Gaillac Workshop Day 7

Sunday arrived and brought the inevitable feeling that our time at the Gite would soon come to a close. We took a quick trip to L'isle sur Tarn where the marche was set up in the village square...

a medieval parade strolled by...

We held a last critique/discussion before lunch and made plans for a last painting session in the afternoon. Some of us headed for the sunflowers...

Pat found some shade sitting next to the van

Pat's spectacular watercolor

Margo working on another masterpiece

Margo's Sunflowers

Dori

Dori's Sunflowers

my view

my sunflowers

Cocktail hour...

Our last dinner at the Gite... time to pack...

What an extraordinary group! But we need to photoshop Susan into the photo!

Thanks for all your help Susie!

And Thanks Chantal and Marc! a bientot!

Gaillac Workshop day 6

Saturday was another perfect weather day for our excursion to the medieval village of Cordes. We got an early start after Petit dejeuner, and spent some time exploring the village...

some of us chose to get some shopping done, while others got right to work...

Linda's morning painting

Pat working in watercolor

Betsy sets up to capture the green awning

 The group chose a cafe for lunch with a view overlooking the landscape around the medieval village...

salade de chevre chaud... my favorite!

my morning start

Some of the group elected to return to the Gite after lunch, but some of us stayed at Cordes for an afternoon session

Subject for my afternoon painting- the blue umbrella

Dori's morning start

Dori... so many choices... so little time!

Dori's afternoon painting

Dinner on Saturday was Tarte a l'oignon, confit de canard, salade and ice cream... there was not a crumb remaining! 

Gaillac Workshop Day 5

On Friday the rental van needed some tire damage assessment... so we used the morning to continue work on the paintings at the Gite as well as making a trip to the Gaillac market...
After a lunch of Jambon de pays, Jambon blanc, fromages, salads, fruits... several options were offered for the afternoon...

painting at the Gite-

Linda's Donkeys (the start)

Suzy's river view

painting hay bales-

  

Hay bales- the start...

after more work, in the studio...

For dinner, we had Magret de Canard au barbecue... Chantal's piece de resistance, along with haricots vert aux lardons fumees... ice cream and petits gateaux... hmmmmm..
The reason we served duck in many forms throughout the week, was that Chantal had purchased 5 whole ducks and served every little piece of them at different times during the week. The Magret, or duck breast, is truly unlike anything we can find in the U.S. It tastes more like steak than poultry...

Gaillac Workshop Day 4

On Thursday we headed off early for Albi, a town with a rich history, a beautiful cathedral and a gem of a museum dedicated to Toulouse-Lautrec. The weather held just long enough for us to get a wonderful painting session in down by the river...

Lunch at Le Robinson...

It began to drizzle just as we broke for lunch, which was a special treat, at restaurant le Robinson, located right down from our painting sites on the river. As we ate these amazing salads, it began to pour rain. This made for the perfect opportunity to head for the Musee Toulouse-Lautrec,  which the group really enjoyed. We then took in the Albi Cathedral a "southern Gothic" style cathedral built almost entirely in brick with beautiful examples of Italian Renaissance painting on its enormous vaulted ceiling.

click here for   wikipedia's write up on the Albi cathedral

Back at the Gite the weather cleared and people continued to work on their paintings. A few of us returned to the lavender fields for a 2nd session...

  For dinner we had  "aligot"-   a potato cheese garlic puree, saucisse grillee, and fruit salad and ice cream for dessert..

Gaillac Workshop Day 3

On Wednesday morning we awoke to a somewhat overcast sky so we headed into Gaillac center in the morning where several people set up down to paint by the river.

Dori painting by the River

Betsy painting the other direction

Betsy's finished painting...

Suzi painting the buildings in watercolor

A few of us then did a little tour of the village, the church, art supply store and the camera shop.

Back at the Gite for lunch, we enjoyed our saucisson, jambon, melon, salde, carottes rapees, and more...
Wednesday afternoon was painting at the Gite… I gave Chantal and Pat a lesson in oils...

Chantal's 1st oil painting!!

Pat preferred to work in watercolor, but she ended up with an amazing first oil painting...

Pat's pigionier

We held an informal group critique where we talked about our goals for next few days of painting...

Dinner consisted of saumon tartare and ratatouille, berries and icecream for dessert along with les petites galettes...

Beautiful sunset serenaded the evening walkers...