Meet Van Gogh in Amsterdam!

MEET VAN GOGH IN AMSTERDAM!

In June, 12 artists from Prince Albert, Saskatchewan along with their art teacher, Christins Thoen learned about the fruitful yet tragic life of Vincent Van Gogh.  All, yes all of his paintings are in Holland, except for a few dotted in famous museums around the world. “Vincent” as he signed his works of art and prose only sold 1 painting in his short life of 37 years! The will of his sister in law was that all his paintings, many which came from the south of France we kept in Holland, his birth country. Thus, we managed to stand before many of his famous chef d’euvres in both the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam and the Kroller - Muller Museum in the Hogue Veluwe National Park. Tears came to her eyes when Christina stood before her favouite “Café la Nuit"

The week was full of information gathering from our best ever guide in the Riyksmuseum where we learned all about Golden Era of the Dutch Masters like Rembrandt. The “ Night Watch” came alive  under Roberto’s guidance.  Our sketching time captured Amsterdam’s bridges, bikes, canals, windmills and even a rendition of Vincent’s sunflowers. Of course there was time for shopping and dining in Amsterdam’s brown cafes - all international food but with an abundance of Indonesian restaurants. We tried the Rice Table!!! We enjoyed a beverage in the bars of the Red Light district and frequented many of the other museums like the Rembrandt Haus and My Lord in the Attic (a Catholic church in hiding for 200 years).  The Bridge Hotel on the Amstel was our home for this week. It was conveniently located next door to the CASA Theatre where, guess who, Jude Law was performing in “ Obsession”. Cool that some of us (not me!!) saw him out for his daily run in the morning!

Our weather did not cooperate all the time for us, but when we were outside sketching it did! Thanks to Christina for her wonderful instruction in making all of us feel that we were the creating our own masterpieces for life!

Tour de France with the Schutzman's

I enjoyed a thrilling ten days with the Schutzman family in Northern France and Belgium from October 11 to 22, 2016.  Bev had some ideas of sites that each and every family member would enjoy so we were off in our private van to see what we could see!  

We navigated out of Paris toward the countryside in the Loire Valley, then headed northward toward Brittany and Normandy.  Some of our destinations were new to me and others were favourite places to return to such as St. Malo and Mont Saint-Michel.  Ypres is a fascinating city, rebuilt in it's original style after WWI took it's toll.  We finished the tour in lovely Bruges with three days in the city of canals.  We attempted to try all of the beers (450+!) to accompany the chocolate, candy and frites.

There was no need to translate in French for this group. All were bobbing their heads in agreement and understanding on the first night in the Loire Valley when we were welcomed by our dinner hosts at the Manoir de la Giraudière. The origin of this Manoir's name is still to be discovered, along with the torture instruments in the Chateau de Chinon..... this is probably ok anyway.  We saw several castles and conquered most of them too!

 

At each new engineering marvel, Bob would.... marvel.  We took a detour to Nantes to see the Isle des Machines, an adventure park in the shipyard.  Here we got to ride a giant elephant while it took a tour of the harbour and sprayed small children as it lumbered forward.  In the 'atelier' machine factory we discovered a spider, a flying heron and we got to drive a big ant.  Bob volunteered to take a spin on the 'chenille' caterpillar and he definitely drove it like he stole it, even in reverse!

We tasted apples- oh so many apples..... and pommau and cider and calvados.  We washed down the moules and frites and cheese and crepes.  Kate found the best mussels at the Lion D'or in St. Malo, and Bev signed us up for the Atelier de la Crèpe, a lesson in making sweet and savoury buckwheat crepes! Mon dieu is it ever difficult! After several attempts and piles of flops Kate emerged as the champion. We got to enjoy a proper galette luncheon made by our teacher Marie Laure, a native of Brittany.

Bev shared with us her favourite pastries such as 'Kouign-amann' and chocolates to be enjoyed in the van.  I, the driver, felt well fed at all times. Fed not only with apples and cheese and sausage but of route notifications from my co-pilot, Tom.  Thank-you Tom, for getting us through Paris in the fog of your jet lag, and for your patience when I 'didn't like' the route you suggested!  Thanks for taking the wheel to spell me off too, mucho apreciado!

Around every corner there was a surprise; we met the organ player of the St. Cathrine's Cathedral in Honfleur and we got to tour and tinker on this enormous organ built in 1775!  The astonishing art at Ackerman Caves had us aglow with wonder, and Kate took an inadvertent dip in the bubble fountain of Arras.  To top it off, we were honoured to be toured around Bruges in the boat of the silliest Captain in all of Belgium!

Jonathan was the historian and enjoyed the WWI and II sites immensely, even amidst the drizzling rain in the Ypres salient. A stop at the D-Day landing beaches had us explore the bunkers of the allied adversaries at Juno.  The 360º circular cinema told the story of the end of the second world war with the effort of our Canadian compatriots.  We enjoyed a 'traditional kebab' picnic on the beach at Dieppe before spending two days in the extraordinary town of Arras to visit the Vimy Ridge Memorial, just 6 months before the centennial celebration of this turning point toward allied victory in WWI.  In Belgium we visited the German pillboxes that became John McRae's makeshift hospital in Flander's field, a far cry from the Saskatoon Hospital and workplace of Jon, the doctor 'in residence'.  

Bob wore a suit for the flight on airplane AND caterpillar.  Tom was dapper in his three piece suit on two occasions, while the lovely Kate had an exquisite new blouse to wear each day.  Such a well dressed and good looking family, I was honoured to be part of their tribe for the duration of our adventure.  Next time we will find a big beret for Bev and an exciting race at the track for Tom.  Thanks Bob for all of the lovely meals we enjoyed together, this was truly a gastronomical tour!

As I write this I am missing all of you Schutzman's and you too Dr. Dean!  See you on the next adventure when we take Nantes by storm in 2021 to climb L'Arbre aux Herons!  

http://www.lesmachines-nantes.fr/en/machines-de-l-ile/the-prototype-branch/

Life is too short not to have this much fun!

Bisous a tous!

Natascha

Amy Dodic and Friends in Provence & Paris!

September came around again and VM Travel Adventures found themselves once again in France for the Impressionist Art Tour.  It is lovely to be able to escape the Canadian autumn to spend time where the Atlantic trade winds blow warmly and the sea is temperate! Our group of Lethbridge travellers were a wonderful bunch to tour around with and some of us even tried to reproduce some Impressionist art in Provence!  Rodney Abbot, Impressionist, professional wine taster and now, blogger wrote the following blurb about our trip together.  Enjoy!




A tour of southern France, Cotes d’Azur and Provence with onsite Impressionist history. We travelled with our good travelling buds Dodics and Mooks. We flew Air Canada landing in Frankfurt Germany then connecting to Nice France. There we stayed in a cool little hotel right off the Nice Promenade. 




Our guide Natascha Radchenko of VM Travel Adventures took us to wonderful little towns, vineyards, restaurants, bull fights etc. It was pretty cool. We got along with everyone very well. Then off to our next stop being a quaint farm compound with several small buildings/rooms plus the “Mas Saint Antoine” compound where we stayed and were able to cook and party and rest. We did some market shopping and food preparation for a culinary experience one can only dream of. Several Chateauneuf Du Pape products were consumed. One might say a wee bit of extravagance took place but then again in moderation. Remember moderation is OK if one doesn’t overdo it. Trips to Avignon and Arles kept us plenty busy.  


Amy is a wonderful teacher. Natascha was our driver as well as our guide so we could go to all these fabulous spots and stay as long or as little as needed. The countryside is very beautiful this time of year. The colours of the buildings and masonry are all earth tones as you know with standard red and brown roof tiles everywhere. It is truly a special place. 





Train to Paris … ooh la la … the fast one .. 323 Km per hour … streaking thought the countryside and on the Paris. Our taxis took us directly to our boutique hotel right in downtown Paris. It was called The Hotel Chopin. Our room was on the 4th floor and was overlooking the glass covered promenade of a mall that housed small stores and cafes. A cool Bar and Brasserie was at the entrance to this mall called the Zephyr. We got to enjoy it a lot. 



We walked everywhere. Every day we exceeded our basic step requirements. We took in our quota of Museum Impressionists. Van Gogh, Monet Cezanne and Renoir. I was inspired and did make an attempt to emulate Claude Monet and his scene depicting a farm house and a wind mill. I will do several renditions to show how I improve with experience. Natascha is also an aspiring artist. 

The people of France were friendly and hospitable. They have been beaten up pretty good by the filthy swine as Inspector Cluseau would call them. Our meals and wines were superb. The odd beer intertwined with occasional Merlots, Cabs, Pinos all helped to enlighten the moment. Even Mrs. Mook was singing and dancing on the tables... NOT. We did manage to remain calm.   R.A.D.


So there you have it - we did manage to remain calm despite all of the excitement!  
A highlight for me, the tour guide, was to do little extra things since this group was so flexible!  We visited the Carriere de Lumieres, a large limestone quarry with projections of Chagall's art instalments spinning and flying over our heads in the dark!  It made us all dizzy with wonder!  We also got to trade a sunny day for a rainy one when we visited the Montmartre  area to shop around and enjoy a cheeky wine in the Place du Tertre in the sun!   My favourite memory?  Beer and sketching in the Jardin de Tuileries in front of the Louvre!




Amy was an inspiring and busy artist as she sketched her way through the tour.  Thanks Amy for brining your fantastic group of amis to France with us!A bientot mes amis de Lethbridge!  See you on the next trip!


Natascha
...Life is too short not to have this much fun!
 

A tour of southern France, Cotes d’Azur and Provence with onsite Impressionist history. We travelled with our good travelling buds Dodics and Mooks. We flew Air Canada landing in Frankfurt Germany then connecting to Nice France. There we stayed in a cool little hotel right off the Nice Promenade. 

Our guide Natascha Radchenko of VM Travel Adventures took us to wonderful little towns, vineyards, restaurants, bull fights etc. It was pretty cool. We got along with everyone very well. 

Then off to our next stop being a quaint farm compound with several small buildings/rooms plus the “Mas Saint Antoine” compound where we stayed and were able to cook and party and rest. We did some market shopping and food preparation for a culinary experience one can only dream of. Several Chateauneuf Du Pape products were consumed. One might say a wee bit of extravagance took place but then again in moderation. Remember moderation is OK if one doesn’t overdo it. Trips to Avignon and Arles kept us plenty busy. 

Train to Paris … ooh la la … the fast one .. 323 Km per hour … streaking thought the countryside and on the Paris. Our taxis took us directly to our boutique hotel right in downtown Paris. It was called The Hotel Chopin. Our room was on the 4th floor and was overlooking the glass covered promenade of a mall that housed small stores and cafes. A cool Bar and Brasserie was at the entrance to this mall called the Zephyr. We got to enjoy it a lot. We walked everywhere. Every day we exceeded our basic step requirements. 

We took in our quota of Museum Impressionists. Van Gogh, Monet Cezanne and Renoir. I was inspired and did make an attempt to emulate Claude Monet and his scene depicting a farm house and a wind mill. I will do several renditions to show how I improve with experience. Natascha is also an aspiring artist. 

Amy is a wonderful teacher. Natascha was our driver as well as our guide so we could go to all these fabulous spots and stay as long or as little as needed. The countryside is very beautiful this time of year. The colours of the buildings and masonry are all earth tones as you know with standard red and brown roof tiles everywhere. It is truly a special place. 

The people of France were friendly and hospitable. They have been beaten up pretty good by the filthy swine as Inspector Cluseau would call them. Our meals and wines were superb. The odd beer intertwined with occasional Merlots, Cabs, Pinos all helped to enlighten the moment. Even Mrs. Mook was singing and dancing on the tables.. NOT. We did manage to remain calm. Chet was displaying a new vigour. Ms. Mook thought he had been playing “possum”.