Travel another way

From Roman times to Renaissance in one village

jgrandchamps — Thu, 17 May 2012 09:25:14 +0000

Venasque is considered one of the most beautiful villages in France. But unlike some others like Roussillon where we went two days ago, Venasque doesn’t have shops or cafes or ice cream places. Therefore, there are very few tourists there which is perfect for the painters. I went with Pat, who doesn’t paint, to visit the [...]

Do poppies, sun and French food make you happy?

jgrandchamps — Wed, 16 May 2012 18:58:48 +0000

Today, we found a great poppy field. Some people layed down in it, posed for pictures,…The poppies just put smile on their faces. Durinda has helped Ruth with her first painting so Ruth was happy to show it. Her first painting and it is with poppies! Cam and her red glassess match the red poppies. All in [...]

Painting or not painting in Provence

jgrandchamps — Mon, 14 May 2012 12:51:48 +0000

New day, new group, new teacher. Durinda Cheek is the art instructor on this oil painting and watercolor workshop in Provence. She brought both medias to be able to demonstrate for the watercolorists and the oil painters. The mas we are staying in is still the same as last week: the restored 17th century house. The day [...]

Celebrating birthdays with French champagne

jgrandchamps — Sat, 12 May 2012 15:04:20 +0000

Today we went to Venasque, a real gem, not well known by tourists. The reason? There are no touristy stores: only 2 restaurants and one bakery. It is also so tiny, it will be hard for the big buses. Just to drive to the top of the cliff on the windy road would be impossible [...]

Painting the same olive trees Van Gogh painted

jgrandchamps — Wed, 09 May 2012 16:13:39 +0000

Today we head off to Saint Remy de Provence, famous because of Van Gogh. She stayed there the last year of his life. He asked to be internalized in the hospital. This is where he painted 150 of his famous painting like irises, starry night, etc… It was very emotional. We first walked through the 12th [...]

Red soil and red poppies in Roussillon, Provence: a dream for painters

jgrandchamps — Tue, 08 May 2012 16:28:19 +0000

Today we went to Roussillon, the ochre town. Soil, cliffs, houses, everything is red from the ochre. Some of us couldn’t wait to start painting and off they go, painting the village of Roussillon: Some others wanted to sink in the atmosphere of the place and relax under the sun with a cup of coffee. Not being [...]

Watercolor painting in Provence with Cherry Sweig as instructor

jgrandchamps — Sun, 06 May 2012 13:22:51 +0000

Here we are again. A new season in Provence with new groups. My first group of the season is a painting group gathered by Cherry Sweig. They are either from San Diego or Florida. I guess Cherry is known everywhere. I picked a new place for this painting workshop in Provence. Here is the picture. It is [...]

Swiss fondue as our farewell to Switzerland

jgrandchamps — Fri, 17 Jun 2011 15:57:52 +0000

This was our last day in Charmey, and we enjoyed every minute of it. Like every day, we had a picnic lunch and used the bags our teacher Sonja Hamilton made for us. She spent time before the trip researching what we were going to see on the trip and painted those scenes on picnic bags [...]

Chocolate and more chocolate in Switzerland

guest — Sun, 12 Jun 2011 19:21:13 +0000

In the afternoon we went to a chocolate factory. What a great experience in several ways. The place is very well organized for visitors. The tour began with a cinema, or so we thought. It was all computerized. English speakers were grouped together for the intro and history of the development of chocolate. We walked into what turned [...]

Where to taste the double creme with meringue?

guest — Fri, 10 Jun 2011 20:15:50 +0000

In previous post, Betty, one of my guests on the Switzerland tour, mentioned that she ate meringe with double creme. Well, it is worth to tell you more about this Gruyeres specialty. If the region of Gruyeres is most well known for its Gruyere cheese, a close second is the fresh, local cream, famous for its high [...]