Sunday Market Day in L'isle Sur La Sorge

Sunday, June 26th was an exciting day for our "Workshops in France" group because we got to visit the charming village of L'isle Sur La Sorge.  Sunday is Market Day there, and it hosts the largest and most well known Antique Market in Provence.  It is the second largest Antique Market in France, second only to Clingancourt in Paris, and the third largest in Europe, after London.  This charming village sits on the Sorgue River,

where families of ducks swim through the town,

as well as swans,

and you can see moss covered waterwheels, all like something out of a Fairytale.

People come out in droves, on foot, by car, by bicycle,

and by motorcycle.  For sure these two must have arrived on their His 'n Hers Vespas.  I love that he is carrying her pink helmet.

This particular village is packed with about 350 dealers and decorators in the ten Antique Villages there.

I only saw two cows in the South of France.  This is one of them.

There are charming Cafes, 

and delectable Boulangeries.  This sweet treat is comprised of  "Meringue, Framboise, Pistache":

There are a host of vendors who come out on Sundays for their famous Market, selling everything from produce...

to olives...

to soaps...

to crafted items...

to clothing...

to textiles and threads...

to vintage hardware,

to Antiques and Collectibles.  And of course, this is my favorite part.  When I was a little girl, I visited many garage sales, antique shops and auctions with my Mom and my Grandma.  Those experiences have stuck with me for a lifetime, and it's one of my greatest pleasures.

There was a ride for the kiddies...

and some vintage beads for a new piece when I get home.

Of course Brenda never misses an opportunity to do one of her wonderful pen and ink sketches with watercolor.  Here she is waiting to get picked up.

Here's Nathalie and Mary Jo.

Back at the Chateau that evening, dinner was topped off with an amazing dessert called "Paris Brest",

followed by a chance for the workshop participants to show and talk about the body of work that they had created during their stay.

It was a day that fed our spirit!

Love,
Linda

Roussillon, Domain du Bois de St. Jean, and a Painting Demo

Saturday, June 25th marked our second trip to paint the lavender fields.  The eleven of us jumped into our two SUV's with matching ribbons, (to keep track of each other), and headed for Roussillon.  The village is noted for its large ochre deposits found in the clay there.

In honor of the ochre deposits, the entire town is painted in the same tones, which makes it unique to Provence, where you will usually see pale colored houses with soft pastel shutters.

Our first stop was at the lavender fields on the outskirts of town.  If you check out my post on June 17th, you will see that we actually scouted this field out before the workshop, and we especially loved it for its sumptuous curves.  Our artists were delighted at the chance to paint it.  Among others, here's Brenda,

Nathalie...

Angel...

and Aleex.

We also had the owners of the field come and set up a stand right next to us, selling lavender soaps, oils and bouquets.

I know for sure we took quite a few bars of lavender soap off their hands that day!

After we finished up at the fields, we headed up to the town to eat lunch and browse through the shops.  They are known for selling artist pigments there in a wide variety of colors that can be mixed with a binder and used as either watercolor, oil or acrylic.  Of course I was most drawn to the blues and the greens, especially the aquamarine.

We all piled back in the cars and headed for our next stop, which was wine tasting at Domain du Bois de St. Jean.  We sampled an assortment of reds, as well as a white and a rose.  Our host spoke french, but the language of wine is universal.  LOL.  PS Julie translated.

An anecdote is that Brenda, one of the Artists on the retreat, was here at the workshop for her second time.  Last year she did a painting of our host at the vineyard, and sent him a poster after the workshop.  This year, he brought out the poster, and she got to have her picture taken with him.  Pretty awesome!

We purchased some very nice wines for dinner that night, and took a sneak peek at the vineyard in the back on the way out.

We returned to the Chateau for an outstanding dinner of Legumes Farci,

along with a special cake in honor of the Artists.

which we enjoyed outdoors.

We finished off a very full day with a fun and informative demo from Julie Snyder, about how to take your reference photos home and turn them in to finished works, using your iPad. 

And so ends another great day with Workshops in France.
Thanks so much for following!!

Love, Linda

A Trip to Venasque and Modeling for Our Art Group

Friday morning we headed out to explore some smaller villages that are off the beaten path.  When driving in Provence, there are several things that you notice.  One is the huge number of bicyclists you see on the streets here.  They are everywhere!

Another thing is that the roads are very narrow.  Almost always.  Our first stop was La Roque Sur Pernes, which was no exception.  We decided to keep moving, but did spot this really interesting old wash area on the way out of town, where the women of the village once did their laundry.

We headed for our next stop of Le Beaucet, but had to stop at a spontaneous lavender sighting!  This field was full and lush.  We can already see the difference in the lavender since we got here.  A week of hot weather has really increased the blooming.

After everyone got their fill of lavender pictures, we continued on towards Le Beaucet, and could see it off in the distance.

Still not quite satisfied with the winding narrow roads at the top of the hill, we decided to keep it moving and finally ended up in the most glorious village, Venasque.  It was there that we settled in to sketch, paint, photograph and explore.

The first thing that caught my attention was the mailman.  The streets are so narrow that he backed up the street to deliver the mail, then drove back down when he finished.  Good backing skills required for his job!

The town has a charming square with a fountain, surrounded by cafes and shops.  There were cyclists in the town, and this one had the most interesting nickname.  Sexy Lexy.

This brings me to another thing I noticed in the villages.  I am shooting way more vertical shots than horizontal.  Usually it's the other way around for me.  Anyway, the further I walked into the little village, the more interesting it got.  I spotted another great fountain,

and a beautiful old church that I needed to explore.

Here are a few of the elements in the church.

It seems I get moved to tears every time I enter one of these old churches.  I sit down, have myself a little cry, and then photograph like a mad woman!  LOL.  Crazy artist.

Of course there was a spectacular view of the countryside from the village.

We ate our lunches in the village, and then returned to the chateau, where I posed for a portrait session.  This was my first time posing for a group.  The put a mark on the wall so I had a place to fix my gaze,

and I did a series of twenty minute poses.  Thanks to Belinda DelPesco for the great photo of me modeling, with Julie Snyder's work in progress in the foreground.  I think I look a little too serious here, but it was my first time, after all.  Would love to do it again.

This is Brenda's interpretation of me.  Love it and love the title.

Ended the day with another great home cooked dinner, and a nice Chardonnay and Voignier blend.  Then off to bed to write my blog!!

Bonne Nuit and Sweet Dreams, all.  Thanks for following.

Love, Linda