We are here! The adventure has begun!

 

Our new home for the next 10 days.  Read this post from the bottom of the page to the top to seethe real sequence of events starting with Charles de Gaulle airport to this evening in Nicole and Gilbert’s garden. garden.

Then grocery shopping for the meals we will prepare for each other.

A marvelous Lunch in a brasseries on the Gueret town square. We ate art!

 

The group

Kitty and Kym and baby!

Kitty enjoying a baby chihuahua at a cafe in the Gueret town square.

Nicole’s flowers

Our first meal prepared for us by Nicole after the plane trip and five hour van ride. (That is a story for another time!) 

  

Ready, Set Fly!

 Today is the day - The countdown stops here - tonight the first group gets on the Delta/Air France flight and will wake up tomorrow in Paris!

Come fly with us!!

Four days and Counting!

 Four days and counting until the first group for the Artz Tour de France 4 art experience begins!

Four days until we are in the country of wine and cheese, exploring the rural beauty of "la campagne." (the countryside).  Paris is not the only destination worth discovering.  France is divided into eighteen regions with 101 departments. La Creuse, where we are headed, is one of those departments that is considered "la France Profond," (rural France).  Here is a bit of that beauty.

Almost Time for Art in France

 Twelve days and counting until we start our art journey in France.  Specifically, at Masbonson, a hamlet deep in rural France near Gueret, in what is called "La France Profond," in the Creuse region.

Steve and I will arrive at Charles de Gaule airport four hours before the group, enough time to pick up the two nine passenger vans that will be our wheels for the next weeks. After going through customs, we will load up and drive the five hours to our friend's home and guest house nestled in the hamlet of Masbonson. 

Our hosts, Gilbert and Nicole, will have a light French meal waiting for us.  

After a night's rest, we will go grocery shopping in Gueret.  That will be an experience!

 Now for some serious packing!

26 days and Counting!

 Time is going fast now as we are in the final plans for this art adventure to France.

Two wonderful exciting opportunities have opened up that each of the two groups will get to experience. 

First, I wanted to find a French artist with whom we could spend some time. Eureka! Isabelle Viollete, a pastel artist, lives in Fresslines where Monet spent a spring painting, has accepted to meet with us in her studio. You can see some of her beautiful work:

https://www.lamontagne.fr/fresselines-23450/loisirs/isabelle-violette-fait-chanter-les-couleurs_14348757/

The second is an invitation by the mayor of the small neighboring commune, St.Silvain Montague, near where we are staying, to a reception in our honor, plus hold an art exhibition of our work at their church that dates to the 11th century. We are thrilled and honored. The mayor has had a reception for two of our previous groups but this will be a first to have an art exhibit. 

The countdown continues!