BACK FROM FRANCE - Continued

I have posted a few more pics ( I have so many) for those of you, like Erin, who have already commented that they will return to enjoy them again . Thanks for your encouraging comments.
In the middle of this post I show the houses that we rented, and they love renting to Americans since they are military people and lived in the US for a number of years themselves. So if anybody is interested, we could rent one or two gorgeous French vacation houses and go to Brittany for a wonderful vacation. Boy, would it be fun to go with family and friends!
Well, here are some more pics - the first two of "the nutty professors" critiquing some paintings.
They had a wonderful sense of humor, and there was real unity among the leaders. Nancy and Carl, the organizers, did everything they could to make the trip the success that it was. They hope to do this every year, so if you are an artist and would like to go, I can give you information.

La Roche Bernard. I took this into the sun, but it was a glorious day, and I painted this scene.
Bernie and Sara. This was a typical window in one of the little villages.

I found the mixture of stone and plaster very interesting.

Please forgive me if I have duplicated anything.
I had the most wonderful cup of coffee sitting outside a cafe when I took this pic.

Fresh brewed coffee with a little jug of hot steamed milk - and I like lots of milk in my coffee, but I also like it very hot. It was so enjoyable sipping my delicious coffee watching the people go by.

This was my main course that I wanted to show you. It was their local fish, and they sure knew how to cook and present it beautifully (in a creamy lemon sauce). It was served on a bed of vegetables, with a couple of nicely shaped potatoes and a small flaky pastry roll. It was so good!

I painted this figure. It was a thatched roof house, and our model was complete with a basket from the marketplace just around the corner in the little village. While she was standing there the door opened, and in our limited French we asked if it was OK to paint their place. The lady was thrilled, and promptly closed her door and stayed inside the rest of the morning.

The French (and I believe most of Europe) place a very high value on art, and wherever we went they stopped to look and admire.

This boat was typical of the Brittany coast, I thought. I painted it one delightful morning at low tide with Ed and four other artists (who did other boats). You'll see this when I post my paintings later.The same bay at high tide.

I also painted this scene, but got so caught up with the beauty of the cliffs etc., that I did not start my figure until a mere ten minutes before we were to clean up and leave. Elizabeth had been sitting there for over two hours - she wasn't too pleased,.... but what a sweet couple they were!

He was from New Zealand, and they met in the Caribbean - they had even been to Trinidad. They were a delight to chat with.

It was quite windy on the bluffs, and at times we had to hold down our easels in order for them not to blow away. What a delightful afternoon it was!

Thanks to Cindy for these pics. (Hat-head=)
This was an artist's studio and home - it was so overgrown with flowers and vines, but was a delight.

We saw blue shutters everywhere, but their walls were all white with gray slate roofs.

Pink flowers were not as common as red, and usually always ivy geraniums.

We had some beautiful sunsets, but strangely enough, nothing to compare with the sunset just after landing in Dulles on our return. I don't think I had ever seen anything like it before.

(Lord, was there a message in that?)

We had so many different experiences and sights to paint. I was thrilled with this foggy morning, and captured this scene before the sun came out. I think it's one of my better paintings of France. (To be posted soon...=)
The salt marches. Those are walkways you see between the flooded areas. They dry it out and then harvest the most delicious natural (coarse) salt.

Low tide. Keep in mind they have twelve foot tides.

I love this pic. I did not get to paint the salt marches of Brittany, but hope to paint this. Having been there, I remember the incredible colors and light - hopefully I'll do it justice. Pictures don't.
A late afternoon swim and stroll on the beach near our house(s). How delightful the light was!

French children at play. I believe they were playing football (not soccer) of all things, unless it was rugby.
I just love the evening light here, and I'm hoping to paint this as well.

Look for the 'green flash" - I never did see it!

Harvesting oysters, clams or mussels, I'm not sure, but I did not think I liked "mulles" (mussels) until I tasted them in France. They are smaller, and steamed in a delightful, delicate cream sauce in the shell. YUM!!!! (None of that gritty stuff).
Lynn and I went on a two hour bike ride on Sunday which was wonderful. Something was wrong with my bike, and literally it felt like I was going uphill the whole way. (Maybe the brake was touching the wheel, I'm not sure, but my calves ached for two days afterwards=).

I should have taken a picture of my bicycle (we had a number of bikes that came with the houses). Behind the seat was a saddle type basket over the fender, with two connecting baskets on either side of the wheel...very French, I suspect).

Lynn took this one of me, but I am disappointed that the wonderful plants and flowers in the shadow of the cliff do not show at all. They were growing out of sheer rock - amazing!
Everywhere was a feast for the eyes... and all the other senses I might add!

You'd be walking down the street, and the most delightful smells would waft by of flowers and vines. The sound of seagulls and other birds that I was not familiar with, coupled with the gentle ocean waves, and the sound of soft spoken French, that I found was almost like music to my ears.

Look at the reflections in this door - another painting perhaps?

The one afternoon it rained for a while, we watched art videos, and had a demo by Nancy of a portrait of our beautiful young chef. What an amazing job Nancy did!

And now to the walled-in city of GERANDE. This was the entrance or main gate of this wonderful ancient city that looked like it came straight out of a French Revolution movie, complete with cobbled stone streets, and tight alleyways that narrowed, and roof lines and chimneys that all intertwined incredibly.

I chose not to paint that morning, because it was my only time there, and I was absolutely fascinated with what I was seeing, and decided to spend my morning taking pictures, sipping coffee, and shopping. (I bought two most delicate French china mugs, with complimentary sugar bowl and creamer on a delicate china tray. It was the price of lunch! =) Tea anyone?

I also purchased some local salt, some with herbs, and "Brittany boat" containers to serve the salt in. I wanted to serve it the way the French do, with a shell as a scoop, which I had collected from the beach. (I think our grandchildren in PA will enjoy that).

The coarseness of the salt actually adds to the flavor, if you can imagine that!

Our group going through the gate into Gerande.

Just look at the alleyways and streets how narrow. Take note of the large gas lamps everywhere as well. Hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

The Catholic church in the center of the city. It was beautiful!

Back "home" again. I painted this sunset, but unfortunately the colors do not show in the pic.

(I need Christian and Holly's camera =) Well, I think my painting came out a whole lot better. That's why you can't successfully paint from photographs, because the contrast is too great, and the camera makes the darks so black (or light) that you cannot see the colors you can in life, en plein air.

This was very early in the morning on one of my walks just after the sun rose. (It actually did not rise until around 7am.....my kind of sunrise!)

This was a shed of one of the houses in the village. So cute!

This bay was just across the way from our houses, and I sat on a bench on the left where the dingies are leaning up against the cliff, and watched the sun rise - just me and the Lord. Magnifique!!! Then when the sun rose I read my Bible and wrote in my planner. What a lovely memory I have of that morning!
Our houses on the way back - shutters partially closed as people were now waking up.

The front one, on the right, was where the staff stayed, and we all stayed in the house in the back, on the left (13 of us). Our house had at least seven large bedrooms. It was extremely bright and airy with doors and balconies off each room. There was a wanderful "drawing room" and huge kitchen both surrounded by large windows and doors leading onto a patio. It was all tiled (big white tiles) on the first floor, with some laminate (wood) flooring on the second. All white walls... It reminded me of a house in the Caribbean. The accomodations were great.

The house in which we stayed. Our bedrooms faced the back, with beautiful trees and landscaping. There were no other houses really close by. It was quite private, even with no curtains covering the windows and doors, and skylights in the bathrooms I might add. (They actually had retractable mechanical blinds that came down on the outside of the windows and door at the push of a buttoon. I hear it gets very windy in Brittany in the winter months, although not very cold, and these blinds and shutters are closed when the houses are not in use).

The back of the front house where we gathered each mid-day for the big meal.

White French cows basking in the sunlight. I wonder if their "moos" had a French accent=)
Taken from the van. A typical French village, maybe of the salt workers.

The village of La Roche Bernard. Center square.

All the houses and streets sloped down to the beautiful bay and port, and was quite high up.

The only two watercolorists, buying fresh baked delicacies at the little bakery.
Our group standing around the street corner waiting for the rest to show up.

We walked around quite lost for a little while, but it afforded us a chance for some more photo opportunities. This was a little seafood shop. (No large grocery chains, or Walmarts in these villages).

This church (below) had window boxes drooling with color (it does not show well here). This reminds me of York in England... so quaint!

These steps became a virtual garden.
Take a look at this alleyway. People walked to and from their houses here each day. Note the flowers on the wall...so typical!

These cities are so old that the wells could be seen in the center of town. This village had a number of memorials of the French revolution as seen below. (I thought it did not seem to go with the beautiful flowers on the left. It was someone's home, and they planted flowers in their windowbox. It was quite a contrast).

Look at the timbers and woodwork on this place , as well as the old hardware - amazing!

Every door looked so inviting, you wanted to walk in.

In this town we had an artist invite the group to his home - it was quite a treat!

Below are pictures of our last day in France. We left early the next morning.

It was a glorious day and we stayed close to "home", our little group with Sara, and what a treat we were in for! In no time at all an old black fishing boat with a washed out red sail appeared, back and forth it went dragging a net, we believe. It was straight out of the Homer painting ("The Red Sails") - or whoever it was who painted that famous painting so long ago =).

It was an absolute artist's delight and we all in our excitement took loads of pics, but I have only included one so as not to bore you. He just keep going back and forth, as if to say "paint me from every profile". The morning light on the sails was exquisite, and could not be captured by my camera, but having been there, I intend to paint it in another painting. (The painting I did that morning did not need it, as my focal point was already well established.)
I truly sensed the blessing of the Lord for the entire trip, but this morning I felt that I could hardly contain it. It was certainly a special gift from God on our last painting experience, and we all seemed to share in the excitement of it. What an experience to end our wonderful painting excursion with. It is difficult to put that morning into words for me.

The beautiful red sailboat.

What a trip it was!!

I am so very grateful to Al, my precious husband, and family and friends for having him over for meals etc., and to the Lord for His amazing blessings in my life.
Thanks to everyone who made this trip such a delight and an experience I hope I'll never forget.