2015 FRANCE #4 * Payenché, Marsac-sur-L'Isle (February 2)

"Second star to the right, straight on 'til morning"   ~J.M. Barrie

Venus winks at me from between the branches of the catalpa tree.  There are stars in the early morning sky which promise one of my most treasured gifts: Sunshine!  The rain and wind have done their best for the past few days, even to the point where the gusts caused some wires to skip and the lights went out last night.  But the golden ribbon on the horizon whispers a promise of light and beauty today. Birds are flitting about in anticipation of the coming day. The online weather shows clouds all day .. but it is  often a a deceptive memo.  A warm shower in a toasty bathroom, a fresh mug of french coffee, a pensive cat by my side, and thick limestone walls to anchor me - I'm ready for this new day!

Payenché backyard

It's a couple of quiet days here around Payenché this weekend.  The sun in this region does not rise until after 8 am this time of year.  In the summer it doesn't get dark at night until 10:30 or 11pm.  It's disconcerting.  But I think it's because all of France has the same time and we are in the west.

Traditional walnut party

cracking walnuts

Vivi and I go to a folkloric festival:  the cracking of the walnuts that will be used to make oil and other products.  There are over one hundred people sitting at long tables hammering walnuts and listening to traditional folk music played by Les Croquants d'Escornabïou.  The combination of sharp-toned, whining instruments and the incessant whacking of walnuts with wooden mallets on wooden tables for a couple hours create an atmosphere where one is unable to even attempt to talk with the friends sitting beside you.  Eventually your ears want to occlude it all.  Silence, please!  Or at least a small break!  But it is a unique experience - a "once in a lifetime venture" - (because, well, once is enough - Vivi and I both agree). 

Croquants d'Escornabïou

dancing

dancing in sabots

The Croquant costumes are unique to this area of Perigord and from (I believe from as much research as I can find so far) the mid-1800s.  The dances seem to be the origin of square-dancing in the US.  They dance in circles, lines, groups, in-and-out, under-the-bridge, promenade and various moves similar to square-dancing.  Remember doing them in elementary school?  (I wonder if schools still do them at all today to teach the history).   One gentleman, who was completely enjoying himself all evening, did a number of special dances in sabots!  (I do believe everyone enjoys themselves, but seriously, some people didn't smile all evening!)

Hurdy-Gurdy

cabrette & Borelli accordion

The instruments are also unique:  the Borelli accordion (box-shaped), the Cabrette (a bagpipe that has a bellows at the elbow instead of a mouthpiece to blow, invented by a French carpenter who had lung disease), and the beautifully crafted and complex Hurdy-Gurdy.  It is nice to experience the history of the region in music, however, for me personally, the whining is tiring.  (I have a couple short videos, but they will not load here or on YouTube.  I'll keep trying)


One of the best things made from walnuts, in my opinion, is walnut wine.  If you have access to a walnut tree and unripened walnuts, here's a good recipe for walnut wine.  It takes a couple years to mature, but wonderful - soft and flavorful - when it is ready.  Walnut oil is also becoming one of my favorites.  Make a nice salad dressing with it and some vinaigrette (various flavors) or balsamic, a touch of salt and pepper, and you have a wonderful compliment for a fresh lettuce or endive salad.

Here's an interesting little read about the Dordogne region: Dordogne

Meanwhile, back home, another blizzard.  In the Portland region I think they've had over 4 feet of snow in the last week.  (I've borrowed this photo):

 

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2015 FRANCE #3 * Payenché, Marsac-sur-L'Isle (January 29)

I soon realized that no journey carries one far unless, as it extends into the world around us, it goes an equal distance into the world within.     ~Lillian Smith

petit rouge gorge

A few overcast days, but the frost has departed for higher ground where it is more welcome.  This morning there is a golden band on the horizon promising a partially sunny day, but we shall see.  In the early morning fog there is a lone buck wandering the field beyond the winter garden - a powerful and graceful creature, taking his time to find the best morsels of grass.  A small rouge-gorge comes daily to harvest the breadcrumbs that we shake from the tablecloth on the back steps.  (A European robin about half the size.)

The greys of winter here are warm greys.  Amber-grey, softened green, russets, and a color that in soft pastels is called "caput mortum" - a type of purplish-brownish-grey.  Snowdrop flowers are dripping in the garden from their fragile stems.  There are a few hardy flowers displaying faded blooms, many plants tinged in beige, and the moss and hens-and-chickens are cuddling tenaciously close to the ground.  With leaves and flowers gone from many other plants (the wisteria and fruit trees) one is able to better see beyond the yard and gate of Payenché.  

Portland, Maine (about 30 inches)

Historic Blizzard to hit NYC (didn't happen)

Meanwhile, back home:  blizzard in Maine and New England.  I watch posts on Facebook and other social media to be entertained by the various reactions.  Finally, something to discuss and bring people "together" even in the midst of isolating them in their homes under two-plus feet of snow.  It even reached the evening news broadcast here:  "Historic Blizzard to hit New York (and New England of course).  Two days later I learn that New York City was spared a direct hit.

Périgueux cathedral and market

Périgueux marché - fruit du mer

Vivi arrived back from Amsterdam last night and today we got caught up quite a bit and went into Périgueux to do some market shopping and supermarket.  The outdoor marché is still wonderful, even in cold drizzle, and the antique stone buildings of the city are wonderful with a steely-grey backdrop of clouds.  The "fat market" is where they specialize in foie-gras and duck and goose parts.  Vivi has ordered a large duck for next week to make some home-made confit (duck meat in duck fat).  One of the most amazing things to eat.  We also purchased black radishes, fish, a variety of cheeses (SO wonderful are the French cheeses!), and a variety of vegetables.  

black radish

Amsterdam smoked herring & mackerel

Vivi brought back some smoked herring and mackerel from Amsterdam (something that is a specialty there).  For dinner, with the amazing French bread and cheeses,  a taste of the walnut wine (for which I helped pick the unripened walnuts from a tree at Chez Poète, her grandfather's house), an improvised endive salad with sautéed mushrooms and beats, a mixed vegetable soup, a wonderful Bergerac wine, and quiet conversation with good friends makes for a great, unhurried evening meal at Payanché. 

Walnut wine, homemade (2012)

 A trip into Périgueux takes about fifteen minutes from Payenché through what recently was beautiful countryside but now is being overtaken by small houses dotted along the road.  While waiting for an appointment, we visited an art exhibition, "Dédale", a history of street art and urban cultures from the 60s to present. 

 Interesting works and exhibit but with little explanation of the history which surrounded the artists who created this work.  There was a broken floorboard surrounded by caution tape in front of a skateboard chair.  It was not originally part of the exhibit, but I thought it fit perfectly with the 60s spirit - pointing out the obvious, as would Warhol or Magritte ("Ceci n'est pas une pipe").


The rain has been constant for the last few days.  The temperatures between 40 and 50F, but the dampness is creeping into everything.  Périgueux's every little pebble and stone wall is being showered and cleaned.  I think we are receiving the left-overs from the New England blizzard.  

We stop on the way home at the baker's truck to pick up some more amazing French bread.  This truck comes from a store in a town about an hour away which sells Vivi and Denis' favorite bread (pan de campagne).  For lunch it makes a wonderful marriage with the duck pâté, a mild white Rebluchon cheese, and a conservative glass of Bergerac wine.
 

Each day I am aiming to create a good amount of a new painting and have been focusing on pastels.  Some are not displeasing to me.  I do wish we had sunshine because I find myself so much more inspired with light and color and texture and contrast which the wonderful light brings.  


Many evenings, after we sit by the woodstove to chase away the damp, my day is wonderfully topped off with a FaceTime visit with my sweet granddaughter Eliana in Maine.  

I can sleep contentedly. 

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2015 FRANCE #2 * Payenché, Marsac-sur-L'Isle (January 25)

The traveler was active;  he went strenuously in search 
of people, of adventure, of experience.  
~Daniel J. Boorstin


 

hoarfrost, Aquitaine

Payenché (south face)

Trying to escape from the frigid New England winter and I land in France during a cold snap.  Frost this morning, on the grass and trees, and every little branch.  Beautiful!  The russets, light purple-greys, and soft greens of the season are tinted with a white-cobalt blue.  I have walked the Payenché circuit a couple times, taking photos and breathing in the fresh country air, re-acquainting myself with this beautiful area.  Deeply absorbing every detail as it is fresh, again, to me.  Drinking, inhaling, devouring the wonders of the countryside, the buildings (and yes, I hugged the ancient stone on the first day), the colors and textures, down to each tiny detail, the smells, the tastes (ah, the tastes of France), the ever-changing light and air.  Such Life!

Payenché (side gate to the orchard)

Payenché nooks

Payenché's timeworn but solid stairs

For those who did not follow me before when I came to Aquitaine in 2012, this beautiful limestone farmhouse which my friends own sits on the crest of the hill Payenché and is surrounded by fields of an old orchard and woodlands.  Newer homes encroach on the hill in small neighborhoods, but there is enough land here to insulate this home from those.  This cream-colored, two-foot thick limestone house was built in the 1600s and maintains a venerable ambiance of that time, yet Denis and Vivi have functionally modernized the home in subtle ways that do not at all interfere with its rustic quality.

Payenché view north from my painting table window

It's a blessing to stay here.  My cherished hosts, my "family" here, Denis and Vivi, are the most generous and comfortable people.  I met them a few years back in Delaware through my college colleague Chanh, whom they had met while living and working in New York City years back.  We became instant friends and they invited me to visit - which I did - in 2012.  They do not "show me around" as a tourist, but involve me in their everyday lives and this is how I come to know this part of France.  The best way to travel, for me, is to live with the people who inhabit a place.  Experience their lives, their tastes, their surroundings, their language.  A truly profound blessing.

I have a room which looks out over the orchard through a large window, in front of which sits the table where I paint.  it's on the north side of the house so should make any artist happy (north light is supposed to be the best light since it is more consistent all day long - however, personally, I prefer the south and full sun with it's constant changes for shadows and color - one just needs to paint quickly.  Great example: Monet with his cathedrals and haystacks.)

Two paintings started, both are soft pastels, of which I am more pleased with the second (below).  I love to work quickly and with energy and intuition, rather than planning a painting to a tightly contained existence.  Set it free!  After getting the artwork not-quite completed, I like to set a painting aside for a few days to live with it and make adjustments as they come to me.  I'm sure with these pastels, I will be making final touches just before framing them at home - since they do have to travel back and will sustain some minor stacking/smudging damage.  The colors are now all amazing russets and greens and the purple-greys of what would be early spring in Maine.  The chilled air literally frosts everything with a pale cobalt-white and accents the deep charcoal blacks of the tree trunks.  Beautiful!

 Hoarfrost, Aquitaine - soft pastel on tinted Canson paper (partially completed) 


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