Sketching in France – Valbonne

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Day 4 – Market day in Valbonne. Local bus 630 brings us on a pleasant 30 minute ride through a verdant Spring countryside with views towards Grasse and as far as the distant Alps. Valbonne is a lovely authentic village with a lively and colourful Friday market. A sunny café in the Place des Arcades is our perfect spot to sketch the scene over coffee and croissants.  Kieran explores some great sketching spots by the church and around the market Colette and Pauline escape from the market crowds to discover the quiet side streets of the old town Maria and…

Sketching in France – Island

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  Day 3 – to the Lérins islands. We take the local bus number 1 into Cannes, a 10 minute ride, to stroll and sketch at the colourful Forville Market. Enjoying the scene over coffee, and drawing the fruit and the archways and the shoppers. We pack a picnic lunch and head along the quay to the boat to Île Saint Honorat, the smaller and less visited of the Lérins islands. It has been a monastic retreat since the fifth century, where a community of monks continues to cultivate vineyards and olive groves. A place of quiet contemplation, far from…

Sketching in France – Le Cannet

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Our first day – we wake to sunshine and blue skies. Our guide Walid from the Office de Tourisme welcomes us in the hotel lobby and we start our introductory tour of Le Cannet, sketchbooks in hand. Le Cannet is a hidden gem only a short distance from Cannes, but a world apart, with a quiet, intimate charm and character.  We feel like honoured guests when the deputy mayor, Mr Pigrenet comes to welcome our group of Irish artists personally.  Our tour brings us by the Tour des Danys, through the Tivoli Gardens and remembrance monuments, and up to the…