www.bethpatterson.com
June 30 - July 10, 2009
Painting, sketching and photographing in the South of France
Join Beth for ten fun-filled days of exploring the South of France with sketchbooks and cameras in hand and translating those moments into stronger, more expressive paintings back at the studio. Beth Patterson is a nationally recognized artist and a signature member of the American Watercolor Society, the National Watercolor Society, Watercolor West and Watercolor USA Honor Society. She is a frequent contributor toAmerican Artist Watercolor Magazine.
Her watercolors have won awards at the National Academy of Design, the American Watercolor Society, Watercolor USA, Rocky Mountain National, the Salmagundi Club, and in many other national, state and local competitions. Her paintings have been on the cover and featured in articles in Watercolor and Watercolor Magic and have been published in Splash 5: The Best of Watercolor – The Glory of Color, Splash 6:The Best of Watercolor – The Magic of Texture, Rockport Publisher’s The Best of Watercolor – Painting Texture and in The Best of Watercolor – Painting Light and Shadow.
What's Included:
- Lodgings
- All breakfasts
- 8 dinners
- Transfers from/to Bordeaux, and all transportation by private coach
- Entry fees for included sites, ample time to enjoy optional ones
- Private & Group Instruction & Critiques
Itinerary
Independent Arrival in Bordeaux
Depart U.S.A. on overnight flight to any European gateway city. Catch a connecting flight to Bordeaux. If you fly into Paris, the TGV fast train is an option.
Day 1
4:00 p.m. Meet our Private Coach in Bordeaux for the scenic, two-hour drive into the Périgord and Petit Rousset. Welcome Dinner.
A sampling of our Destinations
Our explorations of the towns and villages described below will often be on bustling Market Days. We’ll visit other villages as serene as stage sets, waiting for us to bring them to life. We will also enjoy a guided visit to a cave with prehistoric paintings, a medieval fortress, a Renaissance chateau and a water mill where they make paper by hand, the old fashioned way.
Petit Rousset – Our home, a 17th century farmhouse, provides many opportunities for painting, sketching & relaxing – in the studio, in the garden, on the terrace, by the pool.
Eymet – Our ‘hometown’ is a 40-minute stroll from Petit Rousset, past rows of grapevines, fields of sunflowers and meadows of grazing cows. This bastide has a perfectly intact 13th century center square which bursts with activity on Market Day. Little streets radiating off the square are dotted with houses made of wattle and daub. As we explore, we’ll learn about the medieval conflicts that gave rise to the region’s many bastides.
Bergerac – The town made famous by the poet-Musketeer, Cyrano, is now the capitol of the wine-growing region. At an earlier time, its fame rested upon its tobacco production. A museum of this now much maligned weed documents 15th century globalization. We’ll visit Old Town, with its medieval houses clustered along the banks of the Dordogne River. Nearby is the fairy tale Renaissance Chateau de Monbazillac. We’ll visit the chateau then taste the golden, mellow wine of the same name.
Les Eyzies – The capitol of Prehistory, we’ll visit a cave embellished with polychrome prehistoric paintings.
Beynac – We’ll visit the village with the Chateau at its summit. Built during the One Hundred Year’s War, the Chateau de Beynac perches high atop a cliff dominating the Dordogne River. Now we marvel at the views of the valley below, but its imposing profile attests to its original military purpose.
Sarlat – Founded as an Abbey Town, when Charlemagne visited, he brought a fragment of the True Cross with him. Nearly all of Sarlat’s restored town houses were built during its years of greatest prosperity, from 1450-1500, giving it a rare architectural unity preserved by the Loi Malraux.
Monpazier – Hailed as the most perfectly preserved bastide in Southwest France, the 13th century houses surrounding its totally intact market square, are identical in size, unique in appearance.
Final Day – St. Emilion – After breakfast, depart for Bordeaux. En route, St. Emilion, a favorite of both medieval popes and English kings, in 1999 it was classed a world heritage site, the first vine-growing area to achieve this status. After free time in St. Emilion, Coach drop off at Bordeaux airport and/or train station. Onward journeys after 4:00 p.m. are advised.
