Back to grey skies....

We are back from the Cote D'Azur (French Riviera), in France. The weather was beautiful again, February and 20 degrees, sunshine and blue skies (if a little hazy at times). Travelling along between Nice, Antibes, Cagnes-sur-mer and as far along as Cannes....we intend to go further on our next visit to the area....was most enjoyable in bright sunshine and warm breezes. However we are now back in cold grey windy Ireland...and wishing I was still there.

Visiting the Cote D'azur, among other places, allows you to experience the world of the Impressionists and post impressionists. It is much easier to appreciate or critique the work when you have seen the areas painted, the light of the region and it's natural colours. See what they saw when painting plein air landscapes along the coastal regions. But many other artists also spent time working here, among them were Pablo Picasso, Chagall, Dufy, Cocteau, Bonnard, Soutine, Derain, Boudin, as well as Monet, Renoir and others. There is even an organised tour based around the settings and landscapes they painted for those that like to be guided.

I prefer to meander along at my own pace rather than being chivvied or delayed by a herd instinctively trying to keep everyone happy....even those that want the whistle-stop tour!
I am amazed how some groups go into galleries and speed around as fast as possible...I tend to go to one or two rooms at a time and savour what I see....there is always another day to see further. But back to the Riviera...the light there is different.. one of these days I may get to spend enough time there to do some painting....maybe next time, we are certainly going back again, we had a better time this year than last year, mainly because we travelled more widely (last year we spent most of the time in Nice and Monaco) but we still want to see other areas of interest, and we still didn't go to the Renoir Museum (Cagnes) the Chagall Museum (Nice) time just passes and before we know it, it's time to go home again......Well at least until Barcelona next month..........