Sketch of a Potager in Provence

This is for Ruth - I've just read on Facebook that she feels she no longer has enough time for her garden in Provence due to all her other commitments and is thinking of giving it up.

A potager in Provence
6 ½” x 12” / 29cm x 42cm, pen and sepia ink and coloured pencils in
Moleskine A3 size Folio Sketchbook

This is my sketch of her wonderful potager (a kitchen garden) at Couguieux with Mont Ventoux in the background. I never got round to posting it on this blog although it was posted to Four Go Painting In Provence.

I absolutely adore kitchen gardens and can always be found wandering around them very slowly whenever I come across one!  It was therefore a real joy to have one to look after and sketch during our stay in the Postcard from Provence house.

I liked the fact that one had to walk a little way down the road to visit the potager - as we did every evening to water the vegetables.  All the water had to be transported using a hose and/or watering can so it is no little effort to maintain such a garden under the hot Provencal sun.

I sketched this potager just over three years ago. It was too hot to finish it and I really should have a go at doing a proper drawing of it as the view was wonderful.

It was one of my first sketches using the very large A3 size Moleskine sketchbook which means I can do large sketches with no binding line down the middle of a double page spread! If you're interested in the sketchbook you can find out more here - The Largest Ever Moleskine Sketchbook!

20 years ago in Belcastel

While going through my sketchbooks for the book, I came across a sketch in a very old sketchbook that I'd never posted before.

This is a sketch of Belcastel in the Aveyron done 20 years ago in July 1994.  I'm looking up at the Château de Belcastel from the banks of the River L'Aveyron right next to the bridge over the river (here on the map). It's one of my favourite parts of France.

Belcastel in the Aveyron

This has 'status' in terms of me still being in the very early stages of using coloured pencils.  I remember I used mainly pastels on that trip which involved staying in a very nice house in Cougousse.

One of the interesting things about sketches is the way they take you back. I vividly remember drawing the angles of the houses and roofs of the houses very carefully. Plus being intrigued about how to capture the light under the bridge and its reflection in the river.

I think I'll mentally file this away as a 'need to think about working up' folder.

Maybe I need to post some more of my old sketches from 20 years ago?

Restaurant Nausicaa, Boulogne sur Mer - my last meal in France

Two sketches from my trip to France last year - and my final french meal!  I'm trying to fill in the gaps where I've missed out posting places I went to and sketches I did on my Painting in Provence trip last summer.

Today I'm posting my lunch at the Restaurant Nausicaa in Boulogne sur Mer and the view from the window.  This was the "get as close to the tunnel as you can and then stop and have a meal" meal!  The idea was that I'd leave myself with half an hour's journey to the Tunnel and I wouldn't need to have a big meal when I got back home which would be quite late.  Plus it was the last chance to indulge in French cuisine!

Lunch at the Restaurant Nausicaa, Boulogne sur Mer - 4th July 2011
11" x 16", pen and ink and coloured pencils
copyright Katherine Tyrrell

This meal continued to endorse my theory about the colour palette of chefs and the notion that chefs cook the food in the colours that they like! The dishes on the menu in my sketch are:

• L'Entree top left - Oyster, whelk and celery soup and croutons Soupe huitres et des bulots, veloute de celeri vert, petis croutons 
• Las Plat right - Grilled large prawns with a paella like creamy risotto and red pepper sauce Gambas grilles, coulis de poivrons rouges risotto crémeux au chorizo façon paëlla
• Le Dessert bottom left - Half-cooked chocolate cake Mi-cuit au chocolat

They were delicious!  I have a policy of eating one new thing every time I eat out in another country! Which is how I came to add a new food to my list of things I've eaten over the years - whelks (although I thought at the time that they were winkles).

I checked the menu and only the sauce with the main dish is what's on offer on the menu today!  Always good to see a restaurant that changes it's menu on a regular basis!

I switched between drawing the dishes as they arrived and then drawing the scene out the window as I waited for them to arrive.

My view from my table - the beach at Boulogne sur Mer
11" x 16", pen and ink and coloured pencils
copyright Katherine Tyrrell

I was sat high up next to a big glass window looking out on to the promenade and beach to the rear of the Nausicaa Centre - which is Boulogne's huge aquarium.  Small wonder that fresh fish and sea food featured on the menu!

The restaurant is actually independent of the Centre and I highly recommend it as a stopping off place to eat in the Pas de Calais for anybody facing a long journey when they get back to Folkstone. It serves excellent food and does not keep normal restaurant hours.

For the record the journey to the EuroTunnel was not straightforward as the satnav didn't understand the port and I missed the turning and then couldn't work out how to get back to the place where cars need to go to enter the Tunnel!  Calais could do with some better sign posts!

However it was nice to get back home and reach the end of my journey and a very long drive from Provence to London.

You can see

• more of my sketches from my trip to Provence and my drive there and back through France in the page at the top of this blog marked Provence Sketchbook 2011
• more of my sketches of meals by clicking on the labels:
• food sketch - this can be food in its raw form as well as food raw, uncooked and cooked.
• sketching meals - these include sketches of meals such as the one at the top of this post
• restaurant sketches - these include views from where I'm sat in the restaurant
• You can also see sketches of the interior landscapes of places to eat on my website

Links:

• Boulogne sur Mer on Wikipedia
• Restaurant Nausicaa

Sault and the Lavender Fields of the Nesque

Sault and the Lavender Fields16 ½” x 12”, 29cm x 42cm, pen and sepia ink and coloured pencils in
Moleskine A3 size Folio Sketchbook

One very hot day, Sarah and I decided we would go out later afternoon and scout out the Lavender Fields over near Sault.

To get there we took the D1 which skirts around the edge of Mont Ventoux from its western edge to its eastern slopes above Sault.

On the way we came across the Belvedere de la Nesque (on the D1) and found a map of the Lavender Fields in the Nesque Valley.

A map of the Lavender Fields in the valley of the River Nesque
- as seen from the Belvedere de laNesque

The Lavender was getting there but would be better for a few extra days and so we decided to find the best places to paint and then take a trip up over Mont Ventoux via the Route du Ventoux on the way home (of which more in another post) and then come back in a few days time.

The way lavender looks depends on which way round you paint it - so you can EITHER see the rows in which it is planted

Rows of Lavender at Senanque Abbey on 27 June 2012

OR alternatively you are just looking at a sea of lavender.  I preferred the latter since it focus more on the colour and less on the shape.

We found a field some way from Sault which had a good view of the town - and all the other fields of lavender.  D164 - Route du Ventoux - View of Sault & Lavender Fields is the Google Maps location on the Route du Ventoux from which I sketched Sault and the Lavender Fields. [I've started a Painting Places in Provence map so I don't forget where I went to sketch something!]

We returned to this spot on June 25th and sketched and painted in the late afternoon.  I think Sarah produced two paintings in the time it took me to do this sketch! :) I was very struck by the pinky shades which kept coming through - although I guess that might have been the late afternoon / early evening light.

The Pays de Sault website has some other suggestions about Suggested Circuits to View the Lavender

To see a review of the Sketchbook I used for this very large sketch see Making a Mark Reviews: Moleskine Folio Sketchbook - A3 size

More from The Provence Sketchbook (2011)

Abbaye de Senanque and the Lavender Fields

While in Provence last year Sarah Wimperis, Robyn Sinclair and I visited the Abbaye de Sénanque which is very famous for its lavender fields.  I exited the gift shop weighed down with lavender products!

Abbaye de Senanque and the Lavender Fields (19th June 2011)
11.5" x 16", pen and ink and coloured pencils in Moleskine Sketchbook

© Katherine Tyrrell

We knew we might be too early for the lavender and so we were.

Below you can see a view of what the abbey looks like from the road up above - as we travelled there from Gordes.  It was just beginning to bloom in the field further away from the Abbey carrying blooms but the lavender right next to the abbey was yet to bloom.

Abbaye de Senanque and the Lavender Fields from above - Sunday 19th June 2011

Here also is a photo of Robyn hard at work on her watercolour painting of the abbey.  She and I nabbed the only shady spot we could find.  This gives you an idea of what I was sketching.

Robin Sinclair and "the red chair" at Senanque

We went back a week later to see how the lavender had progressed and this is what we found.  The colour of brand new lavender is quite something!

Lavender at Senanque - 6 days later on June 25th

The Abbaye de Sénanque

The Abbey of Our Lady of Sénanque is a good example of early Cistercian architecture.  It was founded in 1148 and is remarkably intact for a church which is very nearly a 1,000 years old.

It comprises the twelfth century abbey church, cloister, chapter house, the heating and the old dormitory. This is a link to a Romanesque website which provides a gallery of images of the abbey.

It is also home to an active community of Cistercian monks. Seven times a day, the community of Cistercian monks gather in the church to pray - this is called The Liturgy of the Hours.

The monks grow lavender and produce lavender honey by keeping honey bees in order to generate income for their church and their livelihood.

Location

This is a link to the location of Sénanque Abbey on Google Maps

Visit

If you want to visit the Abbaye, beware it is down steep winding roads and can be very busy with tourists.  I'd very much recommend visiting at the beginning or the end of the day.  I didn't visit the church because it was so busy and because I wanted to sketch it.

Guided tours for individuals are available but they are in french and last about an hour - and you cannot leave before the end.  It's possible to go round as an individual but only when it's not crowded - which is not often.

The timing for guided tours at different times of the year is available on the abbey website.

More from The Provence Sketchbook (2011)

Lunch Chez Guy in Gevrey-Chambertin

Lunch at Chez Guy in Gevrey-Chambertin
11.5" x 16.5", pen and sepia ink and coloured pencils in Moleskine Sketchbook
copyright Katherine Tyrrell

Yesterday it was frog's legs and today it's escargots - snails!

I had a giggle when I realised I could complete the set of unusual things the French are renowned for cooking.  After my dinner of "brown food" on Saturday night I continued north through Burgundy in central France and had a very fine and appetising Sunday lunch on 3rd July in the red splendour of the terrace parasols at a restaurant called Chez Guy in the centre of the village of Gevrey-Chambertin.

 I remember when I first started travelling through France being absolutely amazed at how the names of  wines which are well known all over the world often relate to what turn out to be small villages in France - completely surrounded by vineyards.  Gevrey-Chambertin is one such village on the Côte de Nuits in the northern part of the Côte d'Or which is worth driving down if you ever get the chance - I did a special detour to do so!  More about the village and the wine at the end of this post.

Chez Guy

The restaurant offers a number of options depending on how many courses you want to eat.  I had the Menu de Carte (Entre, Plat, Fromage, Dessert) - partly because one of my delights is to eat good French food and partly because the aim of the exercise was also to give me a good break in the middle of a long day's drive.  I hasten to add I had a very light meal when I got to my overnight stop at Epernay!

As I was in for the long haul I ordered a Sarah inspired Suze and tonic to drink while I read the menu and drank Badoit over lunch.  Such a sin to come to a restaurant in the middle of such good wines and have no wine to drink - however I was driving - c'est la vie!

Chez Guy Menu Carte
right click and open in new tab
to see much larger image

The Menu is in French however I got some help from the staff who were a lot friendlier than my experience the night before.

The courses were as follows (preceded by an indication of where they were in the above drawing:

• (top right) Amuse Bouche - two glasses of fresh light mousse concoction (avocado and shellfish?).  I know what the taste of my appetiser was at the time but have forgotten now
• (Bottom left) Fricassée d'escargots au beurre persillé, poêlée de girolles, sauce pesto (Fricassee of snails in herb butter, sautéed mushrooms, pesto sauce)  All I can say is snails are yummy!
• (top right) Filet de Bar, pâtes crémeuses au basilic, tapenades d'olives noires (Fillet of Sea Bass, creamy basil pasta, black olive tapenade) - a bit odd to choose fish on a Sunday in the middle of France however, while I wanted to enjoy my meal I was leaning towards the lighter courses so as to avoid feeling too sleepy after lunch!
• (centre bottom) Assiette de fromages régionaux de chez Gaugry, fromager à Brochon (Cheese platter with regional Gaugry, cheese Brochon) - this was a good range of local cheese served with decent bread.  The cheese was served on wood from a crate of local wine which added a nice touch which was only slightly cheesy!
• (Bottom right) Crumble de fruits rouge et rhubarbe, emulsion de thé vert, sorbet fromage blanc red berry and rhubarb crumble, emulsion of green tea, cottage cheese sorbet - a very light and refreshing way to end the meal.

My notion of cooks having preferred colour palettes is further upheld.  This one is a lot more colourful with ample doses of red, creamy yellow and green.

My bill including my suze aperitif, bottle of Badoit and a coffee at the end came to €52.50.

I did tackle a second sketch of my view, however - unlike Saturday night - I was so interested in the food that it hardly got a look in and is unfinished.  So here's a photo of the view from my table - taken at the end of the meal when the people at the other tables had left.

The view from my seat in Chez Guy

I sat on the outside terrace at the front of the restaurant, underneath a huge red parasol which provided good shade but cast a red tint over everything!  Trying to determine the colours of my meal was interesting and the photos are of no help at all!  It had to be done while I was there.  Hence the white dish of snails does not have the red colour cast it had while I was drawing and eating them.

Chez Guy - and a vintage pink cadillac in the centre of Gevrey-Chambertin

This is a photograph of Chez Guy complete with an amazing vintage Cadillac with enormous fins - painted dark pink - which turned up towards the end of lunch, parked right outside - on the bit which I thought appeared to indicate 'no parking'!  Out trooped a rather larger than life middle aged 'guy' and his large entourage which included children.  He was obviously well known at the restaurant and I spent my dessert and coffee wondering whether he was the owner or a local rock star with taste.

I'd definitely recommend this restaurant to anybody passing through the area - however do book ahead and arrive in good time - unless of course you're a passing rock star of repute!

The vineyards of Gevrey-Chambertin

Gevrey-Chambertin is located in Burgundy.  It's located on a limestone ridge about 12 km south of  Dijon and about 30km north of Beaune.  The village has just over 3,000 inhabitants and an awful lot of vineyards.  Its inhabitants are called Gibriaçois.

Premier Crus vineyards above Gevrey Chambertin

There are 550 hectares of vine "Pinot Noir" on a gentle slope which lies to the east of the wooded limestone ridge.  This area has nine Grands Crus (the highest level of classification of AOC wines from Burgundy) which lie to the south of the village and 27 Premiers Crus which mainly lie to the west of the village.  The best wine lies close to the limestone at the top of the slopes while the more ordinary wine which can also be labelled Gevrey Chambertin is on clay soil in the valley bottom.

It seems likely that the very first vines planted in Burgundy were planted at Gevrey Chambertin.  There's evidence from archaeological digs that there were Gallo-Roman vines planted in the area dating back to the 1st Century BC.  Pliny the Elder wrote about wine in this area!

Pinot noir grapes in July in Gevrey Chambertin

The next links are to a couple of Burgundy wine sites which:

• show where all the Grand Cru and Premier Cru sites are Gevrey Chambertin lie
• provide a detailed profile of Gevrey Chambertin and its vineyards

Links:

• Chez Guy 3 Place Mairie, 21220 Gevrey-Chambertin, France 
• Tel: +33 3 80 58 51 51
• Location on Google Maps - Chez Guy 
• Burgundy Report - Gevrey Chambertin - Village Profile - a very detailed listing and analysis of the vineyards, crus and producers associated with the village
• Château de Gevrey-Chambertin - on the outskits of the village
• Official Village Website www.ville-Gevrey-chambertin.fr 
• Telephone: 03.80.34.30.35
• e-mail: @ mairie.gevrey nerim.net 
• Area: 2746 ha 3120 inhabitants
• website of the commune of Gevrey Chambertin

More from The Provence Sketchbook (2011)

Les Quatre Saisons in Bourg en Bresse

Interior of Les Quatre Saisons in Bourg en Bresse

Dinner at Les Quatre Saisons in Bourg en Bresse was interesting rather than pleasurable.  I felt a little bit like I'd stepped into a 1980s time warp as I don't think the restaurant had been decorated or had a makeover in a good 25 years.

On the other hand the bright yellow tablecloths and blue walls made for a colourful sketch and made up for the fact that my meal seemed to lack any colour at all.

The chef contributed yet more evidence to my theory that chefs cook the food in the colours that they like.  This chef liked brown.  See my sketch of my meal below.

Meal at Les Quatre Saisons in Bourg en Bresse on Saturday 2nd July 2011

The menu was as follows:

• (top left) an Amuse Bouche  I have absolutely no idea what this was!
• (bottom left) Grenouilles a la verre et ciboulettes - I knew what the Grenouillles (frogs legs) were but was less certain of the ciboulettes (chives).  My first frogs legs - quite tasty and not at all chewy
• (top right) Volaille de la Ferme de Valaisant, creme morelles and Vin Jaune - this should have been tastier than it was.  The worst bit was that the fact that there was nothing that made it look appetising - wall to wall bland!
• (Bottom right) I think this was a Tarte Tatin with a very ordinary ice cream but forgot to make a note of the dessert having become totally disinterested in the food by this stage.  Lack of colour is a real turn off for me.  I'd switched my focus to my sketch of the interior which was Bright with a capital B!  You can always tell how good the food is by the relative merits of the sketches of the meal and the place where I ate it!
• (centre) The only spot of colour came with the petit fours!

My own impression was that the restaurant would be fine for people who spoke French well, liked a more traditional French way of cooking food and enjoyed discussing the food.  My French is limited and their English was virtually non-existent.  With no translation on the menu or from the waiter I had a rough idea what I was eating.  It's probably more accurate to say I had to opt for courses where I had an idea of what it was.  I'm not sure a single woman who doesn't speak much French was very interesting as a customer to them.  That's said in the context of having been in other restaurants in France where I've been very well looked after and had an enjoyable time despite the language barrier.

However this was in Bourg en Bresse which is not a tourist destination and it would be totally unreasonable of me to expect restaurants to cater for English tourists.  A shade more hospitality wouldn't have gone amiss though.  More colour in the food would have been even better!

The whole meal (including coffee but without wine) came to €42 which I thought was a bit steep.

What's really odd though is that my two worst meals of the entire trip were a short distance from Lyons which is supposedly the gastronomic centre of France.  Very odd.

I went to bed very much looking forward to my lunch the next day in Gevrey Chambertin in the Côte de Nuits in the northern part of the Côte d'Or, which is home to the vineyards which line the limestone ridge that is at the heart of the Burgundy wine region.

Links

• Les Quatre Saisons, 6 Rue de la République, France - 01000 Bourg-en-Bresse
• Phone 0474220186 | Fax0474211035

More from The Provence Sketchbook (2011)

Dinner and sunset at Le Mas des Vignes, Bedoin

Two more plein air sketches - of a dinner at a restaurant called Le Mas des Vignes with a fantastic view of a sunset.

Dinner at Le Mas des Vignes 30 June 2011

First the preamble.  On Thursday 30 June, I had a minor meltdown as I began to realise that the whole of France was about to take to the road at the weekend as the schools broke up on Saturday and their "grand vacance" was starting as mine ended.  I was due to start travelling back to England on the Saturday morning.

The bottom line was that getting a hotel room was providing to be very difficult.  The notion that it was something that I could do with ease from the house went out the window as soon the thunderstorm blew the broadband.

After 3-4 hours of phone calls and lots of pouring over my Michelin map and red book I finally got sorted.

I almost didn't want to look at their websites when I came down to the bar in town to access the wifi and post to the blogs. However it turned out that it seemed as if I had picked a good (although not cheap) hotel for Saturday night in in Bourg en Bresse and decent places to eat on both Saturday evening and Sunday lunch.  The latter was to be in Gevrey Chambertin on the Cote d'Or.

The shenanigans with the bookings blew out any attempt to go visiting places on Thursday as I was mentally stwed by the time I'd finished doing the bookings - so I decided I had very definitely earned dinner out!  I rang one of the restaurants which had been recommended to us and got a table.

Which is how I came to be sat on a rather breezy terrace at Le Mas des Vignes, on the Route de Ventoux just outside Bedoin, watching an absolutely stunning sunset.

I had the option of sitting indoors however I didn't want to miss the sunset and managed to collar a table which seemed to be in the most sheltered spot.


The sketch of my dinner is at the top of this post and the courses were as follows:

• Foie Gras de Canard en terrine, Fraicheur de Celeri et the Pomme Granny - the Fraicheur had ice crystals which was a bit weird.  I suspect it had maybe been sitting rather too near the back of the fridge
• L'Agneau aux Herbe de Provence, Risotto d'Epaule(?) de Sault et Petit legumes - the lamb was heavenly - absolutely delicious.  Not quite sure what the reference to Sault was - but they do have some fine food shops there.
• Les Fromages de Fermier, et affines par Claudine Vigier ail confit - the cheese seems to have come from the best cheese shop in Provence - La Fromagerie du Comtat in Carpentras.
• and petit fours with my coffee.

This was the meal when I began to notice that there was a pattern to the meals I'd been eating in restaurants - and this related to colour.  The Chefs seemed to have a distinct leaning towards certain colours as all my dishes harmonised around a harmonic palette.  Look back and you'll see what I mean.

This is a sketch of the sunset as seen from my table.  I sketched the food when it arrived and the sunset while I waited for the next course!

Sunset at Le Mas des Vignes on 30 June 2011 (first course)

and this is what it was like a little bit later!  I didn't have enough pencils in my toolkit to quite get the colour and intensity of the sunset as it set properly.

Sunset at Le Mas des Vignes

More from The Provence Sketchbook (2011)

Links:

• Le Mas des Vignes, Route du Mont-Ventoux, Saint Estève, 84410 Bedoin, France - watch out for the hairpin bend to access this restaurant
• Tel 0490656391
• Via Michelin - Le Mas des Vignes
• Trip Adviser - Le Mas des Vignes

Lunch at La Maison Jaune, St Remy de Provence

Lunch at La Maison Jaune, St Remy de Provence 29 June 2011
11.5 x 16.5", pen and sepia ink and coloured pencils in Moleskine Sketchbook
copyright Katherine Tyrrell

One of the things I really enjoy about France is that you can go into a restaurant - on your own - for a four course meal like the one that you can see above - and nobody thinks you are the slightest bit odd.

However they might look twice when you pull out a sketchbook and proceed to sketch every course before you eat it - but that's what I like to do!

I particularly like going to restaurants with Michelin stars and it's an absolute rule of mine that I'm not allowed to visit France without eating in a restaurant with at least one Michelin star.

Which is how I come to have this post about Lunch at La Maison Jaune, a restaurant in St Remy de Provence which got its one Michelin star in 2008.  (This is the link to the Menus)

This is out of sequence re France but as I said this week I'm trying to get all my sketching of meals posted before I do my review of the year!

Back to 29th June - Sarah and I got up early so we could leave the house at 7am and get Sarah to Marseilles Airport by 9am for her flight home.

And then there was one!

Those who know me well will know that one of my perennial preoccupations while travelling and sketching is with visiting the places where people draw or painted.  That was the grand plan for this Wednesday.  I was to have a Vincent Van Gogh in Provence day with a nice lunch in the middle.

I'd already decided that it was stretching it to try and do both Arles and Saint-Rémy-de-Provence in one day so I opted for Saint-Rémy this visit as I'd been to Arles on a previous visit.

Hence the plan was to drive north from the airport, across the Crau Plain and the Alpilles to the town of St Remy de Provence where Van Gogh was committed to an asylum in the Monastery Saint-Paul de Mausole in 1889.  He  painted frequently in the vicinity of the hospital in the year or so he was in the hospital.

I wanted to drive across the Crau Plain because this was the place where Van Gogh did so many of his reed pen drawings of the farming of the countryside which I so admire.  I wanted to see if it was as I remembered it and whether one could see its potential for drawings.  Here's an example - Harvest - The Plain of La Crau, 1888 reed pen drawing by Vincent Van Gogh - done while living in the Yellow House at Arles.

Then I crossed the Alpilles - the white mountains which so often feature in Van Gogh's paintings while he stayed in this area eg in the background of his painting of cypresses ( see below ) which he painted while in the hospital

Wheatfield with cypress tree by Vincent Van Gogh
- the Alpilles Mountains form the pale blue background to this painting

View from Van Gogh's bedroom window in the Monastery Saint-Paul de Mausole

No sketches or photographs en route from either of these places as the road was not conducive to stopping - however as you can see I could take photos of the Alpilles from the Monastery.

One of the reasons I chose St Remy was because it was market day (closing at lunchtime).

I visited the Market, took lots of photos of yet more provencal food and flowers, had a lovely lunch (see sketch at top of post), visited the Van Gogh Museum in town and then visited the monastery hospital, St Paul de Mausole where Van Gogh lived for a year after becoming ill in Arles.

I'm going to deal with the visit to the Monastery in another post - so this is all about markets and food!

Here are some of the sights of the market.  Then I'm going to give you the menu for lunch.

La Maison Jaune, 15 Rue Carnot, 13210 Saint Remy de Provence 

Table setting on the Terrace

and so to the tasting extravaganza I had planned for the middle of the day.

I got to sit on a shady terrace with a tiled roof slight breeze in the hottest part of the day as I worked my way through five courses and listened to the market packing up - and then music being played down in the square.  It was very peaceful.

Lunch was extremely leisurely as I sketched, ate and coloured my sketches of the different courses - which were all stunningly good.  These were:

• Mise en Bouche - an appetiser (top left) gaspacho with mint, goats cheese and ham and an egg.  This set the tone for the whole meal given the level of attention given to each item
• Braised artichokes with Lomo Iberico and  air dried tomatoes - a wonderful combination and a chance for me to taste the wondrous loin of the Iberian Pig
• Roast Pigeon with Apricot Chutney Marmalade with a side dish of Fennel and Fresh Almonds - this was beautifully cooked and a wonderful balance of flavours,  Plus since I watched Masterchef recently I now know how fresh almonds are prepared!
• a selection of fresh and aged goats cheeses and ewe cheeses and rhubarb marmalade - I like goats cheese but there wasn't quite enough of a variation for me to make this the same standard as the rest of the courses.  Subtle rather than wow!
• Roasted Pineapple with ginger and vanilla, an amaretto granite and nougatine  This was wow! the variation in the tastes and textures was amazing and provided a deeply satisfying note on which to finish.

I was also rather pleased with the fact that I'd left enough room to get the whole meal on one double page spread.  No mean feat when you don't know what's coming or what it will look like!

You can see the menu proper (below) better on Flickr.  I found the restaurant and service to be excellent.  It was quiet at lunchtime but they apparently get very busy in the evenings.  I think I probably went at the perfect time for me. :)

Links:

• Four go Painting in Provence
• La Maison Jaune, 15 Rue Carnot, 13210 Saint Remy de Provence (location on Google Maps)
• Tel  04. 90. 92. 56. 14 | email lamaisonjaune@wanadoo.fr
• The restaurant is closed December and January.

Note:  Parking is in designated areas and the town is very busy on market day and it can be difficult to find a place to park.  The restaurant is right in the centre of the old town.  Hence if visiting one needs to park up and then walk to the old town - it's not far.

More from The Provence Sketchbook (2011)

Dinner at Restaurant du Vieux Four, Crillon Le Brave

Drawing dinner at the Restaurant du Vieux Four, Crillon Le Brave 16 June 2011
11.5" x 16.5", pen and sepia ink and coloured pencils in Moleskine sketchbook
copyright Katherine Tyrrell

The first time we went to the Restaurant du Vieux Four in Crillon Le Brave was for Ronelle's (African Tapestry) last dinner with Sarah (The Red Shoes) Robyn (Have Dogs, Will Travel) and myself.

See note at end for why this is being posted now (ie so late!)

My three courses - which you can see in the sketch above - comprised

• Duo de Chevre - tapenade at tomatoes cerise (Goat's Cheese with tapenade and cherry tomatoes)
• Filet de Loup Rot, creme au basilic (Fillet of Sea Bass and Basil Cream sauce) and
• Veloute d'Abricot Carimelise et son sorbet (Caramelisd apricot veloute with cherries, red currants and a red berry sorbet)

It had a real colour theme of red, green and white and prompted me to think some more about about cooking and colour.

I switched between drawing the food and sketching Sarah and Robyn (see below) - to comments as to how I might improve how they were looking!  (I'd be doing exactly the same thing in their shoes!)

Sarah and Robyn dining on the terrace at the Restaurant du Vieux Four in Crillon Le Brave

As you can see we were taking advantage of the opportunity for terrace dining at this Restaurant which is situated on the edge of the ramparts of this hilltop village.  We had a fabulous view of the countryside between Crillon le Brave and Mont Ventoux - and where we were staying just outside Bedoin.

The view from the Restaurant du Vieux Four in Crillon Le Brave
Mont Ventoux is in the background on the left and Bedoin is in the middle distance

If you're in the area I'd definitely recommend this restaurant - it's quiet but has a delightful setting.  However there's two things worth noting:

• you need to note that it's cash only.  On Sarah's last night we dined there again and we realised too late that we hadn't got enough cash on us.  Fortunately, the restauranteur remembered us from this meal, knew Julian and trusted me to go back the next day and pay her - which, of course, I did.
• driving and parking in Crillon Le Brave can be a bit of a challenge, especially for those with large cars.  It's worth taking a look at the narrowness of the streets, the angle of the turns and the incline down to the arch in the walls out to the street before you drive past the restaurant to leave Crillon le Brave.  Having to do a three point turn to turn a corner at a lateral incline of 45 degrees on cobbles is a bit of a challenge - believe me!  Much better to park at the car park at the top of the village and walk down and back again.

Note the width of the road outside the Restaurant du Vieux Four in Crillon Le Brave
This is the easy bit - the difficult bit with the incline and the corner is behind me!

Crillon Le Brave

Crillon Le Brave is an ancient village is situated high on the hill in the Vaucluse.  This was a defensive position which dates back to its origins in Roman times when it was known as Crillonium.  It developed further in the fourteenth century and was ruled by the Dukes of Crillon up until the French Revolution.

It had a significant population and was prosperous in the nineteenth century but fell into decline in the twentieth century.  Houses which have become ruins are still evident in some parts of the village.  It is now dominated by a high class hotel which seems to account for many of the buildings in the village.

Those who have read Cherries from Chauvet's Orchard by Ruth Phillips (Meanwhile) will know that Crillon Le Brave is where Julian Merrow Smith (Postcard from Provence) lived when he first came to Provence to become a painter.  It was fun trying to work out where the very first studio was located!

This book tells the story of Postcard from Provence from the perspective of the artist's wife and partner. It's a definite "must read" for all followers of Postcard from Provence and aspiring daily painters.

Related Links: 

• Four Go Painting in Provence: Dinner at Restaurant du Vieux Four, Crillon Le Brave
• Making A Mark Reviews: Book Review: Cherries from Chauvet's Orchard
• Travels with a Sketchbook:
• The view of Mont Ventoux from Crillon Le Brave
• Another sketch of lunch at Crillon Le Brave
• Crillon Le Brave - History

Restaurant Data:

• address:  Restaurant du Vieux Four, Bas de Crillon, 84410 Crillon Le Brave
• telephone: +33 4 90128139
• fax: +33 4 90128743
• Terrace Dining available (splendid view); dinner only
• Trip Adviser - restaurant review: Le Vieux Four , Crillon Le Brave, Vaucluse, Provence

[Note:  I've been a miserable failure about posting sketches from the holiday in France - there's still lots which have never been seen.  I'm going to try and make myself post all the food sketches this week so I can talk about this major new development in drawing food in my end of year review over on Making A Mark at the end of this month!]

More from The Provence Sketchbook (2011)

______________

MAKING A MARK ART BLOG AWARDS 2011:  Nominate an art blog of your choice for the 

• The Painting Plein Air Plus Prize
• The Travels with a Sketchbook  Trophy

Épernay and The Grillade Gourmande

Menu du Terroir Champenois, La Grillade Gourmande
see below for the full menu in French and English!

La Grillade Gourmande, Epernay

I had an absolutely splendid meal on the Thursday night at the La Grillade Gourmande in Épernay, which is renowned as the 'Capital of Champagne', in the Champagne-Ardenne Région of France.

I'd been up since 5.30am, crossed the Channel into France and driven 285 miles from London so I was very ready for a bit of a treat.

Prior to leaving home I'd identified that Epernay had quite a few good restaurants - hence deciding to stay there.  In my Michelin Guide to hotels and restaurants in France, this particular restaurant is listed as a "Bib Gourmand" which means "good food at reasonable prices

I had the Menu Terroir Champenois.  However the only champagne I had was in the sauces.  This comprised an amuse-bouche followed by:

• Foie Gras de Canard au Ratafia de Champagne chit en terrine et configure d'oignon au vin rouge Terrine of duck fois gras cooked in Ratafia Champagne with red wine onion marmelade
• Filet de Bar Grille aux Asperges Verts Grilled Sea Bass with green asparagus Champagne sauce
• Pigeonnea de Champagne dessose cuit en feuillete, jus redoit au Chardonnay Local boned young pigeon with foie gras cooked in flaky pastry case
• Fraises au Poivre Noir au Champagne Rose Strawberries with black pepper and frozen rose champagne

I'd decided to try and see if I could sketch my meals while in France - as I hoped to be having quite a few which were likely to be more interesting than my normal fare at home.

This was the first time I tried out my new strategy. Not knowing what any of the courses were going to look like, I started at the top left hand corner and worked across and managed to get all four courses onto a double page spread of my large folio Moleskine (size A4).

The sketch at the top of the page is a wonderful memory of an absolutely delicious meal!

The sketch below is of the view from my table with Michelin Guide, pencil case and camera at the edge of my table.

The view from my table in La Grillade Gourmande.

I stayed overnight at the Hotel Campanile Epernay - which is actually located at Dizy just north of Epernay.  It's a great hotel for a one night stay when travelling north or south.  I used it again on the trip north.  Very much in the motel style with parking right next to the rooms and a separate central hub which houses reception and the restaurant.  It has wifi and also has a great view of vines right next door.

Epernay - and the Avenue de Champagne

The next morning, before I set off on the "big drive" to Lyon (c.300 miles) I went into Epernay, parked in the same place as the night before - in the car park which is right next to La Grillade Gourmande - and took a look at the Avenue de Champagne.

The Avenue de Champagne in Epernay - looking back towards the centre of town.

The Avenue de Champagne in Epernay is lined with the headquarters buildings (symbolic and otherwise) - the maisons de champagne - of a number of major "names" in the champagne world.  They're up a bit of a hill in the town - which makes sense when you realise that there are a quite a few cellars underneath!  This webpage gives you a bit of a history of the various houses - which enabled me to identify who owned the biggest doors on the street!  You could spend a week there just sketching the maisons de champagne.  I took out my sketchbook and then quickly put it away again having realised the impossibility of doing justice to the task.

Moet & Chandon is there - with the statue of Dom Perignon outside in the car park next to the entrance dates.  This is the information about a guided tour of their cellars.

Dom Perignon is the Benedictine Monk who was a cellar master at Abbey of Hautvillers near the town of Épernay.  His name is now given to a brand of vintage champagne made by Moet Chandon.  There are lots of myths about him but he didn't invent the bubbles in champagne but he did contribute significantly to the development of champagne.

I also spotted Perrier Jouët and Pol Roger. Most of the headquarter buildings appear to be in very large and very old mansions with some looking a bit more business-like than others.

Below is a display of all the different sizes of Champagne bottles which I found in the tourism office which is located at the end of the avenue closest to the centre of town

The different sizes of Champagne Bottles - in Epernay
from left to right
Nebuchanezzar, Balthazar, Salmanazar, Methusalah, Jeroboam, Magnum, Bottle,  Half-Bottle

Friday 10th June

On Friday I drove south to just east of Lyon.  I'll now "glaze over as I rush past the next hotel I stayed at on the Friday night.  Although the room was fine, it had the worst hotel restaurant I've ever eaten in despite the fact it was located on the outskirts of the gastronomic capital of France.  I'll never eat in a hotel that near an autoroute ever again!


Saturday 11th June

On Saturday I set off for Provence - along with an awful lot of other people who also wanted to go south on the A7/E15 otherwise known as the Autoroute du Soleil between Lyon and Marseilles.  Then I turned left at Avignon......

.......drove across the Vaucluse and arrived at Couguieux.

Links:

• See A French Sketchbook - June 2011 for the other posts relating to this trip.
• Four Go Painting in Provence - The Grillade Gourmande, Epernay (for the original and briefer 'on the road' post - written and uploaded while having breakfast on the Friday morning!)

On the Road to Provence (+ the checklist!)

Luggage and art kit in my Citroen Picasso at the Folkestone Eurotunnel terminal
complete with breakfast muesli for 3 weeks!

You'd think all the plans I needed to make for a painting holiday in France would be about how much art stuff can I could get in the boot.  After all you do want all your kit out of sight!  Plus I am a long time "everything including the kitchen sink" specialist so it's always a bit of a worry.

However there's a bit more to it than that! The long list of "things to do/bring" get a lot longer when you take your own car.  For those contemplating doing the same thing (and so I have a record for next time!) here are some tips about things to think about if you go on a sketching trip via car in France.

Plus a map of my route and some comments on what happened en route.

Taking a car to Europe

Bear in mind that taking your own car is a lot more complicated than hiring a car when you get there.

Here's a checklist for those who have never taken their car to Europe and driven there before - and for me for next time so I don't have to try and remember it all!

• Get insurance cover for driving the car in Europe (probably automatic if you have comprehensive cover but almost certainly worth checking)
• Notify your insurer of your holiday dates 
• Check what you should do if you have an accident while abroad (some will send you a checklist)
• Check cover re replacement car/transport in the event of an accident
• Buy vehicle recovery for Europe. What you do here largely depends on your attitude to risk and the size of your pockets.  I did some investigating and decided I felt safest paying a bit more and going with what always used to be known as AA 5* and is now known as European Breakdown Cover
• Make sure you know the laws about driving in Europe. Do NOT assume that what applies in the UK is all you need to worry about in Europe. Many countries have additional requirements and differences in the law.  
• Check what's different about motoring in Europe (eg speed limits; what you must have in your car; how you must behave) - these are the laws UK drivers must observe 
• Check out what is specific to the country you are travelling to - here's the checklist for France

Speeding offences attract an on the spot fine of up to approx £500

• Avoid being caught out for failing to have the right kit with you when driving in Europe. (Here's a checklist Driving in Europe - Are you legal?) BUY:
• headlamp beam adapters - and remember to apply them!
• a reflective yellow emergency.  Keep it in the passenger part of the car (in the boot doesn't count. Now I know why Citroens have so many cubby holes!)
• a warning triangle for erection in the event of an accident
• a spare set of headlight bulbs
• a first aid kit
• GB plate

Motoring LAW in France and many other European Countries now requires all vehicles to carry a Warning Triangle and a Reflective Vest.

• When driving in Europe it helps if you 
• drive a French car (it's why I buy them) in France and 
• make sure your car registration plates include the EU/GB icon
• Buy a satnav and make sure that it has maps for Europe (not all do) - this was one of the most intelligent decisions I made this summer!  Being a georgrapher and loving maps, I had carefully tended my ever growing map collection for years.  However I was hugely impressed with the satnav's ability to get me from one place to another with the minimum of fuss.  (I bought the WHich Best Buy - the Garmin nuvi 3760 and even managed to impress some men with its iPhone like size and characteristics!)
• Investigate the alternative options for crossing the Channel.  I'd always gone by ferry before now - and it's a long drawn out process.  This time I went by Eurotunnel and I couldn't believe how fast it was.  Trains depart every 20 minutes and they only take just over half an hour to get there!  Having done it once I'm never ever going back to the ferry.

Eurotunnel: The ramp down to the train
I'm about to enter that black hole at the end of the train!

• Find as many maps as possible for finding the Channel Tunnel. Notwithstanding your satnav, if you take the wrong exit you're lost in the middle of a nightmare of roads in Calais which do not tell you where to go if you are a car driver wanting to cross the channel. It's also very confusing because the ferry port is not the same place as the Tunnel. My satnav insists on knowing the post code and of course they only supply a post code for their offices which are not at the same places as the Chunnel/Le Shuttle terminal for cars! I also couldn't get the supplied coordinates to work with my Garmin satnav - but these are they for those of you with TomToms!
• travelling from the UK GPS coordinates: Latitude: 51:05:44N (51.09559), Longitude: 1:07:19E (1.12207)
• travelling from France - GPS coordinates: Latitude: 50:56:21N (50.93906), Longitude: 1:48:52E (1.81446)
  
• Do NOT try and detect mobile radar if travelling in France. You could end up with your car being impounded. A satnav which detects and announces stationery radar which is publicised does not count.
• Inform your bank - tell your bank and credit card companies that you will be using their cards while in another country. That way they won't think your plastic has been stolen!

The Route to Provence

On the right is a map of the route I took.

Essentially if you're travelling on your own as I was I'd recommend a couple of stops unless you're very young, energetic and completely bonkers as it's a approximately 1,000 kilometres (11-12 hours of driving).  I broke it up into two long days and what was supposed to be a shorter day and stopped off south of Reims - at Epernay on Day 1 and east of Lyons on Day 2.

I also drove most of the way on autoroutes.  It's not the most scenic way to see France but it is the best way to cover the distance - most of the time.

I would also recommend staying on the outskirts of  major towns   The last thing you want to with after a long drive is one way systems and the heavy traffic associated with a rush hour.

Do check the settings for your preferences on your satnav.  Mine determined that I needed to do a major detour around Valance when it decided it needed to comply with my preference for slow-moving traffic - which landed me in yet slower moving traffic!

If I did the journey again I think I'd try and avoid the weekends as I personally found the juggernaut lorries easier to deal with than vast numbers of French people trying to go to the coast!

Day 1 - London to Epernay

This involved a drive down to Folkestone to pick up the train through the Channel tunnel and then across across the great big field which is northern France on the autoroute A26. Via the Chunnel and the A26 autorooute that was a journey of 283 miles - which was estimated to take 5 hours 34 mins (exclusive of breaks and waiting around!)

En route I passed many very historical places such as the location of the "Cloth of Gold" meeting took place between the English and French Kings many moons ago.  Plus I kept seeing the names associated with the battles of the First World Wars - the Somme, Vimy and Lens.

The BMW Lads inside the Eurotunnel Train

I did this sketch of what I'm calling "The BMW Lads" while I was sat in my car travelling under the English Channel!  Now I bet there's not many people who've tried that as a place to sketch...

I couldn't work out why there were so many flash and fast cars at Folkestone and on the train.  I lost count of the Ferraris, Lamborghinis, Porsches and BMWs.  Then I got to the first service station at Calais and I finally twigged that it was the eve of the Le Mans 24 Hours race - beloved of all boys with fast toys.   Vast numbers of fast cars and chaps talking engines and what their next car is going to be!

My next post is from Epernay and one of the best meals I had in France.

Links:

• European Breakdown Cover - http://www.theaa.com/breakdown-cover/european-breakdown-cover.jsp
• Travelspot:
• Motoring into Europe - Be Safe, Be Legal http://www.motoring-into-europe.co.uk/
• Driving in Europe - Are you legal? - http://www.motoring-into-europe.co.uk/driving-in-europe.html
• Country check for France - http://www.motoring-into-europe.co.uk/cc-france.html
• Eurotunnel - http://www.eurotunnel.com/uk/home/
• tickets and fares http://www.eurotunnel.com/uk/tickets/
• checklist for travelling in Europe http://www.eurotunnel.com/uk/traveller-info/travel-checklist/
• Foreign and Commonwealth Office - advice when travelling in France - http://www.fco.gov.uk/en/travel-and-living-abroad/travel-advice-by-country/europe/france1

Previous posts about my French Sketchbook 2011
See also the Four Go Painting in Provence blog 

Preparation

• Learning how to paint with oils in Provence (4PP - 28th May)
• My Art Materials - or why it's a good idea to take a car! (4PP - 29th May)
• The art books are going too! (4PP - 31st May)

The Journey to Provence

• The Sketchbooks are packed for Provence (8th June 2011)