View from Domme

 This was one of the scenes I scheduled for the second week of my watercolour workshop. Domme is a bastide town that sits on an impregnable bluff above the Dordogne River (or so the inhabitants thought, until they were surprised by an attack by the Protestants during the One Hundred Year's War who scaled the cliffs.)

September and October are my favourite months here, with warm sunny days and crisp nights. The painting is mine. Note the little yellow kayaks.

Thumpity-thump

My heart did a little flipflop when I spotted this camper car in the parking lot at Domme. I couldn't resist tiptoeing around the van and peering in through the chintz curtains at the neatly arranged kitchen and table that could be lowered and rearranged into a bed. Then I cheekily stuck my card under the windshield wiper with a note, asking them to contact me if they ever decide to sell it. I feel like the wallflower sitting next to the phone on a Saturday evening.

September Watercolour Workshop

 

I regret not having more photographs of the paintings of my four September watercolour workshop  students. They were lovely. I think I must have been interrupted while taking photographs because I meant to keep copies of them all. Ah well, here's a sampling of their light and colourful work.

Escape

Finally finished and Fedexed off the illustrations for my latest book last month. This is what my studio looked like, so I was in dire need of some fresh air and space.

Nothing like a week's camping on the seashore with one's dog to clear body and soul.

Summer wedding

Five years ago, Doug, who was living in Boston, called his girlfriend in New York to invite her to go with him somewhere for a week. "And bring your passport," he added, almost as an afterthought.

Little did Yuki know that not only was she about to be whisked off to a small village in southwest France, but that she would receive a proposal, the kind that comes with a diamond ring.

On Friday, Le Tramizal was honoured by their return to pledge their vows, toast each other with champagne, and feast on traditional specialties like foie gras, a panache of seafood, cheeses and a wedding  tower of cream stuffed choux with a small group of family and friends in the garden.

The weather, the local chef, the florist, and the pâtissier extraordinaire all rose magnificently to the occasion and the little cottage and garden are still aglow with happiness.