And the sand gets everywhere

I knew there were a lot of them, but I didn't think there would be quite as many as there were, in the end.

799 to be exact.  Tis a pity I didn't make it to the 800 but nevermind.......

It's still a lot of photos. Of one holiday!

It must have been a good one then!!! :)

It was, actually - a very good one. A perfect relaxing holiday full of sun, sand, sea, relaxing with a good book or three, eating (well, it was France, it's expected!), drinking (ditto the last comment!!), sightseeing, and seeing parts of the world I've not seen before - so that's always a huge plus for me, oh, and being licked in strange places.......

The main part of theholiday was a fortnight in a villa 50 yards from the beach in St Palais sur Mer, near Royan on the Atlantic coast. It’s a lovely area with loads of beautifully soft sandy beaches, but punctuated with interesting rocky outcrops, and backdrops of pine forests behind, so it was quite dramatic, and even more so when the sea was crashing in after a night storm. That area is scattered with wooden shrimping huts, on stilts, along the sea shore, but I am convinced that they are only there for the tourists, since there was absolutely no sign of any fishermen visiting them, at any time night or day, nor of any shrimps, come to think of it!!!

The weather was very mixed, but I think that was better than wall to wall sunshine, because it meant days out sight-seeing. One of the high lights being a fabulous afternoon at the zoo at Palmyre (about five miles away), and I wished we’d gone for the whole day as there was so much to see and do – the highlight for me being handfeeding the three giraffes (Mummy Giraffe, Daddy Giraffe, and Baby Giraffe) their favourite snack – popcorn, would you believe! (Now, who came up with that idea?!). I loved the intimacy of feeding a semi wild animal especially when I realized that they don’t bite, but helpfully extend their very long curling blue tongues to have the popcorn placed on it, and the only drawback afterwards was that the whole of my hand was covered in giraffe slobber!!! The rest of the zoo was beautifully laid out, and well designed, and I really enjoyed seeing all the animals – especially the pretty red pandas, the manic tamarins, and the watchful snow leopard.

Other days out included a visit to nearby Cognac, a very non descript town that was overshadowed by the various distilleries – Remy Martin, Martell and the largest being Hennessy. We didn’t do the Hennessy tour but we did go in their shop, which looked like a high class jewellers shop by the way it was elegantly and expensively set out. We idly walked past the opulent display cases looking at the various cognacs in their different shaped and priced bottles, starting around £30 and then stood wide eyed looking at one bottle for sale at a thousand pounds, only to find that there was actually one there priced at two thousand pounds, as well!!! Fortunately I don’t drink brandy so I wasn’t tempted by any one of them….

There were visits to other delightful little towns as well  – notably Saintes, and Pons, both of which were a surprise to find how medieval and picturesque they were. That area of France doesn’t have many English tourists, so it was lovely to be surrounded by French people eating and drinking the same things that they did. There was only one half day of rain, and after a short drive up the coast for about eight miles and a bit of a wait for a break in the wetness to abate, walked across the sodden sandunes to the sea, to watch it spectacularly crashing in, only to get battered by the wind and rain and sand in the process! The following day, the rain had stopped but the sea was still crashing in and I thoroughly enjoyed the breathless excitement of the huge powerful waves lashing against the shore.

But the sunny days were spent languishing on wide beaches slowly building up a tan with the sound of the sea filling my ears the whole time, and the sight of it reminded me how much I've missed being near it.

And on the way home, we had two nights in the area around Tours which is the start of the Loire Valley. After a small search we found the delightfully picturesque little town of Amboise on the banks of the lazy Loire river, complete with its own chateau on a prominent outcrop overlooking the picturesque shops and houses below. It’s other claim to fame is that it is the town where Leonardo da Vinci died! I’d never heard of it before we happened to chance upon it. An easy walk around it, helped to explore it further and also went to the nearby village of Chenenceau which also has the most stunning white fairytale chateau which straddles the river Chen. There are many pretty chateaux all around that area, including one that inspired the Sleeping Beauty fairytale, and I would have loved to have visited more. The pretty hotel we stayed in, in Amboise was an elegant delight, with its own pretty gardens complete with very friendly white cat, and a very welcome pool, and again we only found that by chance as we drove down a little side street.

And as always, I took photos of everything I saw... the crashing waves on the beach, the picturesque bustling towns, the ancient stone buildings, the green flowing landscape, the huge wide skies, the happy fields of sunflowers, the sparkling light on the ocean, the pale pink sunsets, the busy cafes, the people. All of it the essences of France, all of it inspirational for me to want to capture it within my paintings.

So I've come back, raring to go, and my artistic juices very well fed!

Bad timing and the importance of missing the spot

What should have been a nice little break away in the picturesque county of Essex suddenly became a lesson in the subject of timing!

And before you ask, yes I DO mean picturesue Essex - parts of it are really lovely, green, pleasant, verdant and buccolic!

I only went for four days. Its not a lot to ask. A short relaxing break.
Or so I thought.................

The peace and quiet came to a shuddering halt right in the middle of lunchtime. Just after I'd paid the bill after enjoying a delicious lunch in an old country pub and was looking forward to spending the rest of the afternoon exploring more of the pretty surrounding area.

I had been alerted a few minutes beforehand that all was not right in the car park. And sure enough, on my arrival there it was to find a small group of people standing looking at two cars embedded in each other.

And one of them was mine.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (Fucccckkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk!)

It turned out that an old man had reversed out of his car park space right into another car at SUCH a force that it knocked the first large saloon into mine SIDEWAYS on. Leaving the two embedded in each other. And then he had driven off.

Great!

So that meant the police had to be called (although they wouldn't attend the incident because no one was hurt). And that in turn meant that I had to go and find a police station, in an area I didn't know. And that took all afternoon. So I didn't see anything of the fields and pretty villages.

And the next day was spent on the phone. Talking to insurance companies, car hire companies, the woman who owned the other car, the car repair company and all the other people who needed to be informed of the incident.

But it was afterwards, when all had quietened down. That I realised............that had I gone out from the table a little quicker, just a few minutes, then I might have been between the two cars when he bashed into the first one, that in turn was knocked at such a force into mine, that the metal of each car was caved in and badly crumpled. So, its annoying that my week has been put about with sorting out the problem of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. But I'm just thankful I wasn't anywhere near it at the time. And neither was anyone else.

Northern lights and frozen fingers

I feel refreshed. And hopefully, refreshing! :)

The reason? The weather, in part, and the stunning sights of North Yorkshire, the other part!

Bloody hell, its been windy this past week in Yorkshire. Windy enough to blow ALL the cobwebs away, for the seabirds to be flying backwards and for a short walk along the beach to be considered a daring feat that takes you 20 minutes to walk in one direction and five minutes to walk back, with the wind pushing you! It's been what I call a lazy wind - too lazy to go around you, it goes straight through!!!! Even with many layers, thick padded jacket, scarf and gloves!!!! But.... it was sunny too, so that was a real bonus, and meant that I could get some excellent photos. Because photos don't show the cold, just the scene.

I've been to Yorkshire before, but not the North Yorkshire coast, so was enthralled with the thought of going. Because, I know sooooooo many artists who have been to a certain part of it.... and stood in a certain place.... and taken photos of what they can see.............. and produced some stunning paintings of it........... and I wanted to go too!!!! I wanted to see what they had seen. And fulfil myself as an artist, so that the next time someone showed me a painting they had done of that place, I could nod and say "Yes, I've been there too!". And I think as an artist, that's important. I don't take holidays that entail lying on a beach gaining a suntan and reading a good book, I count my "holidays" as working breaks, going to places that I can learn some more to help me expand as an artist. Whether its to see artistic sights, or going to a place of learning with lots of good art galleries. And Yorkshire was no exception..............

Achingly beautiful countryside, very pretty in the early spring light, spring lambs frolicking around their mothers, short dull green grass, dry stone walls, bright yellow daffodils nodding gently in the breeze (or wind!) watery sunlight on bare bark, the branches of winter trees silhouetted against the deep blue of a clear sky, chocolate box stone cottages with finely manicured gardens, the purple of aubretia a blaze of colour against the walls, achingly beautiful village streams shining in the bright sunshine, as they flow continuously next to the main street, the hills rolling on, the barren moors awesome in their majestic beauty, the purple clouds high above, the heather a dead dull brown at this time of year, the gorse a blaze of yellow against the far hills, the deep valleys in shadow, and in the distance the blue of the sea stretching out to the horizon, as you draw closer and follow the rise and fall of the land, from cliff to perfectly flat sandy beach, rocks and rockpools of fossilised stone, and the sea full of white caps from the wind, the white foam pouring endlessly onto the beach, as the wind catches the ripples it makes and textures it in frantic pattern, and the golden sand whips along the flat beach in ghostly patterns of swirl as it rips past on its way to the sea................

You can tell, I was very taken with it!!!

But, every scene was one I could have painted. Endlessly! So many subjects to paint, so much to take in. And that's why I took a camera. To record it all. To capture the sights, so that I can capture the image at some point in a painting..... So many paintings I could paint.........

Here are a few of the views, so you can see what I'm talking about....

And the scene that all the artists I know have stood and seen? Its here.... in Staithes...... I had to climb up high to find it, but its all there, the quaint red tiled and blue slate roofs of the fishermen's cottages, the boats, the beck as it flows to the sea, the soaring cliffs and the bright blue sea in the distance, incredibly picturesque, isn't it? And thank goodness the sun was shining on it..... even if I did have to wear my thermals to get to see it!!!!! :)

French fancy

Before I show you all of my many faceted fannies I'll just tell you about my holiday! I've just had a much well deserved week in the South of France and I just fell totally in love with the beautiful colours there. Such purity! Such lovely bright pastel shades. And the Cote d'Azure is so well named (well, perhaps they put some thought to it before they named it!) - the sea really IS azure. And clear. And so very appealing in its beautiful depths - you just want to dive in and luxuriate in it. And the buildings are gorgeous shades of yellow and orange, apricot, peach and cream, with shutters of blue or green. An artists paradise! I've taken loads of photos and can see loads of paintings coming from them. Big wow factor.

And today, before I've had chance to properly get my breath back, I've attended an art workshop and the title of it was "Mediterranean light"- how apt is that! The tutor did a beautiful pastel of Monte Carlo - and I was able to tell him with a grin that I was actually THERE on Tuesday!!!! Yay! So I could totally relate to the colours he was using and the viewpoint he was working from. I chose to do a panoramic viewpoint taken from a tiny hilltop village called Eze, just along the coast from Monte Carlo - and when he saw my photo he said that he'd stood in EXACTLY the same place to do the same painting! He reckoned there was loads of paint splattered around that viewpoint from all the artists that had stood in the very same spot! So I'm in illustrious company!! The painting has the bay of Nice in the far distance, the next cove is of Ville Franche, and the headland jutting into the ocean is Cap Ferrat. I'm pleased with the painting - its a good rendition of a beautiful view overlooking a beautiful part of the world. Very very beautiful...........