Aug 17th 2010
Tuesday 17. 08. 10 I have been here just over a week. Besides catching up with everybody have managed to get to Yorkville galleries and also the Distillery District where there were a lot of exhibits by Quebecois artists. Last Friday Daisy took me to Rock of Ages at the Royal Alex for my birthday. Getting ready to leave on Thursday for Vancouver on the train.
Aug 6th 2010
06. 08. 10 Friday Today was my 69th birthday so we drove over to Mont Aigoual for lunch at La Cravate where me met Claire. We all had a delicious, long and leisurely lunch outside on the terrace overlooking the Cevennes towards the sea. We finally moved on around 4 and then came home via Montpellier. After dinner Julia, Daisy and I went into Pezenas to do some last minute shopping before we leave on Monday.
Aug 5th 2010
05. 08. 10 Thursday Carole, Julia and Daisy came back late this afternoon after an overnight near Avignon at an excellent B&B called Le Mas d’Arvieux which they highly recommend. This evening was the beginning of the fête for Clermont so we went up to lac du Salagou for the fireworks. Good display but very windy and as always everything started a little bit later than announced.
Aug 2nd 2010
Monday 02. 08. 10 It has been a very busy weekend. Carole, Daisy and Julia had decamped to George and Laurene’s from Thursday to Saturday and Marie-Pierre and Olivier arrived from Bordeaux Friday evening. We swam, we visited, we ate, we drank. We saw Claude and Joan’s show in Villeneuvette, the new expo of Caribbean art in Sete and heard Richard’s sermon in St Pargoire where Daisy sang . And to top it all Marie-Pierre and Olivier brought one of my paintings. A very convivial weekend.
Jul 21st 2010
Wednesday 21. 07. 10 We went to the Gauguin show at the Musée Fleury in Lodève yesterday. A show more about the Nabis than Gauguin but an interesting show none the less and well worth a visit. The video though is terrible which is unusual as normally the videos that go with the shows there are very good.
Jul 18th 2010
Sunday 18. 07. 10 This morning we went to church in Conas as Daisy had been invited to sing there. It is a beautiful 13th century church attached to the chateau in Conas near Pezenas. We arrived early and introduced ourselves to Val and Linda – the vicar and his wife and wandered around the church yard before the service. The church is quite small and the service was simple and elegant and was enhanced by all the hymns being sung accappela. Daisy sang Oh Dear Lord please hear my prayer before communion. Afterwards we had coffee and chatted with other members of the congregation before coming home for lunch. The afternoon was spent on the beach and swimming in the sea. Daisy will be singing again in St Pargoire on the 1 August.
Jul 17th 2010
Saturday 17. 07. 10 Spent the morning in the studio whilst Carole and Daisy were at Pezenas market. Finished a couple of small paintings for the London show in November. Tonight up to George and Laurene”s for a swim and dinner.
Jul 15th 2010
Thursday 15. 07. 10 Yesterday was another hot one. Did the market and Les Negociants in the morning. Drew in a couple of small paintings for the London show. In the evening went down to la Gare and listened to the band and watched the fireworks. This morning took the tent out of the car and Carole folded it easily after watching the video. Like everything else you need to know that one little secret!!
Jul 13th 2010
Tuesday 13. 07. 10 It has been a busy week so far. Sunday morning I printed out a new monoprint of King’s Cross Station and sorted out some subjects for my show in London in November. In the evening we had dinner with Daisy’s penfriend’s family and Claire at La Bodega in Clermont. A lovely meal punctuated with a few groans from the other diners who were watching the World Cup final. Yesterday swimming in the lake in the morning and then on to Ikea and Decathlon in Montpellier in the afternoon. En route home we dropped in to Maryse Duponchel’s show in Grabels. Interesting show as always from Maryse. I especially liked her drawings on old wine filtres and tea bags. Today we were at the beach in the afternoon. We had taken our new beach tent. It erects in two seconds but we never did manage to figure out how to pack it away again much to the amusement of the other people on the beach. We eventually managed to cram it into the back seat of the car where it sprung to fill the available space. There is a video on the Decathlon website explaining how to take the tent down but it remains crouching in the car awaiting our attention. This evening we took part in the candlelit parade around Clermont to celebrate Bastille Day. Ended up at Les Negociants for a pastis.
Jul 8th 2010
Thursday 08. 07. 10 Today was the last day of our show in Baillargues. Pleasant gallery, well set up but not a lot of visitors. Thanks to all our friends for their support. Lots of lessons learned.