Once again I am back in the beautiful vineyards, mountains and villages of lovely Provence. The sun is shining, the mistral is blowing, and it is cool. The lavender is not blooming yet, nor the sunflowers, but poppies are in full bloom in the fields. Maggie picked me up in Marseilles, and after soup (and a glass of wine!) we immediately began painting the vase of wildflowers she had picked. We used our tiny sketchbooks made out of the French books from the marche last summer. Monique knocked on the door with a bowl of fresh cherries from her orchard, and we painted into the night.
Wednesday we headed up to the tiny hill town of Simiane-la-Rotonde, wandered the nearly deserted cobbled streets to sketch, and painted while we picniced. Thursday we travelled down to Aix-en-Provence to the home/atelier of Jill Steenhuis where we painted on the grounds of her grand restored “farmhouse” – think “estate”. (Sippers will remember this beautiful place from last year.) Husband Sergio fixed a delicious lunch for us, and we visited for nearly 3 hours on the terrance. Friday we painted in an outdoor cafe in Apt and did the same in Roussillon on Saturday. Maggie and I both looked all over for Dale’s blue door, but it must have been painted green or a figment of her imagination! Today we have spent all morning at the market in Isle-sur-Sorgue and are now at McD on the way to Pernes.
This post has taken 2 hours.I will wait until I get to the hotel in Marseilles before posting more.
Monday. All the pictures I sent with this post did not go before we left McDonalds yesterday, so I will send them Thursday. Merci beaucoup pour voter patience.
Sketchers in Provence 
Glad you’re having a GREAT time!!! I taught at the folk school last week and had a nice class that accomplished a lot. Enjoy France!!! Carole