Travel Tips

Tuscany is very paintable. Every time you round a bend in the road, there is a picture waiting to be painted.

We stopped for the view at the edge of Barberino Val d'Elsa and noticed a large gate. Naturally our curiosity won the day so we walked up and through the gate to a perfect walled medieval village.

The painting here is one of many doors I photographed. If you get a chance, visit Barberino; it's friendly and very beautiful . . . and there is free parking near the post office.

We were visiting friends in Tuscany and took a day trip to Monteriggioni and fell in love with the tiny walled town sitting in the middle of fields. There are 14 towers and you can walk the ramparts . . . and there weren't all that many tourists, unlike other towered towns in Tuscany!

Again, every time you turn a corner there is something you want to paint. Here is a doorway, one of many I photographed and several that I painted.

This is a painting of our youngest daughter, Peg, in the little church in Nohant. George Sand is a favorite author so we were taking her on a pilgrimage to the George Sand House in Nohant-Vic, near La Chatre due east of Poitiers.

We were staying on a farm by the Cher River and it was a beautiful day trip for us. The little church was charming and the tour of the George Sand House and grounds was great fun. There is a marvelous little restaurant right by the parking lot where we had one of our best meals of the trip.

We spent a lovely week near Tourrettes-sur-Loup in an old Logis de France with a balcony looking out over the wild countryside and the Mediterranean. There was a great restaurant right in the hotel and another one in nearby Tourrettes. We spent a couple days just wandering the Old Town of Tourrettes, another place just begging to be painted. Here is one stairway we loved.

We spent a rainy November week in Paris once and loved every minute of it. Paris in the rain is nicer than most cities in the sun. The nice part was that the rain came on the installment plan so we had plenty of dry time to walk the city, our favorite way to see Paris.

Our very first trip to France many years ago was camping and a timeshare in the French Alps. We loved it and have gone back many times. Jausiers is a well-kept secret in the summer. The Ubaye River runs through it and there is a lovely park right on the river. The town is tiny but very pleasant and there are a couple nice restaurants nearby. It's claim to fame is that it is an entrance to the wonderful National Park of the Mercantour. If you like hiking, wildlife, wildflowers or just gorgeous scenery, you should visit the Mercantour. It's magnificent.

We were driving around the Champagne region one day and as we crested a small hill, I spotted this windmill and whipped out my trusty camera to record it for posterity. When we got home and I decided to paint it, I discovered the tree wasn't conveniently placed so I moved it to the other side of the windmill. If you happen upon this particular moulin, don't be surprised to see that the tree has moved . . . LOL

We were on a day trip to Troo to see troglodyte houses when we drove into Larvardin and immediately stopped and parked for a walk. It is one of the Plus Beau Villages of France and deservedly so. It was the highlight of our day. It's near Vendome and an easy day trip from nearly any place in the Loire Valley near Tours and Amboise. Even in autumn the town was covered with flowers. There was a ruined castle with goats climbing around inside the walls. The church has amazing frescoes and the town, on the Loir river, is lovely. This is not to be confused with the larger Loire River but it is equally fun to explore.

I admit to adding a couple chickens. There was only one by the doorway and it looked lonely. The nice thing about painting your own pictures is that you can add and subtract things at will. My picture has a very happy chicken with companions. 8^)