Provence

Would you believe it, but when we returned to Brussels we caught up with snow again!! This is what our garden looked like when we got up the next morning.

Week of 08.04 when we set off for Provence we hoped we had left all the cold weather behind but alas this was not to be the case. We had rain for most of the week and it was very cold. However, this did produce some fantastic skies.

We finally got the sort of weather normally associated with Provence on our last day. We were lucky enough to see the last of the cherry trees in flower as well as the beautiful dark purple irises on old stone walls – the quintessence of Provence.

One afternoon our walk took us over the top of the hill passing an old cottage, now sadly fallen into a very bad state of disrepair. The mushroom shaped construction is an old bread oven.

In the woods close by we found this old stone building – known as a borie in this part of the world – with wild orchids growing close by.

Wild green euphorbia and these beautiful white star flowers grew in abundance here too.

We were staying just outside Apt

which has its own cathedral, dedicated to St Anne, and this confers upon it the status of city.

It is situated within the national park of the Luberon and is some 50km from Avignon, home for many years to successions of popes and now famous for its cultural activities. We managed a visit to the local Saturday market – a riot of colour and smells.

These bedspreads are typical of the area. They are known as “boutis” or double stitched quilts and are typical of this area. There was also a corner for those interested in junk/antiques.

It has some pretty colourful characters too. This guy was selling some sort of “animal” - I assume it was static that made the creatures climb all over your hand ….

The market takes over the whole pedestrianised area of the old city.. Stalls crowd the narrow road in front of the main entrance to the cathedral and you can’t possibly hurry through the streets here. If you take the time to look upwards you can see that the buildings have been painted in bright provencal colours echoing the colours of the earth and the sky.

There are remnants of a dim and distant past in the names of the streets – prison street, street of the jews and indeed there was a jewish ghetto here at one time. Needless to say any visit to the market will result in the imbibing of refreshment at some stage …

At the end of the week we cleared up the place. I did sterling work wielding this (for me) outsize bucket and broom.

But who could blame me if I wanted to go flying?

Of course the sun was shining when we left on Sunday morning but the weather got increasingly greyer as we headed north. C says that this time last year they got their summer with temperatures of 27°C – the only warm weather they saw all year!

crystals-St Patricks-UK again

We were invited to lunch with our neighbours. All the family are passionately interested in crystals which they use for healing purposes as well as enjoying the sheer pleasure of collecting and owning them. Since our last visit they had acquired some more which they were happy to show us. P was fascinated by the sheer size and diversity of some of them and insisted on being photographed with some of them.

Lunch was of the cook-your-own variety using a raclette machine. Actually this is something of a misnomer as a “raclette” is the name given to the little scraper used for removing stubborn traces of cheese at the end of the meal. It consists of a hot plate over a grill. Each person has their own miniature tray into which they place a slice of cheese. This is placed under the grill and the resulting melted cheese is poured over potatoes which have been cooked in their skins. The potatoes are usually served with raw/cooked/smoked ham and a variety of pickles. The hotplate above the grill can be used for cooking raw meat, seafood or vegetables. As our neighbours are British and Chinese today we had a sort of fusion meal with Chinese sauces into which we dipped the mushrooms, seafood and cooked beef. In typically British fashion we had baked apples for dessert. All in all a delicious lunch.

Later that afternoon we went to Luxembourg city. This weekend the Irish community were celebrating St Patrick’s Day. There is a large Irish community here and they always make the most of any excuse to celebrate. This year a huge marquee had been erected in the main square and decorated with masses of orange, green and white balloons (the colours of the Irish flag). Ireland was due to play England as part of the 6 nation’s rugby cup which was being shown on a huge TV screen inside the marquee. Several young ladies were kitted out in green clothing and a couple, like the two in the picture, had co-ordinated head gear and agreed to be photographed with Priscilla.

16.03 It was pouring with rain when we set off to drive to the UK again, this time in a borrowed car that was large enough to accommodate the chest of drawers we were going to be bringing back with us. The car was a Land rover Discoverer and we all felt as if we were travelling in luxury although the various safety features and all-electric functions eventually drove us bonkers.

We took a different route to get to Boulogne from where we would be making our crossing to the UK. This time we were going via Reims, through the famous Champagne region where fields and vineyards stretched as far as the eye could see over a still wintry landscape of brown ploughed earth fields edged with bare trees. We passed the battlegrounds of the two world wars with their small military cemeteries a stark reminder of how many died, the serried ranks of crosses bearing a sad testimony to the bloodshed.

In the UK in the two weeks since our previous visit the greening of spring was more obvious although at times it was hard to see anything except the sheeting rain. The winter has been so damp that most of the trees were covered in a second skin of green of green lichen. The hedgerows were a mass of colour – yellow broom, pink Judas trees whose heart shaped leaves will only appear once the flowers fade, and masses of pale yellow primroses. However, on a more sombre note, the recent rains had left many areas under water. In the town where Milly lives the water had overflowed the riverbanks and was heading for the local supermarket car park. The evening sunlight shafting down through banks of grey clouds produced a very interestingly lit landscape.

Priscilla goes a-printing

Today we went to visit a friend of mine, the Canadian-born artist Heather Carroll to watch her at work printing in her studio.

She makes some of her printing plates out of stiff card and, in this case, covered the surface with gesso, adding sand for texture and glueing thread in place to provide a relief for the hair and the outline of the legs of the reclining female figure. First of all she put the inks she was going to use (today they were water-based but she also uses oils) on a glass sheet. She added liquid glycerine to achieve the right degree of viscosity to prevent the colours from blending into each other and become muddy.

Using a brayer and starting with the lightest colour first - yellow - she inked over the whole plate. Then she added green and blue. She used red and black on the outer edges of the plate to provide definition.

Priscilla was fascinated by all this

but we decided to put her in a place of safety so that she didn’t get ink all over her clothes.

From this vantage point she could watch as Heather ran the print through the press. Today she was using 100% linen handmade, 300gm, paper. When she had finished inking the plate

she put the printing plate, painted surface upwards, in the press and laid a sheet of paper on top. This was then covered with two layers of felt and was run twice through the press, more slowly the second time to ensure that the colour really took well. Needless to say Priscilla felt obliged to lend a hand when it came to turning the wheel on the press when it became obvious that Heather couldn’t manage on her own.

When the print has been run through the press twice both the print and the plate are removed.

Heather then inked up a second printing plate, another female figure

which produced this

No two prints will ever be identical as there will inevitably be variations in the colouring, as can be seen with these four prints

Heather explained that this is a very simple form of printing. More complicated prints can be made using backgrounds and layers and a much greater variety of colour can be achieved this way.

Heather makes prints from plates she has made, natural materials like leaves and grasses,

and also carves stone from which she prints.

(the two prints at bottom centre were printed from stone carvings).

She is also a sculptress - making both large and small sculptures -

an artist - this is a drawing of “la cantadora”

and a graphic designer - she made this large scale banner for one of her exhibitions in 2006

We were sad to have to bid farewell to Heather and Priscilla was especially sad to say goodbye to Elsie, whose acquaintance she only made this afternoon.

Between you and me I think Priscilla may have got some ideas from this visit and may well be conducting some experiments soon …..

In which we visit an Easter market in Trier

On Friday Carol and hubby took me to Trier, just over the border in Germany, to visit an Easter market. Trier is famous for its Christmas markets so this is a new - and probably lucrative - departure for the town, which attracts hordes of tourists all year round from miles away.

Our first stop in Trier was to admire the guild fountain. This is made of wrought iron and features all of the trades - shoemakers, bakers, tailors, etc. In the summer the fountain works but no water flows in winter, probaby because if the water were to freeze it might damage the metalwork.

From there we made our way to the main market square with this ornate statue in it and the church of St Gangolf in the background.

Here I am mastering the intricacies of a menu written in German.

In the square a variety of stalls had been set up - one selling home-made wines and liquors,

another where you could have a drink of wine or beer, a stall selling clothes and jewellry, and two with Easter decorations.

meeting the Easter bunnies

There were several flower stalls and, best of all, a carousel, on which I absolutely had to have a ride.

We stopped at the drinks stall where the bar tender commented - rather unkindly I thought - that it looked as if I was hanging onto my glass for dear life and wasn’t going to let go. Actually the wine was pretty good so it’s not really surprising I didn’t want to let go.

We walked the length of the pedestrian precinct so that we could admire the famous Porta Nigra (black gate). Trier was the most northern outpost of the Roman Empire in the time of Constantine and there a lots of roman remains including a well-preserved ampitheatre, thermal spa, Constantine’s basilica (built in AD 310) and the Porta Nigra.

Some of the shops had beautiful wrought iron signs outside them.

This beautiful unicorn head graces the Unicorn Pharmacy

Easter trees are very popular

On our way back to the car we passed some beautifully preserved buildings of which Carol took a number of photos

and this quirky jewellry shop window with its vegetable puppets.

Caravanserai Easter

Our last port of call was a recently restored baroque fountain, painted in white and gold.

Carol’s husband proved to be a dab hand at taking photos of us and he really enjoyed himself. He said he thought it was a brilliant idea to send me on a round the world. When Carol told the stallholders - whose permission she asked before taking some of the photos - that I was on a world trip, between you and me, I think they thought Carol was absolutely bonkers, but it made them smile if nothing else!

More information on Trier can be found here.

Pris arrrives in Europe

Well, I finally arrived at Carol’s on the morning of 28 February after a very long transatlantic crossing. I was beginning to think the gps system Enchanteur had installed in my broom wasn’t working properly and I nearly got tangled up in some skeins of geese flying north to their breeding grounds.

Suffice to say it may take me a few days to recover from jet lag. I thought I was going to be able to take it easy for a while but Carol informed me that we would be leaving for England on Sunday morning and that we were giving a dinner party on Saturday. It turns out that her husband is a very good cook and I can tell you that the smells wafting out of the kitchen were divine. We started off with corn on the cob and garlic mushrooms, then raw and cooked ham with asparagus, then Swedish meatballs with a side salad to which had been added pan-fried baby asparagus spears. The last course was bacon and grilled cheese on ciabbatinis. A Luxembourgish Riesling and a 1990 Givry (red Burgundy) wines were served to accompany these courses. And did I mention that we started with a British sparkling wine (Champagne style) brought by a guest? Coffee and chocolates and a digestif followed before we all retired for bed. I can see that if they continue to fee me like this I’ll need a new set of clothes before I fly home.

We got up early on Sunday or rather we were awakened early, for the second day running, by tremendous gales and Carol phoned the ferry company before we left to ensure that the boats were sailing.

In no time at all we had crossed the border from Luxembourg into Belgium and then into France. We sailed from Boulogne in Flanders (flat countryside enlvivened by small clumps of wild daffodils and clouds of white-flowered blackthorn in the hedges). We were warned that the sea would be a bit choppy and that we should stay in our seats. In fact it wasn’t too bad and the crossing only took 50 minutes. Carol had hoped to get a photo of me with the white cliffs of Dover in the background but there was too much spray and she didn’t want me to get covered in salt so I stayed in my travelling bag. She did, however, get a couple of photos of the port of Dover.

Now I must tell you about my travelling bag. That Carol is such a clever girl. She hangs the bag from the headrest of the passenger seat so I can sit in my bag and look out of the window while we are driving along. I’m a bit confused at the moment because we started out driving on the right side of the road and now, in the UK, we’re driving on the left.

That evening I was introduced to the great British tradition of Fish and Chips – lovely!

On Monday we went shopping and got caught in a flurry of snow. I thought I’d left the snow behind in the U.S. but apparently more is forecast here. Carol introduced me to British tradition number two: charity shops. These are shops run by volunteers to raise money for various charities. People donate their unwanted clothes, jewellery, books, bric-a-brac, etc to these shops. Milly’s (MIL-mother-in-law) home help works as a volunteer in one of these shops to raise money for a children’s hospice and Carol has promised to sort out some things to sell in it There is no such thing in Lux so Carol insists on getting her fix every time she visits the UK. She has found many bargains in these shops she explained and can never resist going into one and having a browse. She’s also addicted to second-hand bookshops.

Tuesday we all had to get up at 6am as we had to make an early start to drive back to Lux. We made it to Dover in plenty of time and we had a good drive with sun and blue sky. Already the buds are beginning to show green on the trees. Carol said she was surpised to see the magnolieas in flower this early and even more surprised to see a mimosa tree in full bloom. She said she had never seen one of these in the UK but only in the south of France. We also saw a couple of camellia bushes with masses of pink and red flowers.

 

As you can see the weather was much better for our return crossing so I did manage to get a photo of me with the White Cliffs of Dover in the background after all.

We finally got back to Lux early on Sunday evening after encountering snow in the Ardennes (the hilly area of central Belgium which featured heavily in world war II). There was a gorgeous sunset of golden flight flooding through layers of pale lavender cloud followed by blushing pink cotton wool clouds.

Since our return I have been resting while Carol has been catching up on domestic chores. If the weather is OK on Friday we are off to visit an Easter market in Germany.