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

Day Two in Paris

Actually Day One included an all night flight Dulles to Paris arriving by noon (Paris time). Chris and I were tired and took a short six-hour nap! Had just enough energy to find a lovely cafe for dinner and then back to sleep!  So our adventure really starts on Day Two!  Now!  The hotel was within walking distance of the Arc de Triomphe and this particular Hilton Hotel was a step back in time...like a movie set from the Pierrot character in Agatha Christie stories....beautiful to the last detail. This just added to the whole French experience for me...since I am such a Agatha Christie fan and Pierrot is my favorite or maybe Miss Marpl, but she doesn't fit in this scenerio.   The second day Chris and I walked 11,000 steps..in those steps included the Museum d'Orangiere that had been recently renovated including two special rooms to exhibit eight of Monet's waterlily panels in beautiful oval rooms.  Monet finished these panels just before his death and had directed their exhibition and gift to the French government.  He painted 250 waterlily paintings.  The eight panels each are appx. 25' long x 8' high. (you can see the scale with the photo of Chris above).   I was a little disappointed in the fact that the colors were more faded than I had expected.  Of course it was still a thrill to see them. More to come...when I have internet access a bit spotty here.

All Packed...Ready to Go...

Lots of planning and the day has finally arrived.  Chris and I are really organized (I think) ...I am sure we will be missing something, but its not like we are going to a country without stores!  Plane leaves at 10pm tonight.  Above is our art supply suitcase.  We are using loose rolled canvas and a few small stretched canvases.  Chris does a lot of watercolor so her supplies are more compact.  I have decided to use acrylics instead of oils since they take so long to dry and I would have to purchase there since I cannot transport on the plane.  We'll see, I may change my mind.
au revoir...next post from Paris...

Yikes!!

I'm not panicking!  Just a little stressed, but really, really think I am under control.  Suitcases open and being filled...last minutes items being taken care of...pay the bills, tell Art the passwords to the bank accounts and where the checks are kept!  Luckily we do have a "personal" banker with a staff that takes care of him...he likes to go to the bank as they know him by name and chat.  Good reason to move to a neighborhood bank.

Just want to get small items like gifts for the people at the foundation in France, small details.

Later....

It's All About Timing....

Since I have completed all the paintings I needed to do....I have a few days at the studio to organize my thoughts and supplies. 

When I applied for the opportunity in France, it was a whim.  I met another artist who had gone a few years ago and read an article she had published about her trip.  So, one day I asked how she arranged it.  Seems there is a foundation that was set up by an artist in Dinan (a small village in Brittany).  Her name was Yvonne Jean-Haffen and she willed her home and a cottage.  The cottage was to be used for visiting artists - each  to use the cottage for one month.  The foundation takes care of the cottage and choosing the artists who come from all over the world.  The deadline for the application is November 1st of each year and includes a formal letter (in french) about yourself and why you would like to paint there.  Also, photos of your work.  I received the acceptance letter two days before Christmas saying that I would have the month of September if I accepted.  And that's it.  The payment is to leave one of my paintings that I will do during my stay which they will choose.  All our correspondence are in French and have been mostly by mail, but recently have been receiving emails from one of the members to make arrangements to meet me with the keys to the cottage.

I have been thinking about "timing".  To be able to leave for a month to paint would never have occurred to me since there was always so much going on in our lives - work, the kids, life in general.  It has been strange planning for this adventure.  In the beginning, I assumed Art would go with me since he is retired now, but he felt I would try to keep him busy instead of concentrating on my work...and he was probably right.  So asking Chris to join me has been the best idea as we have the same interest in getting work done and exploring our creative process.  Then, in the mist of all this, Art and I bought a new house and moved...so maybe it is the best time to go!  We are moved in and actually pretty settled. 

Art has all types of projects he wants to do...so I won't have to worry about keeping him busy afterall.  The dogs - Sarah & Remy love the new yard.  Lots of space!