Alphabetically Speaking in Images

Arles 

Gorgeous city on a Sunday afternoon visit

Bird

Stunned, but recovered and flew away

Cat

Obviously found Frank's oil palette before decorating the
front seat of Frank's car...

Dog

Hazel hiking with me!

   Easter/Easel

Extreme Easter decorating in our little village!

Office Furniture

Frank

Bullfighting family in Arles serves up scrumptious Paella

Who has a  title suggestion for this painting???

Grapevine

Haircut!  Introducing Jorgie's Kool Look

Atop the village of Cucuron at it's hermitage, the tips of pines are bent from the Mistral

The Mistral

It is a ripping wind that comes thru the south of France and sends laundry spiraling on the clothesline until the damp serviettes appear like a roll of paper towels and the dog has sought the smallest space in the house to cower. Sometimes, it is predicted on the weather report and never comes, and you are so busy being delighted by the cool temps coupled with the brilliant sunshine in March that you forget the Mistral wind was forecasted at all. Conversely, maybe you've set out to paint because the weather report looked perfect, and the next thing you know, that Mistral whips up suddenly and your canvas becomes a sail....threatening to carry the whole easel and palette over to the next village. Or it flattens the palette against your shirt, blows the painting face down into the sandy dirt or just spins you into chaos.  Though unfortunate, such forces of nature are pretty incredible so respect is given, we make our peace and then carry on, what else is there to do???

Naples

Naples, one of the many cities visited by Arlo in the past few months....Amsterdam, Berlin, Brussels, Budapest, Copenhagen, Hamburg, Prague, Rome, Venice, Vienna....his bus pulls into Aix-en-Provence tomorrow and I'll be the mom waiting with the big ear-to-ear grin. 

Fresh Paint for Frank's Website.....fbruckmann.com

I love early morning drop-offs for Jorgie's school bus when this awaits! Mt. St. Victoire is silhouetted in the center under the morning sky. Another seeker got out of her car to catch the light as I pulled away in mine...we gave each other one of those silent, "I get it" nods.

And how does this photo of a brand new gorgeous day relate to Frank's website? He updated it gloriously to include recent paintings from Provence and his Studio Still Life series from a few orbits around the sun ago....

fbruckmann.com 

Click it! Check it out! Any prices, sizes, inquiries upon request. Don't be shy!

In other Frank Bruckmann News...we are headed to Paris in a few hours for the school holidays...and will be the guests of friends Frank made decades ago in Paris while painting and modeling and dog-walking and starving.

Perspective

Learning vocabulary in another language is easy. Communicating to people in a language you are learning is a completely different challenge.  I often leave a French conversation wondering if they understood what I was trying to put forth, (or did they understand the exact opposite?). It is frustrating, and I am realizing that this is not a phenomena special to learning a foreign language. 

Reviewing the words I speak in French many times over has forced me to review the words I speak in English with English speakers....and this is my conclusion....communication is VERY difficult...and sometimes I don't comprehend the perspective or intent of the person I am speaking to. My son shakes his head in impatience when I ask him to clarify or repeat...but I don't want to assume any more that I understand the intent of what he means. Nor do I want to fail when communicating my responses. I am very aware that the words I use are often misunderstood, even if my intent may be clear.  Funny how learning a 2nd language is emphasizing what I am still grasping about communicating in my mother tongue...so to all my family, friends, and fabulous people that I have met through community, thank you for your continued patience!

Now, back to what you really came here for...

Frank pulled over near a concrete canal which many would just pass by...this gorgeous landscape only unfolds when one is willing to overlook and leave out the harshness of human construction. A closer look reveals the simple beauty of the hills and valleys; the quaint village in the distance...

View towards Cadenet, 30x40" original oil painting by Frank Bruckmann©

A typical table d'orientation with its 360 perspective from atop a mountain in the Gigondas region

Here is the view in one direction, the Dentelles of Gigondas. Found this place with my weekly hiking group which is comprised of an international crew, mostly French or French speaking Anglo Expats with a few Dutch  and Israeli hikers sprinkled in for fun. They are all my French teachers...so grateful.

this is the coffee/yoga part of Frank's day....

He is looking at grape vines (cep de vigne) differently, painting the energy and motion in their woody, gnarly limbs.  Like painters before him, he is exploring the standstill/movement, the human/inhumanness of their structure.

Whether looking at the bottom of her bowl or from the ruins above our village,
I imagine it's all good...from a dog's perspective....



And, I leave this gem right here for you....

the importance of silliness for its own sake. 

You are the Present....

These people...

Christmas and New Year's occasions have brought my mom to Provence! She was thrilled to return to the place where she created the template for powerful memories from the year 2000, when she celebrated turning a certain age in the best of style...having her closest friends and our family together for a golden month in a fabulous French farmhouse in the tiny town of Egalyieres. We retraced her steps to visit the places that meant a lot while recounting and trying to entertain the kids with funny stories. Above, we were back at the chapel where in 2000 she watched Frank and I marry each other, while Arlo swam in amniotic fluid and my brothers, sisters-in-law, 3 nephews (albeit one also swimming)  and 2 besties fully participated in our ad hoc ceremony that was super charged with love and energy.

Frank's found a new painting partner....see below...they've been heading out to capture the light and landscape together...

Jorgie using the roof of the Fiat Panda as her painting studio

Our village of Rognes, France has an annual Truffle Festival and we spent the whole day at the market meeting friends and soaking up the winter sun and later cooked up a delicious truffle dinner with our neighbors....we all seemed to agree that they are delicious...a rarity in the family (having tastebuds that agree) but we are all sort of still wondering how this ugly little mushroom holds so many people completely captive...there were thousands wandering the streets of this little village...

Just a gorgeous cheese vendor....

a "pop-up farm" set in the parking lot below
Main Street in Rognes with the Foussa (ruins) above the village

cutest gingerbread cookies ever (except for
Elina Murarka, that is)

Tricycle musician with sound PA system, mic on trike,
singing corny French and American Christmas
songs that mom and I found totally danceable...

Bon Appetit...Truffles from M.Gerard VALENTIN, truffle cultivator, and the dinner we made...and great neighbors, Minna, Cyril, Anton, Elias. 

Live Creche! We participated in Cadenet's annual event, following the wise(wo)men up the winding streets to the grotto at the top of the village for traditional reenactments, sunset and  hot mulled wine (vin chaud)

Scenes from Christmas Time:

  

The holiday vibe in Aix-En-Provence is palpable. Nights are chilly but people filled with a bon humour....and outdoor cafe heat lamps warm it all up.

Le Petit Bistro, Place Richelme, Aix.

Back at Place Richelme. New friends, the Hayrapets!
A salute to Frank who didn't join us for the festivities....


HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!!!!

Painting the Neighbor's Vineyard

The leaves on the grapevines are starting to change to their fall color....different grape varieties change differently and at their own pace. Beautiful.

Love this painting and the golden light surrounding....

I painted in watercolor up on this old stone wall as Frank was below, painting the same view in oil paint. This may be the last painting before the leaf change....

a great spot from which to paint!

And speaking of vineyards, a few Sundays ago I observed the annual mass to bless the grapes.  With so many farmers and workers tied to the vineyards for their income and so many of us who need the grapes to keep providing, this is serious stuff!  Afterwards, all unpacked their picnic baskets and ate lunch along with the wine and grapes that were available. It was a charming event...

You can see the clergy and the altar boys in their robes, facing the vineyard and sending prayers towards the vines!

During the blessing, from within the old altar of St. Marcellin, Rognes, Provence, France..
Notice the various shades of grapes on the table for sale by a group of old ladies.

Calanque-ing and Canyon-ing on Weekends

We were invited to join a family at Jorgie's school to their "cabanon" aka, a rustic cabin down on the Sormiou calanque. If you don't know what a calanque is, then you will need to do a l'il research to an earlier blog post of last month....ok, now...in the states, I always laugh when someone says they have a "cabin" or a "cottage" and when you arrive you realize it is much better equipped than your full time home and you are probably underdressed.  Well, had I known we were going to a "cabanon" I would have worn footwear for rock climbing and packed our contribution to brunch in Tupperware, not a glass pie pan to be heaved up and over rocks for the 2 miles from the gate where security mandated we park and walk. Though not at all prepared, IT WAS GORGEOUS! And, our host was unreachable (no wifi, no electricity, running water) and late. We had no idea where to go beyond down to the sea. 

ahhhhhh, this view was startling.....on one side the center of the rocky cliffs open up to reveal the dense civilization of Marseille, the other side revealed the Mediterranean off of the Sormiou Calanque. I audibly gasped when the scene spread out before me...cant prove that, no one heard me, you'll just have to believe….

Heading down to Sormiou, outside of Marseille

Found their weekend cabanon, just beyond this tiny port, it was the LAST house before the sauvage coast! Thrilling!

The cabanon, surrounded with this terrain.....it is crumbly limestone and ancient sandy soil with tons of prickly pear cactus, loaded with their thorny magenta fruit,  scrubby indigenous thyme, rosemary, lavender, sage and others. All of these scents, including the air, sea, trees, and other wafting smells are known as the smell of the "garrigue". It is why the south of France smells the way it does, and it is a thing that will always stay with me.

Inside Frederic, Claudia and Lilly's cabanon, built in 1906 by his great grandfather. they would travel by donkey with building supplies, water, etc. Now a very rudimentary pump from the cistern brings up water.

Prepared to take in the view in his own way, Frank opened his pochade box and painted this gem.
(Margi Rosenthal, is this one for you???) There is a pic of me taking in the view my way....eyes shut, mouth open drooling, with a gorgeous turquoise sea backdrop.

Day Trip...The Grand Canyon of France

Eye-scrubbingly adorable mountain town, "Moustiers-Ste-Marie" which is the gateway to the  Gorges du Verdon...there were waterfalls and mossy slopes and mountain goats and a 16th century cathedral, small streets of endless outdoor cafes, pottery tradition of Faience.... and on the OTHER end of the charm, the first public WC toilettes I've seen this trip which was a hole in the floor with squatting footpads....

Pedal boating on the Lac de Ste. Croix through the gorges. BTW, if you have the chance to pedal boat, one hour is sufficient....my quads were screaming!

Blown away by the scene from above....endless canyon and rocky limestone walls.

This week, we had a special guest chef in our home! Our friend Salam Al-Rawi (from Westville's Rawa) dropped by in his jaw dropping 1964 Caddy that he had restored in Lebanon!.....He has spent the last month driving it through Turkey, Italy, Greece, and into France. After having some minor mechanical stuff mended in Avignon, he piloted that beauty up our dead end street and stayed overnight, but not until we got busy in the kitchen....we fused Chinese rice noodles with provencal grilled zukes, lots of turmeric and other ingredients (that stained my "new" old damask linens from the Acco Decco in Aix-en-Provence, c'est dommage).

 Au revoir Salam, it was great seeing you here, even though you think my romantic notion of  "Garrigue" is bullshit!

Don't Let the Door Hit You on the Way Out!

Last days of scrambling around packing and being lured out for coffee, dog walks, dinner with friends who love Matt's cooking, a bon voyage garden party, a salty morning dip in the ocean, delightful family dinner at Rawa or just one game of darts....Frank's studio already closed, gardening tasks totally undone, dog just hoping for one more ball toss, Arlo off somewhere....

Who remembers the "Beach House" on Compo Beach in Westport? They closed the year Frank and I started dating.....one of the relics Jamie bestowed upon us is the scale we've been using to make sure all of our bags are within strict airline regulations.....it isn't the bulky things (like an old rusty scale with layers of cheese stickers) so much I love holding onto, but without them I'm afraid I will lose the attached memory. Just like Frank and I started out together then, we are moving off on another adventure together....next post from France (unless something interesting happens first)