Painting Provence
Provence is a favorite location for our Artist Retreats, the light here is renowned amongst painters and photographers alike, making this location the perfect inspiration. Provence hosts a rural old world vibrance, French markets, picturesque scenes combined with some of the best cuisine in the world. Our days are spent painting and sketching in small villages; Eygalieres , St. Remy, Avignon, Pont du Gard and along the Mediterranean Sea.
This workshop welcomes artists and art enthusiasts of all levels from novice to advanced. We will base out of one location however we will be changing workshop locations to provide new content and allow you time to explore. Focus on perspective, composition and selecting the subject as well as Mediterranean colors.
Dates: Sep 10 – 23, 2010
Cost: $5750.00 CAD
Day 1: Arrival in Paris
On arrival you will be met and transferred to your city centre Hotel. The rest of the day is at your leisure. Welcome Dinner. Overnight in Paris. (D)
Day 2: Depart for Avignon
After breakfast, transfer by train to Avignon (3 hour trip approximately). Transfer to B & B. After lunch spend the rest of the afternoon meandering in this great city of the popes. Meet for dinner at a designated spot. (B,L,D)
Day 3: I’sle Sur la Sorque, & Gordes
Today’s workshop session is about sketching and snapping photos as we explore. I’sle Sur la Sorque, a town with lazy canals and moss-covered waterwheels that once drove its silk, wool and paper mills, except on Sunday, when it transforms itself into a Marrakeeh of marketers, its streets crammed with antiques and brocantes. After lunch we drive to Gordes to capture the last of the Lavender fields and stop at the Lavender Museum. Menebres, near Gordes is where Peter Mayle’s wrote “A year in Provence.” (B,L)
Day 4: Painting Workshop in Avignon full day session
Painting Workshop morning and afternoon sessions. (B,L)
Day 5: Painting Session in Chateauneuf de Pape and trip to Orange
Our morning workshop is in Chateauneuf du Pape, wine country, where we will enjoy a wine and cheese lunch before departing for Orange. Less touristy than Nimes but nonetheless draws thousands every year to its spectacular Theatre Antique, a colossal Roman theatre built in the time of Caesar Agustus. (B,L)
Day 6: St. Remy de Provence, St. Paul de Mousolee & the Cathedral Images in Les Baux-de Provence ending the day in Eygallieres
Explore, sketch and snap photos as we visit the Market in St. Remy. We will also visit the St Paul de Mausolee monastery which became an asylum in the 19th century. Van Gogh took refuge here in 1889-1890 just before killing himself. This is where he produced the bulk of his work. Another note of interest-this town was the birth place of Michel de Nostredame born in 1503. Then the Cathedral of Images in Le Baux de Provence, a beautifully preserved medieval village. The unusual Cathedral of images is an impressive spectacle, with music accompanying the projection of images on the immense walls of a cave/cavern cut in the rocks when Bauxite was mined there. Depart for Eygallieres-a village set in a splendid environment & surrounded by wonderful harmonies of colours. (B,L)
Day 7 & 8: Painting Workshop in Avignon full day session
Painting Workshop morning and afternoon sessions. (B,L)
Day 9: Uzes Market in the morning, Painting session Pont du Gard
Wander in the market in Uzes – a remarkable vibrant, medieval town. After lunch we head out to Pont du Gard for an afternoon of sketching and painting. No other architectural sight in Provence rivals Pont du Gard, a mighty three-tier aqueduct. Erected some 2000 years ago as part of a 48 km canal supplying water to the Roman settlement of Nimes. (B,L)
Day 10: Painting Session in the morning in Roussilon. After lunch explore Venasque
Roussillon situated between the mountains of the Vaucluse and the Luberon. In deep shades of rose and russet, this gorgeous hilltop cluster of houses blends into the red-ocher cliffs from which the stone was quarried. Under the blue sky the earth blazes with colour. Painting Workshop morning session. After lunch we move on to Venasque, perched at the summit of a rocky outcrop. It is one of the most beautiful villages in France. (B,L)
Day 11: Arles, Nimes
Arles, a Greek colony since the 6th Century BC, was liberated when Julius Caesar defeated Marseille and designated Arles a Roman colony. It was the light that drew Vincent Van Gogh to Arles, capturing the resonance of “golden tones of every hue”. Visit to the Cloitre St. Trophime and ruins of the Ancient Theatre, built by the Romans under Agustus. Nimes, choice option for Roman treasures. Visit to the fine Arts Museum, Cathedral Notre-Dame et St. Castor and the Museum of Old Nimes (look for the 14th- century jacket made of blue serge de Nimes, the famous fabric from which Levi-Strauss first fashioned blue jeans. (B,L)
Day 12: Painting Workshop in Avignon
Painting Workshop Morning Session. Break for lunch. Free time. (B,L)
Day 13: Transfer to Paris
Depart for Paris mid morning. Check into our hotel and explore the Latin Quarter. Dinner, in the Latin Quarter. Optional-check out The Cave, a Jazz Club dating back to the 40’s. (B,L,D)
Day 14: Depart
We will arrange your transfer to the airport. (B)
Included:
Accommodation: 13 nights
Most meals included: 13 Breakfasts (B), 12 Lunches (L), 3 Dinners (D)
In country transportation
English speaking instructor and guide
Activity fees: Paris as a Painter, Bike or Open Bus Tour, Monet’s Garden, Chateu de Misery.
9 sessions of art instruction 3 hours per session
Excluded:
Airfare
Health and Flight Insurance
Personal Expenses
Some meals and beverages
Supplies: See pre departure information.