Our last day of painting on the French Escapade Watercolor Workshop in Provece, Jackie drove us through the countryside and up a winding road to the top of a rocky ridge in the Luberon mountains to Oppede le Vieux. This village is so tiny and out of the way that even Rick Steves has not discovered it!
The villagers are busy restoring its twelfth century collegiate church and for those with hiking legs and safe shoes there are ruins of a medieval castle to explore on top of a rock outcropping. Several artists writers and celebrities have found this site and restored old sixteenth and seventeenth century homes to their authentic character. Needless to say I saw paintings everywhere I looked.
Here are some photographs to make all you painters out there green with envy. If you wish to create a painting from one of my photos and need an enlarged image just email me (click here) or use the comment section in this blog and I will email the image to you. Please do not copy any of the paintings posted on this blog, they are copyright protected by the artists.
I wonder who lives here…an artist? A writer…perhaps Peter Mayles? He wrote his popular book “A Year in Provence” somewhere in this area.
This lady must be a local artist.
These walls were built all over this area with “dry stacked” rocks meaning no mortar or cement. Look at the way they stood the rocks on end on the top of the walls, very clever.
Several of us hiked to the church that is being restored. Then we climbed up to the ruins of a castle from the Middle Ages and took photographs. However, perching on the rocky outcropping to sketch did not seem to be a wise idea, so we returned to the village below and found wonderful scenes to sketch and paint. Here are some views of the old ruins, there me be a painting in here somewhere…
Linda and Barbara ordered drinks from one of only two cafes in this tiny village and spend the afternoon sketching.
Linda parked under a tree and tackled a stone cottage with the church on the hill above it.
Jan created this fun painting looking up at Oppede le Vieux from the parking lot.
I plan to return with Jackie on another French Escapade to Provence in the future. So start saving your travel money and frequent flyer miles now so you can join us next time. To request to be on my mailing list use the contact me page on my website, here is the link www.sandydelehanty.com. To see more about Jackie’s French Escapade trips click on this link www.frenchescapade.com.
2 comments:
The lady in red is actually an artist from Germany staying in a friend's villa nearby.
Bonnie knows all! Just give you some time to sit at a cafe and before long you have met half the towns inhabitants. Love it, Sandy
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