12. 11. 07. Fran and Clive arrived last Tuesday for their first visit to Clermont. I met them at the station in Montpellier and we picked up the car and drove back here. I had made a bourguignon for dinner, but after a welcoming glass of wine, tried to turn on the gas only to discover that it had run out! It was too late to pick up another “cube” so we went over to the Venizia for dinner. Wednesday morning we went to the market and after lunch decided on a short tour round lac du Salagou. We arrived at the car only to discover that the battery was flat and, as it was a Prias, nothing worked, and we couldn’t even find the battery! After a call to Hertz and a wait for about an hour le depanneur arrived from Lodeve. Luckily he was quite small as he had to climb over the back seat and get into a space below the trunk to find the battery. The car started immediately and we happily went for a ride around the lac. Came home and enjoyed the boeuf bourguignon for dinner with a bottle of the local wine and then went down to the Negociants for coffee and cognac. Thursday was our day by the sea, so we went off in the morning to Marseillan and Marseillan plage where we went for a long walk along the beach before heading into Sete for lunch. We had a very tasty seafood lunch outside in a little restaurant overlooking the old port and then went for a stroll around town and then up to the cimitière marin overlooking the bay. Lots of chrysantheums on the graves after Toussaint. Friday we made a picnic lunch and drove to Lodève where we dropped in on my friend Malcolm and then headed up to the plateau where we stopped and had our lunch. After lunch we drove across to the Cirque de Navacelles and then down to St Guilhelm le Dessert and the Gorges de l’Hérault before heading back to Clermont. Had a wonderful dinner at Le Tournesol. Saturday, we loaded everything into the car and had a final quick tour around Villeneuvette before lunch at the Negociants. We then drove to Montpellier and dropped in on Claire’s expo and sale before Fran and Clive checked into Le Grand Hotel du Midi. After dropping off the car we wandered around the old part of Montpellier before having our final dinner in the Brasserie du Theatre. I stayed at Claire’s Saturday night and then Fran and Clive headed back to Paris Sunday morning. A great visit and hopefully something we can make into a regular event.
The First Week Back
30.10.07. It has been a busy week. I have done the usual housekeeping things, filled the fridge, bank, charged the flat battery of the scooter etc and have started working in my new studio. I’m not quite comfortable there yet but I keep moving things around so eventually I’ll find the best way of working. I have started two paintings of Georgian Bay based on colour sketches that I did there this summer and above is one of the finished pieces. I went on a hike on Sunday with my friend Claire from Montpellier. We hiked along the bank of the Buèges river from St Jean de Buèges. It was a warm, sunny day and for most of the walk the river was dry. En route back to Clermont we stopped at le pont de St Etienne d’Issenssac on the Herault to check out possibilities for my new series of paintings on the Herault.
Le Retour
22. 10. 07. Back in Clermont after a great time in TO. It was great catching up with everybody and for those I couldn’t see this time, I will be back at Christmas! Uneventful journey back, Zoom to CDG Paris T3, over to T2 to catch the TGV to Montpellier and then bus to Clermont. Left TO 18.30 Sunday Cdn time and got into Clermont 18.30 French time Monday. It was sunny but cool here when I arrived. Looking forward to getting on with some serious painting.
First shoot
16. 10. 07. Today was Poppy’s first photo shoot. Jason’s friend Anna was shooting the cover of a community magazine for young parents and she had arranged to meet Poppy and Jason at the Brickworks. I went along as a minder/assistant. Poppy is a “natural” and she has begun her career earlier than her Dad as I didn’t use Jason on a shoot until he was 3!
Nearly 40
14. 10. 07. Today was the public acknowledgement that Jason was nearly 40. Many of Jason’s old and new friends gathered at The House on Parliament for an early (his birthday is actually on 18 October) celebration of this momentous event. Carole, Julia and Daisy flew in from the UK, Geoff, Sherry and Heather came in from Cobourg, Alan and Lea from Kitchener and the rest of us just rolled in from TO. Many of Poppy’s contemporaries also turned up as well, along with their minders! A good time was had by all!
More Merrickville
29/30. 09. 07. Spent another weekend in the studio and finally sold a painting to Pam Chiles who had bought two paintings from me previously. She chastized me on not using archival tape for mounting my paintings! Sunday was the day for friends to come by, Virginia Clark from Toronto and Roy and Suzette MacSkimming from Perth (Roy’s new novel Macdonald has had great reviews in the Citizen and the Globe). The other good news is that I met Judith Moore who has taken 14 of my paintings to hang in her gallery in Merrickville.
Merrickville
Friday. Spent the day hanging our paintings, pricing etc.
22/23. 09. 07. Perfect weather, warm and sunny. We did not have quite as many people through as last year but, both Martin and I agreed, they seemed more knowledgeable and more interested than last year. Martin sold two paintings and I have one out on approval.
Back in TO
20. 09. 07. Arrived back here on Tuesday afternoon after an uneventful flight via Zoom. Stopped in Ottawa and then came on to TO where Jason picked me up. Arrived at his house to discover Alisa and Poppy waiting outside for me. Poppy has really grown in the last couple of months and is more a toddler than a baby now. After a few moments she recognized me and decided I was OK and smiled. After a tasty BBQ retired fairly early.
Wednesday. Went to the storage to pick out a few things and wondered why I was in fact storing some of this stuff! Had lunch at the pub with Poppy, Jason and Fran and then Poppy, Jason and I went off to Riverdale Farm to see the goats, pigs etc. Had an even better BBQ dinner.
Thursday. Sorted out more banking stuff and then caught the 12.20 for Smiths Falls where I was met by Martin and Beryl.
Kew Gardens
17. 09. 07. I had scattered Dad’s ashes at Kew Gardens after he died and wanted to scatter Mum’s there too. Mum has been kept in a cupboard at Julia’s since then, so today was the day. Carole and I took the train to Richmond and then on to Kew Gardens. Dad was illegally scattered in the Lilac garden so we found it again on the map and after lurking and checking no one was looking, I scattered them. Again I was amazed at how many ashes there were. I remember when I scattered Dad’s there was this huge white cloud blowing around the garden which I tried to ignore. This time there was no wind so the whole operation was more discreet. Afterwards when I was well away from the Lilac garden I had a great sense of satisfaction and of having done the right thing. As a young boy I remember being dragged off to Kew Gardens seemingly every Sunday as both Mum and Dad loved the place so its seems a fitting resting place for both of them. Today there was a new Henry Moore show on too and his sculptures work very well at Kew. Unfortunately the batteries on my camera ran out so I couldn’t take any pictures but you can see them on the highlighted website.
Regent’s Canal
16. 09. 07. Beautiful morning, warm and sunny. We had decided to take a trip on the Regent’s canal so caught the train up to Paddington and then tube across to Warwick Avenue. Walked over to Little Venice and Jason’s boats and queued up for the 12.30 boat. The trip took about 45 minutes and went from Little Venice past Browning’s Island through a couple of tunnels, under bridges, even through the London Zoo, to Camden Lock. A very leisurely trip seemingly miles from the bustle of central London until we arrived at Camden Lock and Camden market. After the tranquil canal with its overhanging trees and regency mansions the market was a rabbit warren of colour and activity. There seemed to be countless stalls selling everything from celtic jewellery to Goth gloves to sculpture withj of course the ubiquitous Starbucks. It was medieval! We wandered around here with about a million other people amidst the smell of food and the sounds of many different languages for a couple of hours before catching the boat back to Little Venice and then back to Windsor on a very crowded train.
