Sunday 25 August 2013

Just been back from Normandy


I've just come back from Brittany/Normandy holiday, so here are some journal entries I kept while on holiday.
 
 
My usual Travel Wardrobe Drawing.  Although it's summer month, you can't be sure if it's going to be warm all through in Normandy so I packed thin wool jumper as well, which is not drawn here.  I also took a thin down liner - I was glad I did.  I didn't have an opportunity to wear the silk dress - it wasn't warm enough.
 
 
First day was spent in Dinan, a beautiful medieval town in Brittany.  A lot of half-timber architecture still remain in the central town.  The people are very nice and friendly, too.  It's a lovely place to spend a little longer than just one night... Painting buildings is not my strong point so I didn't manage to paint it on the spot - maybe I'd try later from a photo.
 
Instead I drew this tourist train - just because I was blocking its path as I was trying to enter the hotel parking space, and people who were waiting to get on the train was staring at me.  I haven't driven for a year, and I was on a rented car, driving on the right side - all this made me quite nervous to drive into a narrow opening of the parking area...well that was a little adventure for sure.
 
 
 
We'd taken a river boat trip on the river Rance.  There was a guide on the boat but he was speaking in French so I couldn't really understand what he was telling us.  With my rudimentary French, I picked up words like "Animal", "Boat", "Pull" "Like this".  He was showing a round belt-like object and put it around his shoulders as he explained.  Not knowing the history of towboat, I was wondering what sort of animal can pull a boat "like this",  imagining a mysterious water creature pulling a boat in the river like the one I drew in the page.
 
 

 
...but then it became clear as the guide was showing a copy of an old photograph of a boat being pulled by an animal ON LAND and my friend was explaining the history of towboat.  So I also drew the correct version of a boat being pulled.
 
The holiday journal to be continued...


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