A painter's paradise

After finding my way to Heathrow airport I flew to Nice to be greeted by many military with machine guns. Once I came to grips with that I was met by the second car load of artists who kindly waited for my flight. We drove for one and a quarter hours north west of Nice and well up in the mountains to our residence for the week, Le Vieux Murier, just outside of Lorgues.

What a beautiful venue. My room was in what used to be the dairy. Beautiful gardens, court yard area, swimming pool, all renovated and created by Judith. Lucy did all the catering which was fantastic. She spends winter working on a yacht, which may give you some hint of how good she is.

Our group was made up of Irish, Dutch and English, and what a wonderful group they were. We visited a different village each day, all in the surrounding hills apart from the day we went down to St Maxime and got a ferry across to St. Tropez. The week was in the mid 30's everyday so it was difficult to keep in the shade while painting. Each afternoon when we returned about 4pm I headed for the pool to cool off.

All together a wonderful week of learning, fun and friendship. My best painting course ever.