Getting Ready for Les Amies Selection....

DAY 27 – FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2010

Today was an on-and-off rainy day. Lots of “sun showers”. Good day to finish my large “Yellow Cherries” painting. So I worked all day and mid-day we made the decision to return to the fabulous restaurant that we raved about – it is named “Lumachelle” – pizzeria, brasserie with wood burning grill/oven. Just in case you get to Dinan it is located at 80 rue du Petit Fort in Port of Dinan…worth the trouble. We were excited all day and it didn’t disappoint. Next door is “The Cottage” restaurant. Again, tiny, but exceptional food. I had tuna steak and they gave me two huge pieces cooked to perfection. Their béarnaise sauce was a béarnaise butter that melted into the fish – wish I could give you a bite! Delightful!

DAY 28 – SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 2010

Today is the day the committee is coming to select a piece to put into their permanent collection. (This is our payment for a month of free rent! Sounds fair to me!) Spent the morning cleaning up the studio – you can imagine three weeks of mess. We wrote our artists’ statements about our work and backgrounds and translated into French (via google translate) for the committee.

Several people have asked about the work space and cottage, so here are some photos. It’s small, only two people would be comfortable here. The studio is appx. 12’x12’ with a clean-up sink. There are seven track lights, one big wooden easel, a couple of straight back chairs, two small tables and two comfortable chairs. (We did tell them at the reception it would be really wonderful to provide a folding work table and a desk-type chair on wheels with a comfortable seat and back.) There are two big windows so I imagine in the summer you would keep these open while working (there is no a/c so I am not sure about weather in the summer months). Wall unit heaters in each room that heat quickly. I did enjoy the fresh air with the windows open.


The kitchen is well equipped with pots, pans, plates, glasses, etc. Small undercounter refrigerator (has ice). Double stainless steel sink, electric stove and oven and a microwave (which we never mastered other than 30 second express). Also, a bread toaster. Small table with two chairs. It works and easy to use.


The bathroom is the oddest part. It has a full bath, but parts on two floors. The first floor had a toilet and odd tub/shower combination. The tub is two levels for sitting with a deeper level for standing for a hand-held shower. The sink and bidet are on the second floor inside one of the bedrooms. So it takes some planning.


One bedroom is larger with a double bed and the second is smaller with a three-quarter bed - comfortable enough and have useable linens.


Les Amies du Grande Vigne arrive…


Promptly at 6pm, the selections committee came – four people. We had met the ladies previously and they are charming. One speaks English and helps with the translation, but glad we printed up the statements as it helped with the explanations. After spending time looking and discussing between themselves, they asked questions about the pieces and took my picture with the artichoke and yellow cherries paintings. This made me happy as I was hoping they would chose a large one so I didn’t have to worry about getting them home. They selected the “Breton Grand Artichaut”. (It’s funny because Art, my hubby, said he bet they didn’t have a giant artichoke in their collection.)



Val de Rance Pitchen & Teacup - appx. 8x10 - acrylic



Mon Amie - 12x12 - Acrylic
Heart Tomatoes - 20x20 - Acrylic

Breton Ice Tea Glass - 6x12 - Acrylic
French Peach - 6x6 - Acrylic

French Maribella Yellow Cherries
30x30 - acrylic

Paris Olives - 12x12 - Oil/
Creme Brulee  - 8x8 - Acrylic

Breton Grand Artichaut - 28x28 - Acrylic


 

They had a harder time selecting one of Chris’ drawings…they all are so great I knew they would. They selected one that had the keys to the cottage and other items relating to the cottage and Dinan. It is a wonderful drawing. We are going to find a place to scan it so Chris will have a copy.

Chris' Reflections of Dinan

The reception went well with lots of hugs and requests that we spread the word to other artists. The only publicity they do is through the artists, so I am spreading the word and if you are interested or need information, please let me know. The deadline for your information must be to them by November 1st for the next year. You can request the month you would like to come, but there is no guarantee and they will give you a time when you are accepted. I was happy with September, so I didn’t try to change, but I am sure they would be flexible if there was a way to make a change. If you have the time and desire, it is a life memorable experience.






DAY 29, SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 2010


We had a small open house to show our work since it was up. We had made postcards for the museum and gave some out to people we had met. A few people showed up. Nice to be part of the community. Everyone knows where La Vignette is located and most know that artists live here.


Took a walk back to the village and stopped in the shops. Many of the owners are getting to know us. It is a small town and if you are here for any length of time, they become more familiar with you.

Road Trip and Change in the Weather.....

DAY 23 – Monday, September 20, 2010

This was a very productive day painting. Completed the “Briton Grand Archaud”. It was a quiet day and glad to spend some time getting more work accomplished. Watched a couple of movies to occupy the empty sound space. Chris has hundreds of cd’s of music on her IPAD and we have listened to all of them –hum…probably 10 or 15 times. It was hard to plan how much entertainment we would need for 30 days, especially when there is no television or internet. I am one of those people who cannot go to sleep without noise – a tv, music or something so I am re-watching the movies we have. Tried to join Netflicks, but when they figured out that my computer was in a foreign country, they said they couldn’t download any movies. Damn! Did get a couple of audio books downloaded. The first one was one that I had ready read (my fault for not keeping a log); the second one was great – a new Vince Flynn book –“Pursuit of Honor”. I love his books as his main character – Mitch Rapp – is always getting the bad guys – usually the terrorists. Only if it were that simple in real life! I’m big on patriotism and country…if you didn’t know that by now. Oh, and the third book I tried to download got lost in cyberspace since the internet connection kept popping off! So back to square one.

DAY 24 – Tuesday, September 21, 2010


After painting for a while, Chris and I decided to go to Best Western and catch up on our blogs and other things. It is hard to have to be organized enough to get everything you need to get done using someone else’s internet access. They are very nice there and we have become friends with the bar tender (only coffee and cokes…well occasionally a glass of “vin”.


It was productive and got a lot done. Decided to stop at another restaurant on our street. It was advertised as an Italian restaurant and they did have pizza. However, their menu was so diverse, we decided to try one of their specials. If I didn’t say before, most of the restaurants have a “fixed price” area of their menus which include an appetizer (starter), a main course (entrée), and dessert. It is usually the best way to order and you get at least three choices of each items. Again, a fabulous meal and may be the best we have had yet. Chris had a steak with a green pepper corn sauce; and I had pork tenderloin with a mustard seed brown sauce. OMG was it fabulous. Chris was dipping her “frites” in the sauce. And I really wanted to bribe the chef for the mustard sauce. So I will say…it is all in the sauces! And bread! Think I am ready to do the Julia Child’s French Cooking cookbook…one recipe at a time! (Just like the movie!)


DAY 25 – Wednesday, September 22, 2010


ROAD TRIP! Headed west to Saint Brieuc and points north on the coast. The history of St. Brieuc is closely linked to its evolution as a centre of religion. In the 5th century, Brieuc, a Gaulish monk, founded an oratory there. The city was sacked in the late 16th century during the Wars of the Holy League. The city is situated between the valleys of Gouedic and the Gouet and is the capital of the Cotes d’Armor. (Views of the valleys here is incredible extremely deep!)


We happened to arrive on their “farmer’s market” day. The market is set around the Cathedrale St. Etienne which I imagine has been taking place for hundreds of years in the same place. We walked around the old town area – again amazing how today’s life exists in these very old buildings. The cathedral was built in the 14th and 15th centuries.

Also, St. Brieuc is a cultural center for literature and art and very friendly people. This man saw us taking pictures across the street and came out of his restaurant to pose for us and invited us in for tea. He is Greek and we so enjoyed him and the woman, we think is his wife. We weren’t sure what they were saying to each other, but sounded like a husband and wife conversation. He had limited English and we have limited French, but we did exchange names. I took several photos of him and his wife that I want to send to him.

Alright! On up the coast. Our map was too broad and didn’t show exact road numbers and our friendly GPS “Mandy”, wanted more specific information. (They need to design a system that is more flexible…like we just want to go in that direction…attitude!). Anyway, we wanted to travel up the coastline and headed first to the port of St. Brieuc (which use to be a fishing port for New Founderland fishermen and is now an industry for scollops.) We found the port and headed north keeping the sea on our right side..How’s that for good navigation? The tide was out and we had the opportunity to see the famous Brittany low tide scenes. The docked boats were sitting on the sand, we kept driving and stopped to see where the water started. I would say the tide was at least 2 miles out, leaving the sandy bottom of the sea. We climbed down a small path to the beach and picked up shells and took pictures of the coastline. They have a road built down to the sea bed where they haul out sand when the tide is out.

We stopped along the way to just sit and look at the water (English Channel). It is so beautiful and peaceful. Chilling out!

We stopped in a small village named “Binic”.


The one thing we have discovered is that we do not understand the meal schedules here. Between say 3pm and 7pm, you cannot get food at any restaurant. You can have drinks, but no food. Service starts at 7pm sharp! The waiter must have thought that we were desperate to eat, so he found some bread with tuna salad spread (probably left over from lunch), but we didn’t care. Anyway, it was about 6pm, so we decided to head back as we were only an hour from home…and there would be food there! We stopped at “our” country restaurant “Le Cochon” for dinner. Chris enjoying her salad.

It was a great trip and a good break. We are planning our next outing to the northeast area to Mont St. Michel.


DAY 26, Thursday, September 23rd, 2010


Dinan’s Day for the Farmer’s Market. Walked there struggling with “Le Matterhorn” hill as I think I was still tired from the cliff climb yesterday . I made it – again! Since I had already been to the market, I was able to head to the items I wanted to purchase for gifts and then the bread guy, the salami guy, the fruit guy, etc. Becoming a native, I guess. First day I have noticed that it was getting overcast. We have had so many sunny days, my mood immediately changed. Didn’t like seeing the clouds.

Chris met me for lunch. There were mainly salads for lunch, but after the climb I had just had on an empty stomach, and wanted something more. They had a “calzone” on the menu. It did say it had ham, cheese, tomato sauce, egg and crème. I wasn’t sure how those ingredients worked in a calzone (being use to American style). It was different. After cutting into it and having everything run out onto the plate, I think I was suppose to just cut the top open and eat down. It was unusual, could have done without the cream and tomato sauce. I just used the bread part and sop-up the creamy stuff. (Not sure if that was appropriate, but it worked!).


We took a leisurely walk back through the town stopping in lots of shops and taking our time to work down “the hill”. Just as we turned the corner onto our street, the sky opened up to a major rain!

We ducked into a terrace café and sat there for about an hour. It got lighter so we made our way home and got a bit wet. It’s 10:30pm and still raining. Afraid our dream weather may be over…we’ll see in the morning. Going to get in a little painting tonight since I have started a large “yellow cherries” painting and would like to finish it before I leave.


DAY 27, Friday, September 24th, 2010

Think the fabulous weather we have been so fortunate to have is over.  It rained off and on all day and there is a definite change in the temperature.  Lots of "sun" showers and not too hard.  I painted all day and enjoyed the fresh smells of the rain.  We decided to eat light and go to our favorite restaurant.  Yes, we have narrowed down what we think it the best we have had.  It is just on the turn off our street (rue de Quai) to rue de Petit Fort. I am still not sure of the name, but we had another fabulous meal.  We actually switched the same meals we had before.  Chris tried the pork tenderloin and I have the beef filet.  Again, its all about the delicate cooking techniques and the sauce.  I have decided no more envelope sauces for me...I am going to learn to make some of these.

Oh, I did finish my Giant Yellow Cherries painting.  They are called Mirabella Cherries. 

More updates to come...I am certainly enjoying sharing my experiences with you and hope you are enjoying our adventures.  Only wish I could send you some of the delicious flavors we are sampling.

Time to get serious...

DAY 21, Saturday, September 18, 2010



Even though I have six or eight paintings completed...still not satisfied with what I have... so, I am working on three more larger sized paintings. 

This one will be a bowl of yellow cherries native to Brittany – called “Moissac Mirabelle”. Beautiful in color and tastes different than American cherries – almost tastes like an apricot. Very sweet.

The second painting is an artichoke. They are giant sized compared to ours. Measure 6-8 inches across. Of course, I am painting in my style of “giant”. This painting will be named “Breton Grand Artichaut” and is appx. 30x30. Photo of the finished painting which is raw and has not been retouched yet. I apologize for the lack of clarity.

The third painting will be of a bowl of black grapes. Texture and juicy like the Concord grapes, but very sweet. The skin is tough like the Concords. These are called “Muscat” grapes.



We decided to walk up to the town (up the Matterhorn) about 8pm. Interestingly, people here do not eat late. Guess it is a small town atmosphere. They stay and drink late, but dinners are served according to the particular restaurant. We made our first dinner choice mistake – Greek. Not that Greek food isn’t good, but compared to the dinner’s we have been having, this was not up to those standards. It was alright. Chris had lamb which she said was delicious. Since I do not like lamb, I ordered the chicken which wasn’t particularly good! So my suggestion is to stick with the native foods! When we got back to our street, we stopped at a creperie and had dessert. That made it all worth while. Crepe with fried apples, cinnamon ice cream topped with whipped cream. Sound wonderful? It was!


DAY 22, Sunday, September 19, 2010


I hate to keep saying “another beautiful day”…but it is – sunny and the perfect 70 degree temperature. It’s like magic!


I decided to paint as I want to get these paintings I started completed by next Saturday when the foundation selection will be coming to make their choice. So, I opened my window (to the world). Dinan is very busy on Sundays…seems the spot to come visit as there are boat tours up the Rance River that start here, tram rides that go through the city and just a beautiful place to walk. We are at the very end of the rue du Quai and the place for people to make “U” turns in the intersection (including the funny little tram). Also, the Maison Grand Vigne (above us on the hill) was having an open house and lots of people were coming by my window. People would stand and comment on my painting. I think in piecing together my few words of French that they liked what I was doing. If they didn’t they were still saying something with a smile…so I will take that as a compliment. Seems most of the locals know about this cottage and that it is used by artists for a month at a time, so I guess they feel we are part of the community while we are here.  Everyone is so pleasant.

DAY 23, Monday, September 20, 2010

I decided I wanted to continue painting...close to finishing the artichoke.  Chris decided to go out and walk and draw.
I went the the "InterMarche" (this is as close to American shopping that we've seen) to replenish our food and stuff. Did finish the painting...just needs the glaze.  Now on to the other two. 

Fabulous Weather, just like Camelot - rains at night and beautiful days.

DAY 15 – Sunday, September 12th, 2010



Stayed in and painted all day. Chris was feeling better (felt like she was getting a cold….nothing serious. Our sleep patterns are still messed up and probably not getting enough rest.) So, she decided to walk to the town. I wanted to get some work done, so I opened my front window to a glorious day of absolutely perfect weather. Sundays are a busy day in the Port of Dinan, so there is a lot of activity even at our end of the street.


The gate entrance to the Grand Maison Vigne is beside our cottage, so a lot of people walk past looking for the entrance. If I did not mention before the home of Yvonne Jean-Haffen (our benefactor) is high on the hill above our cottage and is open as a museum. Everything has been preserved as she had it. She lived from 1895 to 1993. The house is full of paintings of her work including murals. She was a muralist and worked on some murals in the U.S.


Anyway, back to my day. If I look up, people usually speak to you. This is such a friendly place and so very polite. The language is made to be gentile – bonjour, s’il vous plait, merci beaucoup, Madame, Monsieur. None of this “hey you” attitude. Two young couples were walking by, I looked up. They were dressed very “Parisian” and they were from Paris, here visiting for the day. The young man asked if his girlfriend could use the toilette. (Looked desperate to me!). Anyway, he spoke a little English and was so excited to know I was from America. “I love Americans”, he said. “They are wonderful people!” They left and later drove by in their car and pulled up beside my window to tell me good-bye. Gave them my card and told them to call if they get to Washington, DC.


Also, had a visit from an artist who will be the resident in the cottage for November. We exchanged cards and I told him I would send him updates on what may be needed in the cottage. The cottage is like a society of artists who do not know or will probably never meet each other, but share this common experience and each leaves information and something to be remembered by here. How wonderful is that?!!


DAY 16 – Monday, September 13th, 2010


I decided to arrange a reception at the cottage on Sunday, September 26th for the foundation members to choose one of my paintings for their collection, so I sent emails to the main contacts. My instructions were to call the President to get the date approved. That made me a little nervous – making a telephone call in French (he does not speak English!). So, I decided to write a letter instead and drop off at his office in Dinan. The Foundation’s office (or mailing address) is the Municipal Library. So I walked there (up the Matterhorn!) to find the library. Found the street and address – it is in a huge cultural complex, very contemporary. After asking directions to the “Bibliotheque”, I found it was closed. Mondays are “iffy” as to what’s open and closed. So, take advantage and explore! (Oh, on getting a message to the President – I wrote out my message in French and then called him on his cell. I think we understood each other alright and he approved the date. Just to make sure I followed up on his cell with a text message.

These are pictures of “The Basilique” - a 12th century chronicle relates the adventures of Riwallon of Dinan, who made a bit of a name for himself during the First Crusade...he is supposed to have made a vow that he would build a church in Dinan if his life was spared – not sure if this is really true, but part of the church is really 12th century, the rest is modern (15th or 16th centuries).

The Clock Tower was the town hall up till the Revolution. The workings of the clock were made in Nantes 500 years ago (still ticking!)

The “Eglise St. Malo” is a magnificent Gothic church whose acoustic qualities are perfect for the rich tones of the English organ built in 1889. The best organists in the region fall over each other to some and give concerts. Magnificent stained glass window. Supposedly there is a 1920s stained-glass version of the town’s history in the cathedral, but I missed seeing that. I want to go back on a Sunday to see what the services are like. I’m not religious, but enjoy seeing local traditions.






DAY 17 – Tuesday, September 14th, 2010


Worked on paintings during the morning. Chris and I decided to find a Renault dealer to get the broken tail light fixed. After a brief trip that “Mandy” our GPS person took us on to an address that was not a Renault dealer, but a beautiful coastal village named Richardeau. Nothing there but a bar. So, we went in hopes of lunch. No, it was just a bar with drinks and horse racing on the television. So we got a drink and discovered our phones picked up a great internet signal there. So we caught up our emails and facebook. Did notice a bakery a few doors down and grabbed a baguette for the road. Chris and I both like the “end” pieces…so we start at each end and work toward the middle.

We did find another Renault dealer that Art (my husband) had found and sent a partial google map to us, but unfortunately we couldn’t access the whole address. So we stopped at our supermarket “InterMarche” and asked a lady who knew exactly where it was and drew out a crude map. So, she was right and we found it!


Okay, the picture! Two American women with little French in a car dealership/repair place where no one spoke any English. First we pulled up to an open garage door and spoke to the person behind the counter. Unfortunately, we didn’t have a French word for “tail light”. So with motioning and pointing, he finally understood, but of course it wasn’t his department. He told us to go around the corner to the “corroissel” department. Ahh…the body repair area where they have parts! So, we found the manager’s office and again after much waving and “come with me” motions…he followed me out to the car. “Ah”. Then he needed paperwork on the car. We gave him our rental agreement and their information on the car. That didn’t seem to be what he wanted. He showed us a paper that looked like a title. No…we only have this paper, we said. So he decided that was alright and went to do the paperwork. We weren’t sure at this point if we had to come back or what. No, he showed us an estimate – 81 euros. “D’accord” (alright), I said. So we followed him down the hall to the parts department. They handed him a box…we followed him back to the garage. He motioned to a mechanic and “voila” the tail light was new in a matter of minutes. He gave us a bill for 88 euros (7 euros for the mechanic I think). We paid and were off in less than an hour! Efficiency!


I do not mean to bore you with daily details, but we found each outing an adventure in how to operate and get things done where the customs and language are different. Hopefully you will be able to use this in your travels someday.


We went to our supermarket “InterMarche”. We love it! We found that the butcher on duty spoke very good English and seemed to enjoy talking and giving us advice on what to choose. The meats are different cuts, so we weren’t sure what was what. He then gave us a lesson on ham – the French eat a lot of jambon (ham). I love cured ham and prosciutto, so he gave us tastings of the Italian and Spanish prosciutto and the French version. He said the French is far superior, of course!! So we have a new friend at the meat department – hopefully he will continue to give us good advice.


Dinner at Le Cochon – a little restaurant down a country road. Lovely country food prepared to perfection.


Bon Soir!


DAY 18 – Wednesday, September 15, 2010


Road trip to Saint Malo. I decided that I wanted to do a couple large paintings since that will be more substantial at our exhibit on September 26th. I have about eight small paintings, so if I can complete two or three larger paintings, I will be happy. So, we’re off to the art supply store and also an office supply store for printer cartridges and postcard paper for our invitations.


No problem in finding what we needed. The “Top Office” store was much like Office Depot (just that paper sizes a slightly different which we knew.) In addition, it just so happened that across the street in this industrial-type shopping area was a store that specializes in chocolate. No question we had to investigate. As soon as we stepped through the door, we were served tiny glasses of warm liquid chocolate (their version of hot chocolate). This was a deep smooth hot chocolate like I have never tasted before. And, I do eat a lot of chocolate. It was a fairly large store, beautifully displayed with little samples all over the place and they were so helpful in explaining each item. Needless to say we left with shopping bags and a chocolate buzz. Reminded me of the kids in Willy Wonka …but we were definitely the “good” kids! Love these little discoveries!


Back to the cottage for an afternoon of painting and dinner of the salmon we had purchased yesterday. Perfect!


DAY 19, Thursday, September 16, 2010


Interesting caulflower



Fabulous bread!

A bit overcast and cool in the morning…perfect for climbing the “Matterhorn” to reach the town square where Thursday is always “Farmer’s Market Day”. The market goes from 6am to 12noon. I was up and there by 9:30 which I thought was pretty good considering. This “instant” market was so much fun…people in a carnival-like atmosphere shopping and greeting friends. I was on the hunt for unusual painting subjects and they were there from a cauliflower (pictures provided) that looks like a hill of trees to whole roasted “cochons”. The smells were delightful. I bought several items which I hope to arrange in a painting. How about a round zucchini that looks like a melon. Beautiful yellow cherries, deep black grapes and an artichoke that is enormous. Of course, I had to buy breads. Just sampled a fig bread that is remarkable. I am totally addicted to the breads…where can I find an authentic French baker in Northern Virginia – I may have to go into withdrawal!!  I bought a loaf of "fig" bread that is to die for!  I have a new respect for figs!

Met Chris for lunch and did our laundry chores…it’s not all glamour after all.

DAY 20 - Friday, September 17, 2010 (My Dad's 86th Birthday!) 

I did speak with my Dad last night to make sure I reached him before his birthday.  It is always good to talk to my Dad, he has the best sense of humor of anyone I know...always finds the bright side of anything.  He is still staying busy at his on-going business of refinishing furniture.  Amazing and the best!  Happy Birthday Dad!

Finished another painting today.  Hope to have at least 10 paintings before the 26th.  Excited about the subjects since I picked up some interesting ideas at the farmer's market.  Yes, I do get excited about a beautiful bunch of grapes!  I'm weird!

Chris and I decided that we should live here...not sure how to make that happen, but this is a very liveable place.  Easy going, laid back and great food and people.  It's going to be hard to leave.  Of course we are seeing the best side - no schedules to keep, no responsibilities, just painting and eating who wouldn't want to stay.  Now we have to figure out how to recreate this attitude at home!

Tuesday, September 7th (Day 11)



Spent the morning organizing my paintings and deciding what to start. So far I have five started with only a couple I am satisfied with the concept. I will definitely continue to look for differ subject matter to paint.

Chris and I had lunch at the café across the street. It is close to the cottage and very reasonable. The more popular food here (meaning all over Brittany) are mussels with frites (French fries) and you get a big pot of mussels for 10 Euros (about $14). Chris loves mussels, but I’m not a lover. However, I have not had any trouble finding lots of wonderful foods and have yet to have an unsuitable meal. The drink of choice is the local apple cider with our without alcohol. Very light and refreshing.


Our first trip was to find a laundry. Luckily information was left by others about laundries, groceries, etc. So we were able to fine it without too much difficulty on rue de Brest. Costs about $20 to wash and dry about three loads.  After doing the household duties, spent some time at Best Western using their wi-fi to send out our blogs and other internet needs.

 We had a late dinner at Myrian – an Italian Pizza place on the river. This restaurant just happens to have a very large menu. This is the view from the terrace where we ate.  This is the Rance River that runs in front of our house (down the street).  Chris had lamb chops and I had a mushroom, cheese, chives omelets that was the best I think I have ever had. Extremely light and fluffy.

As I said before the food is incredible…and most places are reasonable. Most of the restaurants have a “fixed price” for an appetizer, entrée and dessert. It works out better, but you are definitely “stuffed”…especially if the dessert is something wonderful like an “apple/prune flan” (custard). Got to get the recipe for that!!

It's all about the food...and painting!

Day 12 - Wednesday, September 8th


Beautiful morning so I walked to the Port of Dinan Village which is about a half mile from our cottage. Went to the local “passterie” shop owned by a young couple. He is the baker and she handles the shop. Purchased a warm French loaf, two ham and cheese quiches, an apple tart “tarte du pomme”. I did notice when I returned home that a whole end of the French bread was missing…must have been attacked by a dog on the way home who just had to have a piece of the warm bread!!


Spent most of the day working on paintings and ideas. Starting to have concepts that I am excited about painting. We’ll see how I feel when I get started.


Made a shopping trip to the InterMarche – the big grocery store just outside of Dinan. It’s more like a Walmart. So I bought enough for a couple at home meals as well as paper goods and things we are going to need. It’s hard to plan for such a lengthy stay. But, no complaints…this is sooo much fun!!










Day 13 – Thursday, September 9th


ROAD TRIP! There are no mountains too high or roads to hard to travel (however that song goes..) if you have a GPS…and our GPS is named “Mandy”. She has improved  since that first night when she steered us into a barricade on the bottom of a very steep hill! Well, it may not have been all Mandy’s fault…we may have given her a faulty address!


Went to St. Malo first to find a real art supply store.

Comptoir des Arts – 57 rue Georges Clemenceau, 35400 Saint-Malo. www.le-comptoir-des-arts.fr . Chris and I just stopped at the door and breathed in the smell of paint, paper and canvas! We were about to get everything we needed to supplement what we were missing. I decided I really needed to do my work in oils as the acrylics were just causing me stress. Chris found a small oil set at a stationery store in Dinan, so that just wet my appetite and knew I would be more productive if I painted in oils (my most comfortable medium)!

A little about St. Malo. Let’s see – a port city on the English Channel. It is a walled city and fiercely independent – a Briton first and a Frenchman second. As early as 1308 St. Malo established the first free town in Brittany and rebelled against the Duke of Brittany. It has been known for trade since with 1600’s. Unfortunately during WWII, 80 percent of the town was destroyed, but was rebuilt. There is so much more if you are interested in history, this is one of the places to see.


Note to self: I will include more history about Dinan…just so amazing being part of this fascinating place.


MORE on this trip….we continued to drive west along the coast – Went through Matignon (one of several small villages on this road (D34). All the villages are charming and beautiful with mostly rock buildings and houses, flowers everywhere. You sure don’t see graffiti here. Every place is kept neat and clean. (Of course, we could have been on the scenic route that is open to only tourists, but I don’t think so.)

Chris wanted to touch the English Channel, so we took a small road to the right and kept going until the road got smaller and smaller and finally turned into a gravel road and voila – there was the English Channel. (next to a golf course!) We followed a dirt path until we got to the shore. The tide was out so the beach was extremely wide. There was a hill made up of heavy rocks obviously put there to keep the coast from eroding…so we made our way down so walk on the beach. Absolutely breathtaking! It was windy and parasaillers were hovering above us. Dogs and people were enjoying the shore. It did seem that once the tide comes in, there is no beach visible.


After this we headed toward St. Brieuc, but decided it was getting late and we should return home. Made our first gas purchase. Let’s see ¾ tank of diesel cost 55 Euros (about $75 US). So now we understand why we see so many small cars. Also, it would be impossible to drive a big car in most of these ancient towns.

Friday, September 10th, DAY 14


New art supplies, time to get to work! Spent the whole day painting. Have about six painting in various stages. Worried about the oils drying in time since it is so damp next to the river. Here is a photo of the view out our only front window.

That’s the Rance River across the intersection. Also the cottage is solid rock with lots of trees so it is damp also. I keep switching between the acrylics and oils…so we’ll just have to see how it goes if the oils will dry before we have to leave. This was a very productive day! Starting to feel more secure that I will have some paintings completed at the end of the month for Les Amis de la Grand Vigne (Friends of the Vine House) to choose one for their museum. (Our cottage is called the Vignette.) That’s the pressure.



Saturday, September 11th – DAY 15


Chris woke up with a start of a cold, so she rested and only did about three drawings and a painting. I continued on the paintings I have been working on. Decided to try to find an internet place that someone had left for us at the cottage. Drove to center of the Dinan and found the address, but they no longer offer internet service. So I spent a few hours walking around.
 Dinan is such a wonderful place with so much atmosphere. A medieval city thriving in the 21st century. People living and working in buildings that are 600 years old or more.

Had a late lunch of a crepe with ham, mushroom and a huge slice of butter! Wonderful salted butter…they use it a lot here…and it does make the food wonderful. It was a beautiful day so it was great to walk around and enjoy the atmosphere. The people here do enjoy their outdoor cafes and meeting friends. Wish I knew more French so I could evesdrop on conversations as everyone seems to be happy and having fun with their friends. Great lifestyle…we should take note!!


Had to buy a bagette to bring home to make Chris feel better. You can’t beat the way people here make bread! And I actually made it home without eating off the end this time! Nothing better a fresh bagette with this wonderful butter. I better keep walking - a lot!


Finished another painting and sketched in another one…moving along….

Becoming less of a tourist...

I am catching up my blog. It isn't easy to get to a hot spot for the internet.  This may be a medieval village, but that are in the computer age, just takes some time to seek out the sources.
Sunday, September 5th - Church bells start at 7am, just in case anyone may sleep through Sunday..they ring again at 10am.  The bells seems to be in all parts of the town and ring at the same time..quite delightful as long as you don't want to sleep.

Chris went exploring and I work on some paintings.  The weather was beautiful, so I opened the front window of our little house and sat there to paint in the sunlight.  Sunday was a busy traffic day and the turn around for the tourist tram is in front of our house.  The main interest on our corner is the Maison d'Artiste de la Grande Vigne owned by our benefactor - Yvonne Jeanne-Haffen - a large house high above our cottage.  Her house is not a museum of her life and paintings and quite impressive.  She received a medal for her work by the President of France. Her legacy lives on with her gift to so many artists like me.  If you would like to read more about her - search - Maison l'artiste de la Grande Vigne Dinan France. 

Anyway, I think some tourists think the cottage is part of the tour and walk around outside.  So with me sitting in the window, I think they thought I was part of the attraction, so I usually waved.  If I had had any paintings finished, I should have set up a display out front with prices!!! Only kidding!

This was a very productive day and got about five paintings started.

Catching Up...Settling into Dinan

Chris studying our rental car - a new renault with a german speaking gps...we finally got "Mandy" our American speaking gps. Good trip driving from Paris to Dinan.  France has good roads and should since the toll for part of the way was 28 euros.  Just before arriving in Dinan, we stopped at a village (looking for a bathroom mostly), but found a rustic restaurant on a lake..so we decided that maybe we should go ahead and have an early dinner.  It was delicious and we topped it off with a creme brulee. Take note.."there is no bad french food!" so far!!

We arrived in Dinan when it was just getting dark.  Our gps friend, Mandy, guided us to an impossible direction, and we found ourselves going down a steep hill of cobblestones and at the end was a barricade.  Ouch!  we had to turn the car around on a very narrow street with a steep hill...did I mention that the car is a straight drive?  Finally, we managed to find people and started asking directions in our broken French.  I will say our first views of Dinan were daunting - no street lights to speak of, huge rock walls and buildings everywhere. Everything is rock, houses, buildings, walls, bridges, streets.  If I were an invading force 500 years ago to this place, I would have headed home!  Anyway, we finally found our way to the Best Western Hotel at the Port of Dinan.  Luckily, Chris had studied the google earth map and really knew her way around...except we just got too lost in the beginning.

On Thursday, September 2nd, we met two of the "Friends of the Vine Cottage Foundation" at 103 rue du Quai the address of our little house for the month.

Friday, September 3rd - Settling In.

The cottage is made up of a little courtyard, an eat-in kitchen, a combo studio, sitting room with a clean-up sink and good track lighting.  There are two bedrooms upstairs smallish.  There is one bathroom that happens to be on two floors.  On the first floor is the toilette and a combo tub/shower - a very unusual tub that is half a sitting area and half a stand-up shower area.  Neither area is big enough for showering or bathing.  It has a hand-held shower so you have to sit to wash your hair.  The rest of the bathroom is upstairs off one of the bedrooms.  It has a wall mounted sink (can you tell I am in the bathroom business??!!) and a bidet.  I guess that is the best they could do with a 300 year old house.  It does have updated electrical so we can run all our gadgets, but no internet connection..so we have to find "hot spots" to catch up our blogs and information.  Our phones do get email and the internet, but it's sure hard to blog on a blackberry!! 

This is part of rue du Jerzual - a long street up a very steep hill. Most of the buildings are 13th, 14th & 15th century.

 

These houses are still homes and shoppes...amazing.

Okay, you are saying "I thought you went there to paint".  The answer is "yes" of course.  Since I am not a plein aire painter, I have to do research on what I want to paint here.  I have been taking lots of photos of objects and things that are notably "French".  I have to be ready for an exhibit the last week of my stay.  The foundation will choose one of my paintings for their museum collection.  No pressure there!!

Chris is more prolific than I am...she draws continually and has already done a watercolor.  It takes me time to find the concept I will feel is right.  This is the same process I use to do when I painted murals...I had to work up everything in my mind and then the work begins. 

Oh, the weather is in the middle to low 70's - no humidity and perfect for being outside and walking. 

Au Revoir