October 7, 2013
Today we headed to Mont St.Michel! We were going to paint so I packed my bag of sketching material and
boarded the bus with all the other excited group members. I had done some
research so knew a little about our destination. Our teacher, Lin Souliere had been
there before and was looking forward to returning. It was her suggestion that we spend the day at this amazing location.
I know why now!
This painting is by workshop participant, Beverly Morgan, on return from Normandy. You can see more of her paintings on her blog.
Our bus (18 passenger) travelled
along quickly and it wasn’t long before we could see off in the distance a
mountain, no a hill, no an island with a hill….there it was Mont St Michel (English translation - St. Michael's Mount) .
Parking then walking, take
your walking shoes, you don’t get too close to the entrance so need to be
prepared. You feel like you are entering a mid-evil fortress that is still the
home of those who built it. Duck your head, turn left or maybe it was right,
and you are in the village of Mont St. Michel. There is so much to see, so much
to experience it is difficult to sit in one spot and paint. Sorry Lin, I know
that was the idea.
We decided to climb while we
still had the energy, all the way to the top. We walked by the shops, looked
into the restaurants but kept walking up. Cameras at the ready but then you had
to remember to push the button and it was hard to do that as you were so busy
looking.
I wish I could share with you
my paintings that I did in my mind as I climbed. When I get home from one of
these trips I am supposed to head to my studio and paint. That is the idea,
collect lots of information, do lots of sketches, feel the moment and return to
paint.
I would love to call myself
an artist but first I am a traveller. Painting as I travel is the best way to
collect memories. Doing this blog helps me to prepare for printing my travel
journal. I use photos and sketches along with what I have shared with you and I
have what I feel is a very very personal memory.
On the way down we stopped in
a small café for a glass of wine. Two painters sitting at a table paint brush
in hand, spent a wonderful hour or so capturing the view.
We had planned this day with time to stay at Mont
St. Michel long enough to have our evening meal before heading back
to Chateau Hambye at days end. We were to meet the bus in the parking lot at
8:00 PM. There seemed to be a problem that we hadn't expected. All the
restaurants at Mont St. Michel closed around 2:00PM and didn’t open again until
around 7:00 PM. We wouldn’t have time to have our evening meal and we were too
early to find our driver for the trip back to the Chateau. In France many restaurants serve meals and many restaurants, serve snacks. We found one of these snack
places and had a relaxing meal. (crepes) Certainly not what we had in our minds for
dinner as we were dreaming of a small café, overlooking the water, high up on
the Mont where we could experience a fine French repas, while we watched the
sunset. We must go back prepared to stay for this experience.
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