After returning home from a week in Sonoita, we spent the week back home in Casa Grande. Monday was a normal day, with classes in the morning and studio time in the afternoon. On Tuesday, we spent the day in the Ironwood National Park, painting. 

Life is unpredictable. If you told us that this spring we would not be in France teaching but instead writing this blog from our unheated shop, turned into quarantine home in western Washington State, it would be hard to believe. Our son and his wife live in the house and Jen and I are quarantining. We all have social distancing stories to share I'm sure - here's ours. 

As my third alarm of the morning goes off, I realize it’s probably time for me to wake up, especially since I kind of forgot to pack for Paris. Did I mention we were leaving in two hours? I rolled out of bed and began stuffing enough clothes to last me a month into my duffel bag, for a five-day trip.

As we finished our last week in Vauvenargues and Aix we are starting to realize that the term is coming to an end. A scary thought appeared in our minds and reality slapped us in the face: Even though we as a group are still going to talk, we are not going to see each other everyday.

Life is unpredictable in this world, but everyone does what they need to do to keep moving forward. Andrea was leader this week and she took it upon herself to make breakfast for everyone - every morning.

From the language, to the food, to the architecture, Vienna was vastly different from our normal stomping grounds of Aix-en-Provence. 

On our first day in Madrid, the group flew in around 5:00 pm for a 6:00 pm check in at our hotel, Petit Palace. After everyone got situated in their rooms we met in the lobby to embark on a walking tour of the area. We ended the night with dinner at a family restaurant serving tortilla de patatas.

(Sketching at the tomb of Paul Cézanne)

In a week where the south of France saw many more rainy days then it usually does, our European Art Classroom crew continued to make the most out of every day.  Our Mondays and Thursdays here in Aix-En-Provence, are our only days where we truly have a set schedule. We begin the day with French class, followed by a well informed art history class by Dave.