4th October: Meeting up with Ronell

I'm hoping that this morning we can meet up with fellow Sketcherciser and Watermarks member Ronell van Wyk.

You may know Ronell from her popular blogs African Tapestry, My French Kitchen and more recently Coin perdu, a mountain home.

This means of course that I also get to see Ronell's french kitchen, her pantry, her herb garden and her atelier in Montlouis-sur Loire just outside Tours.

Ronell's kitchen
My French kitchen

Ronell is promising to give us tips on what to do and see while we're in the Loire Valley - although my niece already has a schedule of what she wants to see of which more later this week. I think we're hoping to get a sketching trip organised plus I'm hoping we might be able to taste some of the food which looks absolutely delicious on Ronell's blog.

I think, given our status as two Sketchercisers and Watermarks bloggers there may be a good chance that take a brisk walk up the River Loire and then sketch it!

However you're more likely to see what happens next if you visit her blogs!

3rd October: Mont St. Michel

A view of Mont St Michel - aerial photo
Source: Uwe Küchler and Wikipedia

Today is our third day in Normandy in northern France.

Le Mont-Saint-Michel is a rocky island off the coast of Normandy connected to the mainland by a thin strip of land which used to be covered at high tide. A Romanesque Abbey sits on top of the 'Mont'.

It has an interesting story and an amazing history which you can read about on:

• Wikipedia - Mont St Michel
• Wikitravel - Mont St Michel
• Official Mont St Michel website.
  

I think we'll probably be visiting Mont St Michel again in the morning.

In the afternoon we'll travel 156 miles through Britanny - via Fougères and Laval - to just north of Tours.

We're going to be staying in a self-catering cottage at Chateau du Plessis which we'll use as a vase for seeing various chateaux in the Loire Valley.

Just got to work out where and when we buy breakfast for tomorrow!

2nd October: Rouen and Normandy

Three of the paintings of Rouen Cathedral by Monet
(images from The Atheneaum)

This morning I wake up in Rouen and with a bit of luck, look out my hotel window and see the facade of Rouen Cathedral - that I'd last seen in Monet's paintings in the Musee d'Orsay (see post re 28th September)

Rousen is famous for:

• Rouen Cathedral - which was painted many times at different times of day by Claude Monet - see the post I did on Making A Mark about Monet's series paintings - Rouen cathedral (plus links at end of this post)
  
• being the place where Jeanne d'Arc (Joan of Arc) was imprisoned and tortured prior to her Trial of Condemnation in Rouen in 1431, Subsequently she was found guilty of heresy and was finally burned at the stake on May 30, 1431 in the Place Vieux Marché in Rouen
  
• being the backdrop for Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert - a native of Rouen
  

I'm actually planning on getting up early so that I can spend some sketching Rouen Cathedral. However I'm very mindful of the fact that Monet found that painting the cathedral's facade was extremely difficult.

We're staying right opposite the cathedral in the Cardinal Hotel at 1, Place de la Cathédrale and if I'm really lucky I may be able to do all my sketches from my room! I do know that Monet took rooms opposite the cathdral while he was painting in Rouen.

This morning we motor down through Normandy our next overnight stop at the Château de Boucéel so that we can visit to Mont St Michel.

Links:

• Claude Monet - Resources for Art Lovers
• Creating a Series - Resources for Artists