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| Our Vermont art teacher giving assistance |
In my last posting, I wrote about Vaison-la-Romaine, a lovely small town in Provence where a group of us from Southern Vermont went for a week of painting and sketching just a month ago now. Vaison is an old settlement with a splendid array of Roman ruins, an engaging medieval quarter, plus a handsome contemporary section. For those Provence aficionados, it's fairly close to Orange and not far from Avignon.
We stayed in Vaison but ventured out into neighboring towns and villages--the subject of this posting. If you've been following this blog, you'll know that I have a sketch book that I take with me on trips. So, yes, I most definitely took it this time. I also took watercolors and colored pencils so that I could produce studies from which to later make larger (and better) works.
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| The vineyards were all turning golden. |
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| A street in the village of Séguret, called "one of the most beautiful villages in France." |
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| Window in Séguret |
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| Doorway in Séguret |
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| Looking out over the neighboring countryside from Séguret |
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| Vineyards of the Mourchant Wineries |
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| A watercolor study of the above scene |
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| The hilltop village of Roussillon (in the Luberon) which sheltered the Irish writer, Samuel Beckett, during World War 2 when he worked with the French Resistance. The town is known for its red, orange, and yellow clay quarries. |
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| From my travel sketch book. The top was done in Séguret, "looking up from the village street to the rocks behind." The lower was done in the village of Roussillon. |
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| More vineyards turning golden. |
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| Pont Julien, a Roman stone bridge over the Coulon River. The sunlight makes the arch look as if it's been layered with gold leaf. |
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| Ancient castle in the town of Fontaine-de-Vaucluse. The 14th century Italian poet, Petrarch, had a house in town and wrote of the beautiful Laura, his muse, whom he'd only seen from a distance and who soon died of the plague. |
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| Another view of Fontaine-de-Vaucluse |
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| Bell tower and vineyards in Piégon near Mirabel-aux-Baronnies. |
Next posting: the last of three postings of an October week in Provence
