charming Bed & Breakfast. The inn has the right name since it is called “les volets bleus” meaning “blue shutters”.

Margaret painting the entrance of the inn

All shutters are blue, even the ones at Bonnie’s room. Bonnie is our star. It is her fourth tour with us. She follows her teacher Sandy everywhere and especially on our tours. By the way, Bonnie is the one who had me started on painting trips….I will always be so thankful to her.

Our star Bonnie

Here is the entire group for our welcome dinner at the inn. From left to right: Jan, Barbara, me, Sandy (the teacher), Bonnie, Linda C, Linda A and Margaret.

Our first dinner

Food in France is delicious but at the inn, it is exquisite: here is a little sample:

Our hors d'oeuvre called "entree" in France

That was just our first day.

Stay tuned for more adventure.

Jackie

Following Linda’s broken foot to Isle Sur la Sorgue, the painters had an amazing array of subjects to paint ranging from the orange umbrellas of the Cafe Bellevue, the deep blue green water of the River Sorgue,  paddling ducks below, and underwater life.

Kerry's painting of Isle sur la Sorgue

Painters convened to lunch on fresh trout, salmon steak and cod in shrimp sauce at Cafe Bellevue and view their scenes from the opposite side. After their fabulous lunch, a refreshing walk along the river revealed the water wheel of an earlier moulin (mill) and continued reflections of glorious flowers and fabulous architecture.

View of Isle sur la Sorgue

As we met by the river to leave the village, Victoria noticed a free-wheeling young fellow named Michael riding his bicycle in his flip-flops, whom Linda and she had met on the train from Paris to Avignon as they were all moving heavy luggage, mindful of the “broken foot” and his flip flops.  Michael explained he was wearing flip-flops because he had blisters from the hiking expedition in the Himalayas from which he was returning to his lovely village home in Isle Sur la Sorgue.

…And so continue the footsteps of the broken foot which will lead  Linda tomorrow to London as we all disperse and depart from our charming Maison aux Volets Bleus in Venasque.

writer: Kerry, one of the guests on the French Escapade tour

Our group (from left, front to back then from right, back to front): Pam, Linda, Kerry, Tina, Victoria, Lynne and Marty

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….

Today the girls went shopping. They didn’t have to go very far…inside the house there is my portable French Escapade shop: visors, shirts, table cloths,…Of course, all painters chose visors (not that they will use them now with this cold weather!!!!(.

Anne and Judy bought the same shirt also,looking like twins:

Judy and Anne and their new French Escapade outfit

Judy decided to wear her new table cloth as a skirt. Why not?

Judy and her new skirt

Niki and Nancy bought the same visor so I wanted to take their picture together but Joan wanted to be in the middle because she didn’t belong to any picture:

Niki, Joan and Nancy and their new French Escapade visors

The shopping was done in 10 minutes because they wanted more paint more or was it to eat more? For sure, for Joan it was to eat more. She admitted that she came on the trip for the French food and she was not disappointed.  She is now doing a little painting for the chef to thank him for his wonderful food.

Our chef, Mr Poulet

Check back tomorrow to see the painting of Mr Poulet’s food by Joan.

Today has been a rainy day so indoor painting for everyone; still life. Everyone painted a bouquet of flowers on top of a wooden chair with a French hat sitting on it. Ok, it is not a real French hat, it is actually Joan’s hat but everyone agreed that the still life with her hat looked very French. Below are a few pictures of our guest painting.

Judy painting

Joan painting

Nancy painting

Anne painting

But France is not only about painting but eating and drinking. Therefore, we went to the Chartreuse cellar, the longest liquor cellar in the world. We learned about the Chartreuse monks making the Chartreuse liquor. We know it is a mix of 150 herbs but they keep the recipe secret. I guess we don’t need to know, as long as it tastes good. They make 9 different types of liquor, from the elixir of long life at 75% alcohol to the fruit liquor at 21%. You can’t find them in the States. You can only find the green Chartreuse (55% alcohol) and the yellow one, called the liquor for ladies, because it is only 41% alcohol. We also got a chance to see the life of the monks in a 3D movie wearing great glasses…. Very good day after all.

Drinking Chartreuse liquor when traveling to France

Watching a 3D movie at the Chartreuse cellar

Stay tuned for more adventure with French Escapade

Thirty-year-old Amélie Mauresmo announced this morning she is officially putting an end to her tennis career. Some tears were shed by the most famous French tennis star when she made the announcement at a press conference.

Tennis became her passion while watching French tennis player Yannick Noah when she was only 4. She became a professional player in the mid-90s . Her biggest wins were Wimbledon and the Australian Open in 2006.  Her only regret :  not winning the French open ever!

She will also be remembered as the first French athlete to reveal her homosexuality while still on the courts.

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

If you know me well, you know that I love tennis. I love watching it and playing it . Although I won’t be able to watch as much of the US Open as I want, I am extremely excited about Km Clijsters ’s results.

She has won her first games very easily even though she is just back after taking 2 years off,  and she is now going to play …. in round 3. Ok, ok … some will say that I used to cheer for Belgian Justine Henin and did not care as much when it came to Kim. But that was a long time ago, when French-speaking Wallonia had a player in the game. Tonight my heart is Flemish (really, it should be , since I will be staying in the Belgian Flanders fo 10 days, starting tonight).

Well, Belgians are not easy to understand but for sure sport is a field where they seem to reconciliate (especially when they win).

And I have 2 reasons to cheer for Flemish  Belgium tonight. Kim will play against Belgian Kristen Flipkens ! The latter is not as well known, even though she recently made the news for posing naked in Menzo magazine. Anyway …  no stress for me tonight : there will be a Belgian winner on the court!

And for some fun and funny tennis ….

For our tours to Belgium and France, visit www.frenchescapade.com

                           Jackie, your travel guide and specialist about Belgium, France and California

                                                                         (see bottom  of article for latest trip discounts)

• The new Magritte museum is opening soon! On June 2, its doors will open on the magic world of the most famous Belgian surrealist painter. Located next to the Art Museum on Place Royale in Brussels, and not to be confused with the former Magritte museum, located in the painter’s home. While the old one focuses on the artist’s life, the new one will exhibit some 170 paintings by Magritte. Not to be missed! Tickets are for sale online.

• The royal greenhouse of Laeken are only open to the public in spring. This year, you will be able to admire the huge collection of rare plants in the superb 19th century greenhouses designed by Balat from Friday, April 17 to May 10 (closed on Mondays). It is a short window and therefore a privilege to enter this magical  space located in the King’ s palace gardens.

• The Foundation for Architecture is presenting its 2009 exhibition " the Time of the Boutiques" , from booths to ebay, ongoing until October 18, 2009. You will be immersed in the experience of window-shopping through ages. The foundation is located rue de l’ Hermitage, 105 – Brussels 1050. Closed on Mondays.

• On Saturday, May 16, 2009, you will be able to join the Belgian Gay Pride March in Brussels, with around 20,000 people walking the Streets of the Belgian capital. The parade is free and starts at 2 pm at the Bourse. It will end with the Rainbow Party at the Ancienne Belgique.

• Brussels public transportation are varied and convenient: 5 train stations, an easy train access to the airport and a great subway network in addition to a large bus and tram network. On April 4 , 2009, new metro lines were added.

Practical info: the Brussels subways (Metro)  run from 5am to 1am / Trains are every 7 minutes / a single ticket costs 1.70 euros  and a Day pass 4.50 euros / a 3-Day pass 9.50 euros.

To and from the airport, trains run every 15 minutes (Central station, Bruxelles Midi, Airport station located  in the basement – level – 1)

And because Belgians are unpredictable, watch this video taken at the Antwerp train station on March 23.  Public transport can be art!"

So to all of you who will be in Belgium this spring, enjoy!

If you want to join us on our August tour of Belgium with a special 50% off discount, check our website www.frenchescapade.com . It is a women-only 8-day trip in Wallonia and the  Flanders in a small group of 8, escorted by bilingual guides with a real knowledge of the country. I will be there!

All pictures were taken on French Escapade tours in Belgium.

Here is some update from the Vendée Globe sailing race. As I mentioned it in my post of november 16, this race is the toughest of all. Alone, no assistance possible and no stop around the world !

They were 30 to join the race 67 days ago: 28 men and 2 women. Today only 12 are still in : 9 men and 2 women. The leader, Michel Desjoyeaux, has long passed Cape Horn and is now sailing north along the bazilian coast.

The second half of the group is passing Cape Horn  right now and about to experience a big storm with strong gusts.

A special salute  to the 2 female competitors, Dee Caffari and Samantha Davies, ranking 8 and 4 so far, still in the race when 18 men have abandoned.

 Samantha Davies, 34, Britain /1st Vendée Globe entry / Boat: roxy

Here is an exerpt from Dee’s website on her latest race conditions:

“Dee and Aviva have now made their way through the first of the anticipated violent storms as they continue their journey towards Cape Horn.

Dee has spent a nightmare twenty four hour period in winds gusting between 50 to 65 knots.”   to be continued at http://www.deecaffari.co.uk/

 Dee Caffari, 35, Britain / 1st Vendée globe entry /Boat: Aviva

You can also view videos from Dee and other skippers live from their boat on the following page:

http://www.vendeeglobe.org/en/media/videos/

As for the virtual race, over 200,000 people joined the race. My French Escapade boat is ranking 98, 159 !!!!

For complete detailed information, visit http://www.vendeeglobe.org/en/

IWD has been observed for over a century. The USA was the first country to dedicate a special day to women on February 28, 1909.

So here is my top 12 selection of French women who deserve recognition.

I must start with Joan of Arc and I guess you do not need any introduction to this one. I would then jump right away to the French Revolution, and having mixed feelings about Marie Antoinette, I would rather praise Olympe de Gouges, who was the first French woman to fight for women’s rights.

A few decades later, George Sand (a female writer in spite of her name) was a real free woman. Her life was passionate and she collected lovers, from Frederic Chopin to Marie Dorval among many others. Colette was also a independent spirit whose love stories were as romantic as her books.

Even though Marie Curie was as Polish as French, I think she would not mind me mentioning her as a great French woman. During world War II, Lucie Aubrac was an impressive resisting woman ; her heroic actions turned her into a strong resistance figure. She passed away in 2007.

In the entertainment sphere, I would rather pass on Brigitte Bardot who has recently supported extreme right parties in France; my preference goes to great singers such as Edith Piaf , or to actresses like Simone Signoret, Catherine Deneuve and Juliette Binoche.

Even though she  despised “women in pants”, I can’t help  mentioning the woman who used to live in an elegant suite at the Ritz Hotel , place Vendome in Paris : the unforgettable Mademoiselle Coco Chanel!

Finally, here is a special thought for Ingrid Betancourt, the French-Colombian politician, who has been a hostage for 8 long years in the Colombian jungle. I keep my fingers crossed for her to be released soon.

Happy Woman’s Day to all of you!