Postcards from France #5

L'isle sur de Sorge

The village here has captured our hearts. It was our base camp for a full week. The water wheels tell a history of industry. They powered who knows what all. Today they are a beautiful site and sound for the eyes and ears. The water is crystal clear.

We arrived the day before the big market day. The hustle and ussel of setting up vegetable produce, salami / sausages, table linens, clothing, jewelry. You name it and it was likely here. We took part in the vegetables, rotisserie chicken and olives as we were in an apartment. We did a couple meals there and had breakfast supplies.

The olive we bought were dressed with olive, vinegar and spices. They were amazing!

The first day we drove to St. Remy where Van Gogh was. We arrived, grabbed lunch and tried to review what to explore. We should have drove to the Monastery. We ended up walking once again. The an Gogh trail. We located the beginning and followed the brass Vincent pavement markers.

We arrived at the Monastery….hot and tired. I walked ito a group of plein air painters on a workshop, Americans. The instructor was Cathy? Shewas in En Plein Air TX 5 years ago. We met a couple from Boston - who realized quickly the walk and drove along the trail. When the offered a ride back to our car, we took it. I was sorry to have done things the way we did, as we did not pay to go in. Many of Van Gogh's paintings were completed where they were posted.

The next day we went to Pont (bridge) du Gard. This was a Roman Aquaduct build about 50AD. Another long walk to it, across it and had lunch. I did a beautiful sketch.

The next day was Roussillon. It was not what we planned. Beautiful drive, arrived, parked and went directly to the art store that sells paint pigments that are mined on site.

Grabbed sandwiches to eat while I painted somewhere. As we approached he'd our car a woman was apologizing a mile a minute as her husband nicked our rent car. We worked through it all with the local police officer. He filled our the forms with e edyones information filled in completely. The day spoiled, we went back to our hotel to prepare to leave.

I will be publishing some of the paintings and sketches next time? See how it goes. I want to share it all, but it would be pages! More soon

Cheers

Debra